Francoism in Spain: Dictatorship, Stages, and Social Impact

Posted on Feb 2, 2025 in History

Franco’s Regime (1939-1975)

The political system that emerged from the Spanish Civil War is characterized by the concentration of power in the hands of General Francisco Franco. Two key characteristics influenced Franco’s psychological profile:

  • Messianism: The belief that only he had the answers.
  • Military Spirit

Features of Francoism

  • Dictatorial political regime characterized by persecution and political repression of any form of association or opposition.
  • Centralized and unitary nature; it suppressed cultures and languages that were not official.
  • Strong anti-communist nature.
  • Ultraconservative Catholic character; the Church supported Franco.
  • Ultra-nationalist and unitary character.
  • Support from the army.
  • Franco was invested with the title of Caudillo of Spain and concentrated all powers in his person.
  • Control of the media.

Four Stages of Franco’s Regime

  1. 1939-1951: Agreements with the U.S. – Fascist dictatorship.
  2. 1951-1959: Destabilization Plan – National Catholicism.
  3. 1959-1973: Oil crisis – Assassination of Carrero Blanco – Desarrollismo (economic development).
  4. 1973-1975: Crisis and end of Francoism.

Fundamentals of Francoism

  1. The Army: It was the most outstanding support of the regime and actively participated in power, as a large part of ministers and civil governors were career military officers.
  2. Traditionalist Falange Party (FET) and the JONS: It was instructed to provide the ideological foundations of the regime, control the media, and provide many of the administrative positions. The party formed several mass organizations (Youth Front, Women’s Section, Spanish University Federation, National Central Syndicalist).
  3. The Catholic Church: It played a leading role in the construction and legitimacy of the Franco regime, which was defined as a Catholic confessional state. In exchange for its support, the Church received generous public funding, almost total control of the educational system, and the predominance of Catholic morals and values throughout Spanish society.

Social Support for Franco

The support groups were affluent classes, middle classes, and working classes (with resignation).

  • Affluent Groups: They recovered the economic, social, and political power they had lost during the Second Republic. Franco also relied on the support of small and medium farm owners in the center and north of Spain.
  • The Middle Classes: A politically troubled social sector, it was a mostly passive and apolitical class.
  • Popular Sectors: The thought of losing the Civil War, repression, police checks, and fear pushed the working classes into political passivity and silence.

Francoism in Catalonia

Laws and agencies were created to carry out repression. The first law was the Law of Political Responsibilities, which governed the treatment of people who had collaborated with the Republic. Later came the Law of Repression of Communism and Freemasonry, which recorded the ideas of those who defended ideas contrary to religion or the homeland. In Catalonia, almost 4,000 people were executed for political reasons. Franco banned demonstrations and pursued non-Castilian languages and cultures. Franco’s intent to erase Catalan identity had a major impact on culture, to the point that it was a true cultural genocide.