Franco’s Repression and Opposition: Labor, Monarchists, and Guerrillas
Repression and Opposition Under Franco
From the beginning, the Franco regime suppressed the democratic movement and the Left. Resistance movements opposing the dictatorship formed both in Spain and in exile after the war ended.
Political, Social, and Cultural Repression
To suppress democratic and leftist movements, two laws were created: the Law of Political Responsibilities (1939) and the Law on Repression of Masonry and Communism (1940). Under these laws, crimes were subject to military jurisdiction. Many political, trade union, and cultural leaders were exiled, and many people of all social classes were imprisoned for their political ideas. The death penalty was applied until 1963, as in the case of communist leader Julian Grimau, despite requests for clemency.
In 1963, the Public Order Tribunal was created to try political crimes, while terrorism remained under the jurisdiction of the military. Purges also began, with thousands of officials and teachers dismissed from their jobs without knowing the accusations against them. Cultural repression was carried out through textbooks that immeasurably exalted General Franco, misrepresented history, and propagated conservative values.
The Opposition During the Franco Era
Three main fronts of opposition arose against Franco’s totalitarian regime: the labor movement, the monarchists, and the maquis groups or guerrillas.
Labor Movement
Small groups of the PCE, PSOE, and CNT always acted clandestinely, which led to the imprisonment and execution of many of their militants. In 1945 and 1947, these political groups organized several strikes, but this pressure decreased after 1950.
Monarchist Groups
Monarchist groups, formed by the nobility and gentry, practiced objection through conspiracy. In 1943, a lieutenant-general sent a letter to Franco requesting the restoration of the monarchy. Two years later, the Count of Barcelona, Juan de Borbón, made the same request from Switzerland.
Maquis or Guerrillas
The maquis or guerrillas were formed from two different groups. The first group consisted of those who had persisted in mountainous areas since the end of the war, wanting to continue fighting the dictatorship. The second group was formed by men who had fought against the Germans in France and tried to bring their experience to Spain. However, the isolation of different guerrilla groups, military repression, the Guardia Civil, and the painful memories of the war led to their failure.
In 1948, the PCE resigned from armed struggle, and by 1950, the domestic opposition experienced three changes: the renunciation of violent practices, a social and generational transformation of its members, and the momentum of opposition action in universities and trade unions. Opposition actions included calls for strikes to demand higher wages, although these were illegal. One of the best-known was the tram users’ strike in Barcelona in 1951.
Faced with these actions, the regime tightened law enforcement against banditry and terrorism (1958) and the Public Order Act (1959). However, Franco also accepted some wage demands with the Collective Agreements Act (1958). The growing differences between the Western bloc led by the United States and the Soviet bloc led by the Soviet Union led the Western powers to soften their sentences against Franco.
Technocratic Opposition (1959-1975)
This phase manifested in 1962 with the Congress of Munich. Franco imprisoned or banished the participants of that meeting. In the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, the opposition became stronger, and criticism of the regime extended throughout society. The labor movement, with its meetings, strikes, and protests, became stronger, coinciding with the second phase of university movements. Terrorist groups such as ETA and FRAP also acted. Worker protests by students mixed economic, employment, and political demands.
During this time, the PCE, led by Santiago Carrillo, and to a lesser extent the PSOE, led by Felipe González, were the most important underground parties. The Democratic Board (1974), created by the PCE, and the Platform of Democratic Convergence (1975), created by the PSOE, joined various social classes. Society expected Franco’s death to reinstate democracy.