Francoism: Ideology, Society, and Culture in Spain
The Parties
3.5 The Parties: There are no political matches, only “families of the regime”:
- The Army is the backbone of the system. Some are in favor of the restoration of the monarchy.
- The Church hierarchy supported Franco’s “crusade”, which runs a great part of education.
Influential associations are noted:
- The Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas, founded by Cardinal Herrera Oria, a journalist.
- Catholic Action, for the participation of lay people, channeling their Catholic commitment.
- Opus Dei, founded by Escrivá de Balaguer, which extended throughout the world. Identified as technocrats, they replaced the Falange in the 1960s, which lost power because they were becoming bureaucratic.
- Traditionalism: Closely related to the Carlists (Basque Country, Navarra, etc.), with little force.
- Monarchists, who waited their turn behind the Law of Succession and the designation of national Catholicism in 1967.
The term “national Catholicism” summarizes this amalgam of tendencies. With Falangism (1943-45) it will have increasing power.
The Opposition
3.6 The Opposition: The opposition is repressed and one side is persecuted, divided (incapable of presenting a common option: monarchists, socialists, republicans, etc.), and the other is illegal (the Maquis, guerrillas who survived in very specific rural areas, were fought by the Civil Guard). Another important area was exile. Negrín is in London, La Pasionaria (from the PCE) in Moscow. In Mexico, the exiled Spanish government, but international powers are just interested in Franco.
Ideology
4. Ideology: Francoism seeks social control of all activity through the state ideology. Therefore, it produces a political and ideological alignment designed from above through some organizations such as the Youth Front (male) and the Women’s Section, which organizes social service, both of the FET.
But there are other framework organizations for culture: Education and Leisure, and Social Aid. This exposes the basic principles of the Movement through Political Education classes.
Culture
5. Culture: The first Francoism strikes a mortal blow to the Silver Age with the disappearance of a cultural environment of high altitude, which allowed the development of writers, poets, and playwrights around the Generation of ’98 and the Generation of ’27. Education assists in the emergence of national Catholicism, while the University is decapitated by the reprisals from the regime, but especially by teacher exile.
Time of Silence
6. Time of Silence: There is no draft policy contemplating national integration. Azaña appeals to the values of peace, mercy, and forgiveness without success. Physical removal, imprisonment, exile, and deportations contribute to this control of the people’s social policy. The legal framework allows this situation with laws enacted before the end of the war:
- Law of Political Responsibilities (9/02/39): Initiated by military courts and a challenge signed by all subjects, natural or legal, at the initiative of the civil authorities, military, police, and Civil Guard.
- Law for the Purging of Public Officials (10/02/39): It was enough merely to stay in Republican Spain during the war to be purged. It primarily affected public education, and the other institutions of the State should ensure its postwar continuity.
During the postwar period, this continues with other laws:
- Law for the Suppression of Freemasonry and Communism (1/03/40): The “Jewish, Masonic, and Communist conspiracy” identifies those who were not in favor of the system and freethinkers.