Franco’s Regime (1939-1959): Ideology, Politics, and Economy of Spain
Franco’s Spain (1939-1959)
The Rise of Franco
Following the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Francisco Franco inaugurated Spain’s longest dictatorship. This new regime centralized power in Franco, making him the undisputed leader.
Foundations of the Franco Regime
Social and Ideological Support
Franco’s regime adhered to several core principles: order, authority, Catholicism, and a specific vision of Spain. Key ideological features included:
- Anti-liberalism and Anti-communism: Rejection of parliamentarism, separation of powers, and political parties. After World War II, the regime attempted to mask its dictatorial nature by creating a facade of “organic democracy.”
- National-Catholicism: The regime aligned itself with the Catholic Church, which in turn supported Franco. This led to the Church regaining control over education.
- Militarism: Emphasis on military values such as honor, courage, and obedience.
- Spanish Nationalism: Obsession with a unified Spain and rejection of separatism, particularly in the Basque Country and Catalonia.
- Suppression of Freedom: Repression, increased policing, reinstatement of the death penalty, and purging of officials. A nominal bill of rights was introduced after World War II for appearances.
- Single-Party Rule: The only permitted political organization was the FET y de las JONS (Falange).
- Concentration of Power: Franco held the titles of Head of Government and Generalissimo of the Armed Forces, effectively controlling all branches of government.
The regime’s longevity stemmed from support from the army, the Church, the financial oligarchy, industrialists, landowners, and the rural and urban middle classes.
Opposition
Opposition came from various groups: exiled Republicans, armed guerrillas, strikers protesting the political system, and Monarchists loyal to Juan de Borbón, who sent his son Juan Carlos to be educated in Spain.
Political Aspects
:
1 period (during the war), the years of World War II. 1939-1945.
At the beginning of World War II Spain is neutral, but after wins over Germany and Italy entered the war, a move from neutrality to non-belligerency, ie not directly involved in the conflict, but does show even at the end side, the fascist, providing help when he sees the defeat of the fascist powers, remain neutral again.
Moreover, the most influential of fascist ideology in Spain, was the brother of ex, Ramon Serrano Suner. On the other hand, are the years of repression freemasonry and communism, law and political responsibilities of the councils of war. Thousands of political prisoners remained in prisons and concentration camps. At the beginning of the 40 Suner is removed, and thus public law courts building, composed of Fathers of families belonging to the gentry, to conceal the dictatorship.
2 period (post war), international isolation. 1945-1950.
In domestic politics, the government is promoting a series of laws such as the Spanish forum (1945), a false bill of rights for pretend democracy, the referendum law (1945) and the law of succession (1947) which confirmed the ex- as head life and defined common Spain kingdom is established the monarchy, but not knowing who would be his successor.
3 period (readmitted to the ONU), reduction of international isolation. 1950-1959.
With the development of the Cold War, Spain took the opportunity to break its international isolation, opening the French border trade agreements with Britain and France and the granting of credits by the U.S.. With the latter, reaching economic agreements which will enable free loans in exchange for ceding bases on Spanish soil. In 1955, Spain is readmitted to the UN. Inside, the technocrats of Opus Dei have the highest political leadership. Republican law: the principle of movement, all the officer positions were required to swear the principles of the regime, and public policy, condemning repressive demonstrations, meetings …
Economics:
Autarky and interventionism. In the forties the Spanish economy entered a recession, the main reason was the bad economic policies carried out by the regime, autarky and interventionism. With this system was intended to be self-sufficient, ie not depending on the exterior. Some of the measures taken were: restrict some exports, protect the Spanish industries with subsidies and created a system of rationing of staples through ration cards. On the other hand, created the National Institute of industry, to encourage and induce the creation of the Spanish RENFE nationalizing the rail network.
The consequences of this policy resulted in a decline in living standards, the emergence of black markets, industrial decline for lack of raw materials and a trade deficit.
Economic recovery. The stabilization plan. The U.S. aid began arriving in the industrial sector influences experiencing growth but Spain was still a largely agricultural country. On the other hand, exports were lower than imports for the country term debt. In 1957, the Spanish state was on the verge of bankruptcy, so frank formed a new government by giving input to the technocrats of Opus Dei, who carried out a series of reforms, known as the stabilization plan. The measures taken were to grant facilities to foreign investment, raise taxes and wage freeze. As the