Spanish Democratic Junta & Francoism’s Economic Shift
Democratic Manifesto of the Board
We address the manifesto with which the Democratic Junta aims to inform the Spanish population of the points on which it bases its opposition to the Franco regime. This Junta was founded by the PCE, PSOE, the Carlist Party, and different personalities in the summer of 1974.
- The first basic idea of the show appears in its first point: the return of democratic rule after an authoritarian government headed by Arias Navarro at the time.
- The next point presents another basic idea: the release, through an amnesty law, of all those who had been arrested by the Franco government, including participants in the 1973 strike and UMD officials in 1975.
- The manifesto’s next point states the approval of the rights to strike, to assembly, and to peaceful demonstration, which were not allowed at that time. This is the fifth idea of the text.
- The Board, in the next point, shows its defense of freedom of the press and opinion, which the Franco government did not recognize. This is a core idea of the text. Although in 1958 the Law on Press and Publications was enacted, abolishing prior censorship and creating a semblance of controlled opinion, in practice, it remained the same.
- The following basic idea appears in the last paragraph and refers to Spain’s entry into European organizations, abiding by the conditions necessary for membership.
The manifesto was launched to the people on July 29, 1974, with Don Juan Carlos de Borbón as acting head of state due to General Franco’s poor health. Franco returned to office after two months. However, the following year, on November 20, the Caudillo died, and the transition to democracy began, as called for by the Democratic Junta.
Change of Mentality During the Second Franco Era
This is a fragment of the work “Change of Mentality in the Second Franco Era” by Walther L. Bernecker, a historian specializing in the Franco era and the transition to democracy.
The first basic idea appears in the first paragraph: the economic development that occurred in Spain, mainly in the 1960s, which brought about a change of mentality. This development was due to a stabilization plan devised by a series of new Opus Dei politicians who entered the Franco government. The stabilization plan was based on:
- Credit crunch
- Devaluation of the peseta
- Suppression of certain interventionist government organizations
- Flexibility within the legislation that discouraged the investment of foreign capital.
Another factor that favored this development was the adoption of the indicative planning model to create pockets of industrialization in sparsely industrialized areas. Thanks to this and the investment of foreign capital brought by tourism, Spain became an industrialized country by 1970.
Another basic idea of the text, which also appears in the first paragraph, is the exodus of farmers from rural areas to more industrialized Spanish regions, or to Western European countries, in search of work. This resulted from the aforementioned indicative planning.
In the last paragraph of the fragment is the third basic idea: the relationship between economic development and changing mentality. These two facts are closely related; without economic development, there would have been no change of mentality. The resurgence of the Spanish economy lifted the country from social prostration, enabling progress in mentality.
This situation, so favorable to Spain, was not accompanied by political changes. In 1973, because of the oil crisis, the stabilization plan collapsed.