Franco’s Dictatorship in Spain: Ideology and Social Impact

Posted on Dec 20, 2024 in History

Ideological Foundations and Social Support of Franco’s Regime

1. Introduction

The dictatorship of Francisco Franco emerged during the Spanish Civil War and continued after the victory over the Republican army. While authoritarian regimes were booming in Europe, the Spanish Civil War ended on April 1, 1939, resulting in the establishment of a military dictatorship. Republicans faced exile, imprisonment, or concentration camps. The Franco regime lasted until 1975.

From 1939 to 1975, the political regime in Spain was a personal dictatorship under General Franco. He remained in power for many years, during which his regime evolved, adapting to successive national and international circumstances. The general populace remained passive and detached from politics. Franco concentrated all power in his hands: the army, the legislature, and the executive. Between 1945 and 1950, his regime was condemned by the UN for supporting Germany and Italy during World War II. This situation changed with the onset of the Cold War. Franco became an ally of the U.S., and Spain was admitted to the UN in 1953. It is believed that Franco’s rule had two major phases: The first occurred until about 1957-1959 (autarky and isolation). Around 1959, a series of changes led to a new era, that of “development” and the attempt to institutionalize a system that pretended to be a rule of law.

2. Development: Francoist Ideology and Social Support

Once Franco seized power in September 1936, he never relinquished it. His ideas were few and clear: a single control, public order, and national Catholicism. He wanted a state that banished from Spain:

  • Liberalism and liberal democracy
  • Masonry
  • Communism
  • Political parties
  • Separatism (nationalism)
  • The power of the Church

2.1 Franco’s Ideological Sources

a) The anti-“red” stance ranged from the extreme left to the bourgeois democratic revolution. He served as a “card” in the Cold War, although he had to moderate his criticism of the parliamentary system, which he considered politically weak.

b) Identification of the Catholic Church with the rebels: Crusade. Spain was equated with absolute religious tradition. The Church dominated social life and education and enforced strict Catholic morality, both public and private, the failure of which was punished by the Penal Code. National Catholicism (compared to German National Socialism) was a doctrine and political force during the Franco regime, signifying the union between the Catholic religious order and the state. It involved the subjugation of the Church to political power and the hegemony of Catholicism in social morality.

c) Traditionalism: The idea of Spain was based on historical roots, often adulterated. It took ideas provided by the Carlists (God, Fatherland, King) and, above all, by the military: the unity of the country. There were constant references to the Empire of Charles V and exaltation of the Reconquista (D. Pelayo, el Cid), the Catholic Monarchs (yoke and arrows), the older Austrians (Escorial, Valley of the Fallen), and the defense of the “unity of the Fatherland.” There was a refusal of any political autonomy for the regions and the sole use of Castilian Spanish. Other peninsular languages were strictly banned initially, later evolving into a certain tolerance. Democracy, liberalism, and regional autonomy were identified as anti-Spanish, leading to a ban on the use of any language other than Castilian (“Speak the language of the Empire”).

d) Using symbols of militarism and military organization in everyday civilian uses (university militias, arrows and pelayos, female section,…), military clothing or Falange (blue shirt), emblems (yoke and arrows), parades, and physical education, there was an exaltation of the flag and national anthem. (From the 1960s, the country’s modernization relegated this set of values to second place.)

Although the regime evolved, it remained true to political principles such as:

  • Opposition to liberal parliamentary democracy, namely freedom of expression, assembly, and association. It prohibited parties and unions and controlled information through censorship.
  • Two enemies of Spain: communism and separatism.
  • A series of laws written to keep the situation under control.

All republican institutions were dismantled (constitution, rights and freedoms of citizens, ban on political parties and trade unions, autonomous status, etc.). There was no constitution or democratic freedoms.

2.2 Institutionalizing the Regime

The new political system was established as a totalitarian system, with all powers concentrated in the figure of the Head of State, titled Caudillo (who only had to answer “before God and before History“), which gave him absolute power. He was the supreme commander of the armed forces and the single party, the Traditionalist Spanish Falange and JONS. This was an imitation of Italy and Germany, inspired by Falangist Serrano. It was eventually renamed the National Movement. He was also the chief minister, chaired the National Council, appointed the Chairman of its political board, and enjoyed exceptional powers. Another great power was the National Trade Union Organization (1940), a vertical single union formed by entrepreneurs, technicians, and workers. It depended on a secretary general with the rank of minister.

Membership was compulsory. It also controlled the territory: each province had a civil governor, who was also the head of the Provincial Movement and a military governor. Different laws were elaborated across the government. The former focused on curbing the vanquished. These include:

  • Law of Political Responsibilities (1939): Political repression of the vanquished in the war.
  • Law on the Suppression of Freemasonry and Communism (1940).
  • State Security Law (1941): Reinforced the previous laws.
  • Press Law (1939, lasting until 1966): Strict censorship.
  • Labor Law (1938): Disappearance of class unions.
  • Law Courts Building (1942): Consultative Assembly. Attorneys in the Cortes were not elected by popular vote (including ministers, members of the Falange, mayors of large cities, presidents of universities, and representatives of the Church). It was defined as “the highest organ of the Spanish people’s participation in the work of the State.” Its purpose was to provide representation to the regime. Its function was to prepare and initiate legislation, although Franco had to approve it. In reality, the courts approved the laws ordered by the government. Its members were appointed by the regime’s leadership, not by democratic election.
  • University Management Law: In the hands of the Falange and the Church. Mandatory studies of Religion and FEN (Formation of National Spirit). Creation of the CSIC (Higher Council for Scientific Research).

In 1945, there was a change in the regime’s image (though not in reality, as Franco remained in control of everything) when the Fascists lost World War II. Franco wanted to reach out to the Allies. He created the concept of “organic democracy,” so named because it expanded the political participation of the population, but through the family, the municipality, and the union. Franco appointed ministers from Catholic Action to approach the Christian Democratic parties ruling in many European countries. A series of laws were produced, such as the Local Government Act, which allowed for the election of council members by an organic vote: 1/3 by heads of households, 1/3 by unions, and 1/3 by family associations. The Primary Education Act was also based on Catholic doctrine. The fascist salute was eliminated, and a partial amnesty was granted to political prisoners.

Its fundamental laws are:

  • The Charter of the Spanish (1945): A sort of declaration of rights and duties. “Freedom of expression” was included “if it did not undermine the rule.”
  • The Referendum Act (1945): Consisted of a nationwide consultation on key legislation. It recognized for the first time the possibility of universal suffrage in Spain.
  • Law of Succession to the Head of State (1947): Approved in a referendum. “Spain is a kingdom.” Franco would be the head of state until his death. The Head of State proposed his successor to Parliament. It was unclear who would replace him.

The Council of Regency and Council of the Realm were created. The end of international isolation began, with Spain being admitted to the UN and UNESCO. A concordat was signed with the Holy See, with the Vatican continuing to support Franco. The privilege of filing was granted. Defense agreements were also made with the United States, leading to the creation of American bases. Between 1959 and 1975, changes occurred, but Franco’s regime did not evolve at the pace of the population. Some openings were made by Franco, and the opposition began to organize and unite for Franco’s death.

Politically, it was the institutionalization of the regime and continuity. With the Law on Principles of the National Movement (1958), the unity of Spain, Catholicism, family, county, and union were emphasized. Entry occurred for “aperturista” ministers who felt a degree of liberalization: Solís Ruiz tried to create political associations but was not approved.

Reform of the union by Solís Ruiz did not achieve a big change, but opposition leaders fell. Fraga’s Press Law led to the disappearance of censorship and an increase in the number of magazines, books, and newspapers.

The institutionalization was completed with the State Law of 1966, approved in a referendum that unified all previous laws (the Law of Succession, the Organic Law of the Movement, the Trade Union Act, etc.). The head of state and government were separated. It was eventually imposed by the ultraconservative sector. In 1967, Carrero Blanco was appointed vice president of the government. Social conflict increased, with workers, students, and the first attacks by ETA. In 1969, Juan Carlos de Borbón was appointed as Franco’s successor. From 1969 to 1975, there was a greater division within Franco’s regime: some wanted continuity (Carrero Blanco), while others wanted a political alternative for the future. Political associations slowly advanced, and the far-right bunker (Fuerza Nueva) violently attacked the opposition.

2.3 Social Support: Families of the Regime

The social foundations of the dictatorship: Franco established his new regime with the support of:

  • The landed oligarchy, which regained its financial and social hegemony and was the major beneficiary of the regime’s interventionist economic policy. It incorporated military and Falangists.
  • The rural middle classes of the North and Castile, under heavy influence of Catholicism. Most of the urban middle classes and working classes supported the dictatorship. In the early years, systematic repression, poverty, and demoralization after the defeat prevented the lack of support from turning into opposition. In the 1960s, economic development caused the system to have more social consensus among the working and middle classes. However, the timid liberalization of the country led to the development of the opposition.

Families

Throughout the years, Franco always had the social support of the so-called “Families of the Regime,” namely Falangists, Carlists, Catholics, and Monarchists. He never sustained his regime on a single political group or ideology. Power was always expressed in three areas: civil, military, and ecclesiastical. These were the three recognized authorities. These families were represented in successive governments, as were the army, the Church, and Opus Dei. Its social base was the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy, and the agricultural proletariat. The Church was one of the great ideological underpinnings of the regime. The Church, which had committed to the fascist uprising like a crusade, became a real power, enjoyed privileges, and imposed official Catholic unity to the exclusion of any other religion. Catholicism was made the principal basis of the system’s ideology and the educational system. Opus Dei provided cadres with an educational level far higher than other elites of the regime. The Falange, another pillar, gradually lost power, and their primitive Fascist ideals were transformed into blind loyalty to the Caudillo. Gradually, they became members of a bureaucracy that only retained some power in the National Council Movement (a kind of second cut) and the Trade Unions. They had youth organizations like the Youth Front (membership required), which organized camps, rallies, and political education, as well as student organizations like the SEU (Spanish University Union) and women’s organizations like the Women’s Section, which required compulsory membership and the implementation of Social Service, equivalent to military service for males. The Army was always the backbone of the system, and the power of the Generalissimo was never questioned. Their loyalty was rewarded with numerous appointments to senior posts in the civil administration, union officials, and management of public and private companies. However, there were struggles with some generals who wanted to return to the monarchy. It seems that Franco never thought of returning to the monarchy and had a difficult relationship with Don Juan de Borbón, heir of Alfonso XIII. Royalists were a trend sometimes facing each other:

  • Carlists: Very conservative, with a very minor role, usually in the Ministry of Justice.
  • Don Juan’s followers were disappointed by the non-establishment of the monarchy. Franco continued to work with them, especially in the diplomatic field. There was a distance between Franco and Don Juan because of the Manifesto of Lausanne, which supported a democratic transition, a constituent

Cortes, and an amnesty. Franco wanted to establish a temporary military dictatorship in hopes of restoring the monarchy or the Republic to continue once social order was restored (which was Mola’s idea). These families did not fail to be fictitious, since Franco lacked a clear political ideology. The criteria for choosing their partners were personal loyalty, efficiency, prudence, and lack of ambition. He tried to prevent anyone from grabbing too much power and always sought a balance between different groups of government and senior officials of the system to counter their power.

3. Conclusion

At the conclusion of the Civil War, Franco established a military dictatorship that intended to banish from Spain any idea of liberalism and liberal democracy, as well as communism. The new regime was a totalitarian system in which all powers were concentrated in the figure of the head of state, with the existence of a single party, the FET and JONS. The new regime was ideologically based on conservative Catholicism and a unitary state. The system was inspired by the fascist states of Germany and Italy, but after 1945, following their defeat, the regime changed a bit and adapted to the times, without ever losing its totalitarian nature. The will of the dictator was evident in the dismantling of republican institutions and the suppression of individual and collective rights. At the same time, he tried to give a picture of law with the enactment of a series of basic laws, known as Fundamental Laws. In an apparent immobility, the system adapted to the different international situations it had to live with, from post-war isolation to recognition and support, especially from the U.S., during the Cold War. The economic expansion of the 1960s brought prosperity but also allowed for the entry of cultural and ideological movements and increasing European demonstrations against the dictatorship.

The final crisis occurred in 1973 when, for the first time, a president of the government was appointed: Carrero Blanco. This meant continuity after Franco’s death. However, that same year, he was killed by ETA. After Carrero’s death, the new president was Arias Navarro (1974), who did not fulfill reform promises, making them incredible. Street protests became more intense (demonstrations, strikes, attacks, etc.). In 1974, a sick Franco delivered power to Juan Carlos on an interim basis, but without real power. On November 20, 1975, Franco died, and the transition to democracy began.