The Franco Regime: Transformation and Opposition in Spain

Posted on Oct 18, 2024 in History

The Franco Regime: Two Eras

1939-1959: Post-War and Totalitarianism

This period saw attempts to establish a totalitarian state modeled on fascism, coupled with economic autarky.

1959-1975: Economic Development and Social Transformation

International and domestic circumstances led to a developmental stage and attempts to institutionalize the regime.

Consolidation of the Franco Dictatorship

A Totalitarian Regime

  • Concentration of powers
  • Rejection of the democratic system
  • Single party rule
  • Dictatorship
  • Fundamental Laws

The Structure of the New State

  • Franco as head of state, government, and the Party
  • Power concentrated in appointed officials
  • Subordination of the judiciary
  • Civil and Military Governors
  • Vertical Unions based on Italian fascist doctrine

Families of the Regime

  • The Church: A power factor (National Catholicism)
  • The Falange: Gradually lost power, submitting to Franco, controlling movements and unions
  • The Military: A pillar of the regime, enjoying perks

Ideological Puritanism and Social Control

  • Profound ideological and social control changes
  • Emphasis on rural life
  • Youth Front and Women’s Section
  • National Spirit training classes
  • Strong repression and censorship
  • Church monopoly on education
  • Abandonment and liquidation of public schools

The Regime and International Politics

The Second World War Phase

  • Association with the Axis powers
  • Initial neutrality, followed by non-belligerence (Blue Division), and return to neutrality in 1943

Isolation of the Regime

  • Problems arising from association with the Nazi regime
  • Don Juan de Borbón’s Lausanne Manifesto (1945) calling for monarchy restoration
  • Non-admission to the UN and the Potsdam Conference
  • Claims of a Judeo-Masonic-Marxist conspiracy
  • UN recommendation for withdrawal of ambassadors (1946), leading to near-total isolation
  • Start of the Cold War (1947) and the USA viewing Franco as an anti-communist ally

Autarquía, Misery, and Rationing

Franco’s triumph had a tremendous economic impact, leading to hunger, corruption, and misery.

The Axes of Autarky

  • Primary objective: economic self-sufficiency
  • Strong growth retardation (until the 1960s)
  • Import and export control
  • Promoting capital equipment industry (INI)

Rationing and the Black Market

  • State control of prices led to a black market
  • Ration cards until 1951
  • Era of hunger

The Opposition: Exile, Repression, and Resistance

A period of tremendous political repression.

The Path of Exile

  • Over 400,000 people exiled to France and the Americas (Mexico)

Repression and Resistance

  • Strong repression, including the Law of Political Responsibilities
  • Around 40,000 executed after military trials
  • Establishment of the Court of Public Order (1963)
  • Despite repression, guerrilla groups (maquis) emerged
  • The PCE boosted anti-Franco opposition after the failure of the maquis

First Attempts at Opening (1951-1956)

Driven by the failure of autarky and the gradual end of isolation.

Exhaustion of Autarky

  • Autarky impoverished the country and increased inequalities, leading to the first mobilizations
  • Need for increased food imports, but faced with foreign exchange shortages and peseta devaluation

International Situation

  • The Cold War (1947) changed the US attitude towards Spain, ending its isolation
  • Concordat and military treaties with the USA (1953)
  • Spain’s admission to the UN (1955)

Timid Political Change

  • Ministerial changes in 1951 (still controlled by Falangists and Catholics)
  • Inclusion of Opus Dei members (technocrats) in 1957, beginning economic liberalization without changing the dictatorial basis

The Franco Regime: Economic and Social Transformations

Economic Growth in the Sixties

  • Spectacular economic growth from 1959 to 1974
  • Stabilization measures and development plans
  • 1959 Stabilization Plan: End of autarky and final push for industrialization
  • Development plans focused on industry (growth poles), infrastructure, and commodities
  • Final stage of Spanish industrialization
  • Consolidation of industry and services, strong income growth
  • Improved productivity, higher wages, and demand for consumer goods
  • Population movements and migrations (internal and external) due to limited job creation despite technological improvements

Transformation of Agriculture

  • Decline in agricultural population from 39% in 1960 to half that in 1975 due to rural exodus and the decreasing importance of food
  • Mechanization due to declining workforce, increased income, and food diversification

External Dependence

  • Imports of foreign technology and investment
  • Absorption of surplus labor
  • Tourist boom

Limitations of Industrialization

  • Lower income levels compared to Europe
  • Inflation and low job creation (offset by emigration)
  • Limited technology investments
  • Stiffness of the financial system

Modernization of Spanish Society

  • Spain entered the consumer society in the sixties
  • Social transformation
  • Strong growth in birth rate and urban working-class neighborhoods
  • New social structure with importance of the working class and new middle classes
  • Rebirth of strong trade unionism
  • Decrease in rural population
  • Changes in behavior
  • 1970 Education Act
  • Transformations in family structure and women’s roles
  • Consumerism: cars, televisions, appliances
  • New mentality, even in the Church (Vatican II), with greater freedom of thought
  • Weakening of the Franco regime politically and ideologically

Persistence of the Regime

Franco tried to modernize without democratizing, leading to internal strife.

Scope and Limits of Institutionalization

  • Clashes between Falangists and technocrats (Opus Dei), with the latter gaining prominence (seeking an authoritarian monarchy)
  • 1966 Press Act by Manuel Fraga
  • 1967 Organic Law of the State: Institutionalization of the system
  • Franco appointed Juan Carlos as his successor

Triumph of Inertia

  • Matesa case (1969): Corruption
  • Hardening of the regime amid increasing unrest and repression of protests
  • Emergence of critics within the Church
  • Strengthening of the immobile faction

Reinforcing Mass Opposition

Social Movements and Conflict

  • Revival of labor unrest in the 1950s
  • Birth of CCOO in the 1960s, using the regime’s structure to fight it
  • University and neighborhood groups as sources of tension
  • First street demonstrations in the sixties

Political Opposition Groups

  • Re-emergence of political opposition in the sixties
  • 1962 Munich Conspiracy
  • Crucial role of the PCE’s national reconciliation policy
  • Division within the PSOE until the Suresnes Congress (1973)
  • Other groups with Trotskyist or Maoist tendencies (FRAP)
  • Emergence of nationalist groups (PNV and CDC) at the end of Franco’s rule
  • Birth of ETA in 1959

Crisis of the Regime (1973-1975)

The failure of reform and the international context led to the final crisis.

Crisis and Agony of the Dictatorship

  • Assassination of Carrero Blanco in 1973, widening the division between immobility and openness
  • Arias Navarro’s limited reforms (February 1974) failed to democratize, leading to stagnation
  • The ‘bunker’ resorted to fascist violence
  • Opposition efforts to unify: The Democratic Junta (PCE, 1974) and the Democratic Platform (PSOE, 1975)

Bound and Tied

_ either
1974-75 _ _ Franco Diseases.
_ Face of opposition activity repressive attitude _ _ _ New Terrorism Act 1975 _ Death sentences international protests against the Franco dictatorship.
Sahara Conflict _ _ Green March (danger of war with Morocco) _ Claudication and delivery of the Sahara.
Agony of Franco _ _ sense of uncertainty about the future.