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Francisco Franco | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | 4 December 1892 Ferrol, Spain |
| Died | 20 November 1975 (aged 82) Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Political orientation | Fascism Falangism |
| Political party | FET y de las JONS |
Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish military general who ruled Spain under a fascist dictatorship from 1939, when he seized power following the Spanish Civil War, until his death in 1975. Franco's brutal dictatorship was supported by the west, as they saw the ideology, not dissimilar to their own, as a useful tool against communism. Under him, Spain was declared a kingdom, though the Spanish king only took power after Franco's death.[1]
Early life[edit | edit source]
Franco was born on 4 December 1892 in Ferrol, a small town on the northern coast of Galicia. He was the second of five children and was born into a family of naval officers. His childhood ingrained him an obsession with duty, routine, and Catholicism, which was exaserbated by his father's abdandoment of his family.[2]
Military career[edit | edit source]
When he was barely a teenager, Franco left his home to enrol in the military academy in Toledo.[2]
Franco was one of the main leaders of the 1936 military insurrection against the elected left wing government of Spain, sparking the Spanish Civil War. The war caused the deaths of half a million people and even after winning it Franco had as many as 20,000 people executed afterwards.[3]
Caudillo of Spain[edit | edit source]
After his victory Franco stylised himself as almost a monarch type figure, setting up his administration in the former royal palace, El Pardo.[2] Franco wished to restore the Spanish Empire, and aimed to make Spain great again by blaming foreigners, Jews, Marxists and Freemasons for the failing Spanish economy. In the early years of Spanish rule, Franco consolidated his power over every aspect of Spanish life, believing himself to be the saviour of Spain, and embraced Autarky, shunning foreign capital and goods in favour of self reliance. These policies led to a famine with even his Nazi allies complaining about his incompetency.[3]
Due to his support for the Axis during the Second World War, despite not actually joining the war, Franco's Spain became a pariah state after their defeat, but with the begginning of the Cold War, the U.S. was happy to rehabilitate his anti-communist regime, no matter how much the people of Spain suffered. The U.S. and the IMF rescued Spain's economy, and by the 60s Spain had been fully embraced by the west, with tourists and money rolling in. During this time Franco dropped some of his more bizzare ideas such as making synthetic gasoline with a “magic” formula, but his absolute control over the country with laws inspired by Joseph Goebbels remained.[3]
As late as the 70s, political parties, trade unions and elections remained banned whilst Spaniards were educated in ultra-conservative schools. The fear driven society started to break down during the last decade of his rule, which Franco responded to by increasing his violent domination of the country, which had been somewhat relaxed by liberalization. Trigger-happy police, torture, firing squads and medieval torture methods returned and, yet when Franco finally died, much of Spain's population was saddened by Franco's death and feared what their country would become without him.[3]
After a prolonged illness and a battle with Parkinson’s disease, Franco died peacefully in a Madrid hospital on 20 November 1975 at the age 82.[4]
Legacy[edit | edit source]
Following Franco's death, Spain became a liberal democracy, but despite this Spain still struggles to fully condemn Franco and historical misunderstandings about the regime run rampant. Far-right groups such as Vox and the Francisco Franco National Foundation outright glorify him and Franco's hometown of Ferrol is a site of pilgramage for fascists. A poll in 2025 found that over 1/5 of young people support Franco and this number only continues to increase.[2][4]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd ed.), vol. 27: 'Franco, Francisco' (1977) (Russian: Boljšaja sovjetskaja enciklopjedija). [PDF] Moscow.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Duncan Wheeler (2025-11-20). "Franco’s Hometown Struggles With an Inglorious Past" Jacobin.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Giles Tremlett (2025-11-21). "Spain has too rosy a view of Franco’s regime. Let’s remind ourselves of its horrors" The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2025-11-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Alyssa Mcmurtry (2025-11-20). "50 years after Franco’s death, young Spaniards increasingly support dictatorship" Anadolu Agency.