The Franco Regime: A Comprehensive Overview of Dictatorship
The Franco Regime: The Construction of a Dictatorship (1939-1959)
The result of the Civil War was the consolidation of dictatorial rule that the rebels against the Republic had begun building since October 1936. The scheme introduced by Franco in Spain lasted until Franco’s death in 1975. The Franco regime was always like an iron dictatorship.
The economic losses that triggered the war slowed economic growth in Spain. The Franco regime instituted a state legitimized by the Civil War and characterized by extreme authoritarianism. Its features included:
- Totalitarianism: A dictatorship modeled on Franco’s Italian and German counterparts. The 1931 Constitution was abolished, and the parliament was declared banned. Only a single party and a single official union were allowed.
- Caudillismo: Franco served as the head of state and chairman of the government.
- The Suppression of Opposition: Control over media communication.
The single party, the Traditionalist Spanish Falange de las JONS, provided its ideological system to control the media and fill a significant portion of administrative positions. To seek social support, four mass organizations were established:
- Youth Front: Dedicated to the indoctrination of youth.
- Section Women: Aimed at educating women with a Christian and national syndicalist perspective.
- Spanish Union University: An instrument of political control over the National Central University.
- Trade Unionist: An organization integrating employers and workers.
The Catholic Church played a leading role in the Franco regime, which was defined as a Catholic confessional state. The Church received generous public funding, maintained total control over the education system, and promoted Catholic values and morals throughout Spanish society.
The dictatorship had the support of economic and social elites who regained power lost during the Second Republic. It also had the backing of small and medium landowners in northern Spain who had supported the Franco regime during the uprising. Within different families or groups of influence, the first were those who had given unconditional support to the rebellion of 1936: Falangists, Carlists, ultra-Catholics, and monarchist Alfonsinos. Some sectors recognized by Franco were added to the cause during the war, including Radical Republicans, members of the CEDA, and the Catalan Lliga.
The Church also created influential partnerships, such as the National Catholic Association of Propagandists and Opus Dei. The instruments of indiscriminate violence unleashed against Republicans at the end of the conflict were not a tendency towards violence but rather the institutionalization of repression. A series of coercive laws were produced, and justice was conditional on the dictates of the government. The army was the main instrument of the repressive policy, with the majority of cases tried by military courts-martial, where the accused had almost no defense.
The set of repressive measures taken by the authorities was characterized by example and punishment, aimed at spreading terror among the population and quelling any attempt at dissent. In domestic politics, the Traditionalist Spanish Falange and JONS held a hegemonic role. Ramón Serrano Suñer played a predominant role in this task and in relations with Axis powers.
The German victory over France led to a transition from neutrality to non-belligerency, involving clear diplomatic and economic support. Germany and Italy probed the possibilities of Spanish integration into the conflict, and Franco considered expanding the African colonies and obtaining other advantages.
Franco had to assume that his survival required distancing himself from fascism. The official discourse began to portray him as a Catholic regime, anti-conservative, which could evolve into a monarchy at the right time. This new phase involved the marginalization of Falangism.
The end of the Second World War meant a period of isolation and international rejection for the Franco regime. Aid was insufficient, and the first signs of discontent over shortages and hunger emerged on the streets. Workers’ protests and the first stirrings of dissent in universities called for profound changes in economic direction and an opening to the outside to redirect a state on the verge of bankruptcy.
The critical economic situation, increased social protest, and new international relations forced Franco to change his government. In 1957, Franco restructured the government, promoting the Catholic sector. The men from the Opus Dei technocrats were called upon. This new generation of political leaders marked the next stage of the Franco regime, characterized by strong economic growth in the 1960s.
Leading companies such as Iberia, Endesa, and SEAT were created. The repression of organizations and individuals committed to the Republic led to the exile of thousands of opponents of Franco, who were disjointed but gradually reorganized under conditions of extreme difficulty. Between 1959 and 1973, the Spanish economy grew at an unprecedented rate in the history of the twentieth century. Economic development became a propaganda weapon for the Franco regime, but it also led to the origin of new social conflicts. Indeed, economic change determined the diffusion of new attitudes and behavior patterns. However, this economic and social development was not accompanied by deep political reforms, and the Franco dictatorship remained embedded in political paralysis and unable to democratize.