Francisco Franco: The Final Fascist

When one discusses the ideology of fascism and the historical events that connect to the political form of rule, one often immediately thinks to Adolf Hitler's autocratic Nazi Germany or Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy. However, these dictators remained in power throughout the 1930s until the Axis lost World War II in 1945, but despite the overall defeat of the dictators, one fascist figure continued to prevail in politics for three more decades after the war: Francisco Franco of Spain. Despite his lengthy tenure as the dictator of Spain for thirty-six years, Franco is usually the least discussed fascist dictator in terms of world history, and despite the eventual worldly opposition to fascism as a whole, he remained in power for years after Hitler and Mussolini were defeated, raising questions to individuals as to what type of an individual Franco was personally and where his impact resides in Spain.

Origins and Rise to Power:

Francisco Franco was born in northwest Spain and both attended military school and resided within the country for most of his life. He grew up with being heavily influenced by the teachings of the Catholic church and interested in donating his services to the Spanish military. By the year 1912, Franco was only twenty years old and was fighting in Morocco to ensure Spanish dominion in the African territory, remaining stationed there for fourteen more years and receiving a series of promotions and accolades for his valiant service to the nation. He eventually became a general by 1926 and directed the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. However, by 1931 the incumbent dictatorial king of Spain, Alfonso XIII, was deposed by local elections, and a new republic was created as being the official form of government (Second Republic), causing Franco's work to arrive at a temporary halt. New Republicans began to curtail the powers of both the monarchy and the Catholic Church, and Franco's public image as an ardent rightist and pious deliver in the Catholic faith provided him with a lot of criticism. Eventually, he resumed his position by a more moderate term of government officials in 1933, returning to be the new army chief of staff. While the republic grew to possess more radical leaders and larger splits occurring among the total population, he discussed with other high-ranking military people of a possible coup of the Second Republic. Eventually, he recruited troops from Spanish Morocco and connected with other right-wing leaders in Europe like Hitler and Mussolini to send him more wartime supplies like ammunition. These actions began the Spanish Civil War which lasted for three years until 1939, placing Franco and other Spanish Nationalists as the victors against the defeated Republicans.

Franco's flag of Spain

Government Policies and Action in Spain

As Franco and the right-wing authoritarians began to dominate government, thousands of Republicans left Spain for their own personal safeties, as tribunals were established to take the lives of thousands of Spaniards believing in ideals different than those of the Nationalists, and thousands more political activists were incarcerated. Catholicism was highly emphasized and began the totalitarian processes of establishing a secret police, creating plans for Spain to supply itself with proper economic goods, and forbade unions; thus creating an ideal dictatorship.

Historians often ask the following question: Why did Franco and the Spanish not intervene in WWII? Although the Spanish did not officially intervene in the war, there were a few troops that were sent to fight on the side of the Axis powers, but Franco made it clear to put Spain first and consolidate his powers and not have them shaken again by the recent outbreak of fighting. It is from this evidence that suggests that although Franco is identified as a fascist, he can be considered to be a nationalist before a fascist in showing his interests in protecting his national power rather than an ideology.

Franco's Postwar Regime - (1945-1975)

Spain after the war was on the brink of utter chaos, for its previous allies, the fascist states, were defeated and utterly unable in providing further resources to the state. However, with the igniting of the Cold War and atomic arms race shortly after the war's conclusion in 1949, the development of Americans beginning to detest communism stimulated them to favor its polarizing form of state: fascism. As identified in previous instances within American history, it is often a trend to witness the American government leaning towards leaders regardless of belief system as long as they suppress and eradicate communism (ex: Batista in Cuba, Diem in Vietnam, Somozas in Nicaragua, etc.), and American interaction with Franco was just another example of anti-communist foreign policy at its work. Franco, most likely out of sheer desperation to maintain order and power, overwhelmingly agreed to allowing for the United States to construct both air and naval bases on Spanish grounds in exchange for economic assistance. In this time, with the deteriorating health of Franco as well as overall fascist authority, Franco's ruling became even more limited and relaxed, causing for new economic proposals and tourism plans to be made. The relationship among Spain and the United States during this postwar era is not often discussed, but Spain became more appealing to the US as they relaxed their fascist doctrine, and the Spanish appreciated the US on account of its economic vigor by the end of Wold War II. Franco eventually dies in 1975, and his successor Juan Carlos I assumes the Spanish throne to reestablish a democratic society once and for all.

Works Cited:

http://www.history.com/topics/francisco-franco
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-Franco
http://www.biography.com/people/francisco-franco-9300766