Francisco Franco

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Portrait of Francisco Franco in the uniform of the Generalissimo , 1969 in Argentina
Francisco Franco's signature

Francisco Franco [ fɾanˈθisko ˈfɾaŋko ], full name Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde Salgado Pardo (born December 4, 1892 in Ferrol , Galicia , † November 20, 1975 in Madrid ), was a Spanish military and from 1936 to 1975 dictator of the kingdom Spain .

Under his leadership , conservative, monarchist and fascist military, with the support of the fascist Kingdom of Italy and the National Socialist German Reich, carried out a coup in July 1936 against the democratically elected republican government of Spain in February 1936. Previously, Franco had had a long career as a military man until 1931 under the monarchy and later in the Second Spanish Republic , and was appointed general on February 3, 1926. His career began in 1904 and was marked by the suppression of several uprisings. As a legionnaire , Franco was largely responsible for the smashing of the rebellious Rif republic in western North Africa in 1926 , as an advisor to various war ministers, he was able to prevent an anarchist revolution and in 1934 to end a miners' strike in the Principality of Asturias , which earned him the recognition of right-wing and monarchist circles and one made possible rapid political advancement as the leader of the nationalists . His successes in Africa in the 1920s gave him enormous popularity in Spain at least until 1934 . In 1935 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army .

Franco ruled dictatorially from 1939 after his military coup that sparked the Spanish Civil War in 1936 . In his first years of rule, in the course of a nationalist and traditionalist doctrine, he had attempts to achieve autonomy suppressed in the Spanish regions, executed several hundred thousand alleged and actual opponents and interned around 1.5 million political prisoners in a total of 190 different concentration camps. In the African colonies he briefly disenfranchised parts of the local population during the Second World War , encouraged the immigration of Spanish settlers, expanded the colonial administration and only allowed limited political self-determination in the areas. His system of rule, like the ideology on which it is based, is called Franquism and can be divided into the phases primer franquismo (the years 1939–1959), segundo franquismo (1959–1969) and tardofranquismo (1969–1975). In 1947 he legally reinstated the monarchy in Spain without appointing a king. Franco remained head of state as regent for 39 years until his death and head of government of the Kingdom of Spain until 1973 . While he was able to maintain the neutrality of his country in World War II and refused to join the war on the side of the Axis powers , he was one of the leading European anti-communist personalities in the Cold War and pursued a restrictive foreign policy towards the Soviet Union and its satellite states . As nominal commander in chief of the Spanish Armed Forces , he waged two colonial wars against the emerging Kingdom of Morocco in the colonies of Ifni ( Ifni War ) and Spanish Sahara ( Green March ) and resolutely opposed the decolonization of the Spanish possessions on the African continent until 1968/69 .

The symbolic intervention of Spain in the Korean War and the later Vietnam War in favor of the United States , which reciprocated with economic and political support in the late 1950s, ended the forced isolation of Spain that had persisted since the end of the World War and legitimized the Franco regime internationally. Following liberal economic reforms, Spain experienced the greatest economic growth in the 20th century under Franco's rule; this made the country one of the world's largest economies. On July 22, 1969, Franco appointed the future King Juan Carlos I as his successor. As a strategic partner of the United States in South America, Francoist Spain has had a great influence on the dictatorships there in recent years (for example in Chile under Augusto Pinochet ) and has served as a model in many cases. Nevertheless, the Spanish dictatorship found itself in a domestic political crisis in its later years. The political, social and military crisis, which had intensified rapidly since 1973, and the rivalries between the individual wings within the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS state party, which had existed since April 1937 , also undermined Franco's personal dictatorship. In order to solve the crisis, he took back full command of all three branches of the armed forces and, as a military dictator , was able to prevent a possible overthrow of opposition supporters.

After Franco's death in November 1975, the transition phase from Franquism to a parliamentary monarchy of the western model ( Transición ) began. On June 15, 1977, Spain elected a parliament in free general elections for the first time since 1936. After the dismissal of Franco's Prime Minister Carlos Arias Navarro by Juan Carlos I was Adolfo Suárez 's new Prime Minister of Spain and ended the dictatorial regime of Franco final. The process of coming to terms with Franco's almost 40-year rule did not begin until the 2000s. Nevertheless, Franquism and the decades-long glorification of Franco's personality through a personality cult that is unique in Spanish history continue to have a political, economic and social impact to this day.

Franco, as head of state of Spain, used the title El Caudillo de España ("The Leader of Spain") by the grace of God.

Early years

Coat of arms of the Franco family until 1940

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was born on December 4, 1892 as the second of five children of the naval officer Nicolás Franco y Salgado Araújo (November 22, 1855 to February 22, 1942) and his wife María del Pilar Bahamonde y Pardo de Andrade (1865-28 February 1934) was born at number 108 on Calle Frutos Saavedra in the historic center of Ferrol in the province of A Coruña . He was baptized on December 17th in the Military Church of San Francisco with the name Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde . He was given the baptismal name Paulino from his paternal grandfather, Hermenegildo from his maternal grandmother, and Teódulo on the day of his birth. His father's ancestors came from Andalusia . Since moving to Galicia, his father's family, but also those of his mother, were firmly rooted in the military tradition of the Spanish Navy. His mother came from an upper middle-class Catholic family and was an extensive relative of the Galician writer Emilia Pardo Bazán . The two married in 1890. The rumor that Franco had Jewish ( Sephardic ) ancestors is controversial.

The young Franco spent much of his childhood with his two brothers Nicolás (1891–1977), later naval officer and diplomat, who was married to María Isabel Pascual del Pobil y Ravello, Ramón , an aviation pioneer, and his two sisters María del Pilar (1894 –1989), later wife of Alonso Jaraiz y Jerez, and María de la Paz (1899–1903).

Franco was born into an unhappy home. Quarrel between his parents led to the breakup of the family, and in 1907 the father moved alone to Cádiz , later to Madrid.

Franco's father Nicolás was a Liberal and was a soldier in the colonies of Cuba and the Philippines. In the Philippines, a native gave him a illegitimate son, whom he left behind on his return to Ferrol. He had casual habits and often went to other women or to parties. Franco's mother, Pilar, was conservative and very religious. The father's behavior at home was authoritarian. Although he did not hit the children, he was often grumpy with family members. However, Franco was largely able to evade his influence and was raised almost alone by his mother. Later it became the refuge of all siblings. She gave them tenacity and ambition. Franco later described himself as an antithesis to his father and identified almost completely with his mother.

The Spanish-American War of 1898 became a formative experience for Franco and part of his rudimentary political ideology. For Franco, the loss of Cuba later represented the final collapse of the Spanish Empire . He saw the cause of the defeat in corrupt liberal politicians who paid far too little attention to the army. But the war had consequences not only for him, but also for his home country Spain: In the 20th century, the monarchy suffered from decades of political instability and the subsequent civil war. In the hometown of Ferrol, which was an important port for the Spanish Navy, conditions similar to civil war broke out.

Military career

Promotions and Appointments (1904–1975):

Beginnings

Franco, like his father, wanted to become a naval officer. At the age of 12, he and his brother Nicolás and his cousin Francisco Franco Salgado-Araujo , also known as Pacón, were admitted to the naval preparatory training in 1904. But as a result of Spain's defeat in the Spanish-American War, the country lost many ships in battle and most of its colonies and possessions. Only the African colonies could be held. From 1906 to 1913 no further officers were trained nationwide.

Much to the chagrin of his father, Franco decided to join the Spanish army . In August 1907, at the age of 15, Franco entered the Toledo Infantry Academy . In 1910 he graduated as the 251st of 312 cadets.

Franco wanted to go to Africa, contrary to his former colonel from the Infantry Academy José Villalba Riquelme. He was denied it, presumably because of his poor evaluation in the military academy. He was transferred to Ferrol. There he befriended his cousin and former classmate Camilo Alonso Vega, who later became an important confidante of Franco.

Rise in the Rif War

First period in Africa: Regulares Indígenas

Franco in Alférezuniform , 1910

On February 17, 1912 Franco went with his classmate and cousin to Melilla in the newly acquired Spanish-Morocco protectorate . Previously, the Spanish efforts to establish this protectorate had provoked the Rifkabylen Berber tribes living in the Rifatlas and triggered protracted Rif wars . The tactics of the insurgents led to high losses in the Spanish army, but also gave young officers the opportunity to advance quickly. Franco began his career under the motto: Rise or Death .

At the beginning of the Second Rif War he was assigned to the 68th regiment under Colonel José Villalba Riquelme. His first duties in Africa included routine operations; Among other things, he was responsible for the correspondence between the various units of the Spanish African Army in Spanish-Morocco. On June 13, at the age of 19, he was promoted to lieutenant and on April 15, 1913 to head the indigenous Regular Regiment , a unit formed in 1911 from Moorish mercenaries under Dámaso Berenguer Fusté . His previous entry was likely due to his love affair with Sofía Subirán .

On October 12, 1913, Franco was awarded the Cruz al Mérito Militar, First Class, for his successful strategy in the fight against the Berbers. On February 1, 1914, he was promoted to captain for his courage in the battle of Beni Salem . In his early stages in Africa, Franco displayed an unusual risk-taking and ambition among the soldiers. His tactical skills were highly recognized. In the Rif War, Franco's strategy was to be as aggressive as possible against the Berbers. In retaliation, there were raids by tribes on camps of the Spanish occupiers almost daily.

The Regulares was reorganized under Franco's command. As a commander, Franco was very strict with his soldiers and instilled iron discipline on them. Even small violations could end with execution by a firing squad specially set up by Franco. Nevertheless, he enjoyed a high reputation among his soldiers. Some of them later claimed that Franco intended not to lose any battles, and also to survive all battles and skirmishes unscathed. In fact, he was one of the five of the original 41 soldiers in his regiment who were not killed or injured. A problem for Franco, however, was the complete neglect of his troops and their inadequate supply. In the colonial war there, as in previous wars, more soldiers died of disease than in armed struggle.

In 1916 Franco was shot by enemy machine gun fire in the village of El-Biutz (between Ceuta and Tangier ). He was badly wounded in the abdomen, particularly the liver, and lost a testicle . The doctors treating him later found that his bowels had been spared because he had inhaled when he was shot at. His survival made him known permanently in the eyes of the local troops as the man of luck ( baraka ). He was recommended for Spain's highest award for valor, the coveted Cruz Laureada de San Fernando , but instead received the Cross of Maria Cristina, First Class . Because of his serious injury, which could have resulted in death, he spent several months in the hospital in Ceuta. His divorced parents visited him there. On February 28, 1917 he was by King Alfonso XIII. promoted to major , the youngest in the Spanish army.

Transfer to Oviedo

After his promotion to major, Franco left Spanish Morocco and was transferred to Oviedo in Asturias in 1917 . There he was shown a certain respect. He was allowed to stay in the luxury hotel Hotel París for free and became friends with Joaquín Arrarás. During his stay in Oviedo he met his future wife Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés .

During his three-year stay in Spain, Franco found himself confronted with increasing tensions. The war in Africa deepened the division between the military and Spanish civil society. Numerous Spaniards refused military service. In 1909 the tragic week had already come, during which numerous anarchists spoke out against the war.

For Franco, the Rif War marked a rapid ascent, even though thousands of other soldiers and hundreds of officers had died. A general strike was called in Asturias on August 10, 1917. One of the main people responsible for the military repression of the strikers was Franco. Nevertheless, the riots lasted for another 20 days. The successful crushing of the revolt earned him the respect of Alfonso XIII. and the later dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera .

Second period in Africa: the Legion

Spanish Legion emblem

On January 28, 1920, Lieutenant Colonel José Millán Astray founded the Spanish Legion ( Legión Española ) on behalf of Minister of War José Villalba Riquelme . The French Foreign Legion served as a model . Millán Astray, an admirer of Franco, tried to influence him and win over him for his project.

During a meeting in Valdemoro , near Madrid in September and October , he appointed Franco as deputy director. Franco did not hesitate and returned to Africa. Thanks to his experience with the Regulares Indígenas , he was able to turn the troop, originally consisting of 500 men, into a strong division. On September 27th, Franco commanded three battalions within the Legion. On October 10, 200 of his legionaries wreaked havoc in Ceuta . On the night of October 11, the legionaries terrorized the residents of the city for reasons unknown and murdered a prostitute, a sergeant and two other people. Franco had to take responsibility for this and let military justice rule. His reputation was then in parts of the civilian population, especially communists and anarchists, on the ground.

Despite this setback, the Legion continued to use extreme brutality in Morocco. The civilian population was attacked, and many prisoners were beheaded and their severed heads displayed as trophies.

On June 8, 1921, the Rif War broke out again . The Battle of Annual on July 22nd, which resulted in the deaths of 8,000 Spaniards, was a disaster for Spain's reputation as a regional power and led to a domestic political crisis. Shortly afterwards, after a three-day forced march led by Franco, the Legion and other support units were sent to help. They managed to retaliate, which has now been welcomed by the majority of the Spanish population. Franco's fallen popularity began to grow again, and he was recommended as a guarantor of stability in the army for higher things. Franco decided to change strategy nonetheless. The central Rif was evacuated by Spanish troops and bombarded with mustard gas by early 1925 .

In the euphoria of victory, the Rifkabylen proclaimed the Rif Republic in 1923 , but their existence contradicted European unification over the division of Morocco. An effective naval blockade was carried out against them.

In January 1922, Franco was promoted to lieutenant colonel, although the king had previously raised concerns. Shortly afterwards he was granted a trip to Oviedo to visit his lover. In Oviedo he was invited by her family to banquets and celebrations of the local nobility . In the same year he published a book in which he talked about his time in Africa.

After Villalba Riquelme caused a scandal at Alfonso XIII. fell out of favor and sparked the outrage of Spanish society, he was removed from command of the Legion and replaced by Franco in 1923.

On October 13, 1923, Franco was allowed to return to Spain and married Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés on October 22. As Franco was also the royal chamberlain, the best man of the wedding was King Alfonso XIII . Following his honeymoon, Franco was ordered to Madrid and personally introduced to the king. This meeting and other occasions of royal attention had earned him the reputation of a monarchical officer during the Second Spanish Republic .

Promoted to colonel, Franco carried out the landing of Spanish troops on September 8, 1925 in what would later become the city of Al-Hoceima in Spanish Morocco. This landing in the heartland of the Abd el-Krim tribe, combined with the French invasion in the south, marked the beginning of the end of the short-lived Rif republic. After successfully completing the operation, he was promoted to brigadier general on February 3, 1926 . This made him the youngest general in Europe since the time of Napoleon Bonaparte . After the end of the war in Spanish Morocco in 1927, Franco was appointed director of the army officers' school, the Academia Militar in Saragossa , in 1928.

His only daughter, Maria del Carmen, was born on September 14, 1926 .

During the Second Spanish Republic

Portrait of Franco, 1930

When the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed by Niceto Alcalá Zamora on April 14, 1931 , Franco tried to intervene with his cadets to defeat King Alfonso XIII. to get the throne. However, he was recalled by the director of the Guardia Civil General José Sanjurjo . On April 15, Franco announced the end of the operation and called on his cadets to obey the new state.

Army reform of 1931

Shortly after the proclamation, Defense Minister Manuel Azaña , appointed on April 14, 1931, tried to push through an army reform of the Spanish armed forces. The two main goals were to get a more modern and efficient army and to subordinate the hitherto largely independent military to civilian power. One of his first decrees was issued on April 22nd and obliged military commanders and officials to take an oath on the republic. Franco was also affected, but he refused, stating:

"I only serve in the name of the Spanish Crown."

The second reform concerned the downsizing of the military budget and the dismissal of officers. On April 25th, Azaña issued a decree reducing the number of superfluous officers. The law stipulated that the military should voluntarily retire from active service on full pay. Almost 9,000 officers (including 84 generals) made use of it.

Another decree issued in May and June revised all the promotions and awards issued during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera . However, there were some exceptions. The reform cost about 300 military personnel their ranks. Franco was spared at first. In July, Azaña closed the military academy in Zaragoza under Franco's direction. This led to initial tensions between Franco and the new system. Azaña found Franco's farewell speech to his cadets insulting and put Franco under police surveillance for six months.

However, not only Franco, but also a large part of the officials and conservative political circles rejected the reforms. Franco soon emerged as their speaker, claiming that Manuel Azaña wanted to "crush" the Spanish army.

By December 1931, the reforms had largely been implemented. The parliament had previously confirmed the decrees. Another decree was issued in September 1932 that changed the manner in which officers were promoted and demoted Franco from the first to the twenty-fourth brigadier in the Army. Nevertheless, the law had a decisive influence on the unification of the army, which was also welcomed by Franco.

In September 1932, another law banned officers who had not served at least six months from the military academies. Franco's former cadets were also affected. As a result, later in the Spanish Civil War, about 95% of them would fight on his side.

As early as March 1932, parliament had passed a law regulating the treatment of reservists. This, too, in fact marked an attack on the old elites - in order to ensure the army's complete loyalty to the republic.

The same law stipulated that civil servants should not only take an oath, but also that if they refused to take the oath, they should be punished for defamation of the republic. The parliamentarians Miguel Maura and Engel Ossorio and Gallardo condemned this.

A particularly sensitive issue for Franco and his supporters was the reduction of compulsory military service to 12 months and the reform of the privileged military justice system. It marked the general's complete break with the new state.

Coup in Galicia 1932

The various reforms of Azaña resolved both under Carlist monarchists and supporters of Alfonso XIII. Displeasure. The association Comunión Tradicionalista , which had made it its goal to preserve the old order, gained more popularity. Their paramilitary arm Requeté made contact with Franco. Contrary to the plans, the latter then proposed not to make a mass movement out of it, and called on three points to renew the cultural, traditionalist and conservative course of the association. As a result, the new party Renovación Española (Spanish Renewal) was founded. She tried to unite the rising fascism in Spain and the other anti-republican factions under her flag. On March 4, 1933, the goal was achieved with the establishment of the Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right).

In addition to the monarchists, a large part of the army was hostile to the republic. General Sanjurjo sat at its head. Although he had not initially shown much interest in overthrowing the government with Azaña, his mind changed when he was removed from his post as director of the Civil Guard in January 1932. The reason for this was his excessive repression against the workers' movements in Arnedo and Logroño . In return, he was given the post of Director General of the Police.

In February 1932 Franco was posted to military governor of the Galician province of A Coruña and appointed head of the local infantry brigade. In July 1932, four weeks before a planned coup in Galicia ( La Sanjurjada ), Franco met with Sanjurjo in secret in Madrid to solicit his support.

The coup attempt took place on August 10th. The uprising began in the city of A Coruña and spread to Madrid on the same day. A group of military personnel and some armed civilians under the command of General Cavalcanti Barrera tried to occupy the War Ministry, where Azaña was located, with some units of the Guardia Civil and to urge Azaña to resign. Despite sympathy, Franco avoided participation. Nine putschists died in the skirmishes in the Plaza de Cibeles opposite the Ministry of Defense. In Seville , where General Sanjurjo had his headquarters, there were minor skirmishes. Despite the tense situation, he kept his loyal troops billeted and declared a state of war. In a manifesto he announced that he had not put into a coup against the republic as such. This disappointed some of the monarchists who supported him. But he also outraged the workers in the city, and a general strike broke out. However, since the coup had turned out to be a failure from the start and Azaña and his government had already known of the plan, Sanjurjo fled to Portugal , but was arrested in Huelva on the border. Sanjurjo was sentenced to death by a court martial. The verdict was commuted to life imprisonment by decree of the President of the Republic of Niceto Alcalá Zamora . Another 145 participants in the coup were arrested and exiled to the Spanish Sahara colony in Ad-Dakhla . The same was done with 104 anarchists who had staged an uprising a few months earlier.

Although Franco was not directly involved and even refused Sanjurjo's request for military help, the coup attempt also had consequences for him. He was deposed as military governor of A Coruña Province. On February 17, 1933, he was given command of the Spanish troops in the Balearic Islands as military governor .

The expropriation of the property of the Spanish aristocracy , who were accused of having financially supported the coup, resolutely rejected the expropriation of the property by parliament . After the failed coup, Sanjurjo and Franco were increasingly supported financially by monarchists. There were also smaller fascist groups. In 1931, Ramiro Ledesma and Onésimo Redondo led their respective groups to the National Syndicalist Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (Associations of the National Syndicalist Offensive). It was based primarily on Italian fascism , which Franco later preferred over National Socialism , which was too radical for him .

Another important fascist faction was founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera together with the journalist and writer Rafael Sánchez Mazas and aviator Julio Ruiz de Alda of the Spanish trade union movement (MES). The later Falange became an important pillar of Franco. From 1937 he was their party leader and regularly wore their symbols on his uniform.

During the hostilities of the Catholic Church and the secular republic, especially after the coup, Franco sided with the opposition. The republic had stripped the church of all privileges and abolished it as the state religion . The radical secularization of the republican-socialist government of Manuel Azaña led to the strengthening of political Catholicism in Spain. In March 1932 the Acción Popular was founded. This was inspired by the Catholic Church in terms of leadership, ideological discourse and organizational resources. It was later combined to form the CEDA. This alliance of religious and conservative parties found supporters not only in the oligarchy of the old regime, but also among thousands of peasants and the poorer middle class. Franco also sympathized with her. The CEDA fought massively against the reform policy of the left alliance. Military and intellectual circles tried to end the secularity of the state and stirred up fear of the rise of the working class . The new Catholic party began its activities in search of a direct confrontation with the government. Republicans were portrayed as persecutors of the Church and therefore declared enemies of the fatherland, and socialists were declared enemies of property and family. In 1934, Professor Jose Maria Gil of Law at the University of Salamanca estimated the number of members at 600,000.

Rise under the Lerroux / Ibáñez government

A center-right coalition was formed as a result of the November 1933 elections, in which women participated for the first time (a total of 6,800,000 registered votes), and the defeat of the left Republicans and Socialists. Although Franco was not among those who opposed women's suffrage , the majority of his supporters were.

The faction of the republican right had around 200 members (115 of them from CEDA ), while the ruling center-right coalition under Alejandro Lerroux had 170 members. The radical party leader Alejandro Lerroux was commissioned by President Alcala Zamora to form a purely “republican” government, but with the confidence of parliament. The CEDA and the Liberal Democrats, who were allowed to appoint a minister in the government, agreed after initial hesitation. Franco then turned away from CEDA. The support of the CEDA also led to the apostasy of the Carlist monarchists and was declared a "treason". Franco then began to act as a contact between them and Benito Mussolini . In the event of a successful coup d'état, the latter offered support to convert republican democracy into a fascist kingdom based on the Italian model.

On the orders of the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III. , whom Franco admired from his time in World War I and who had granted him and other monarchist greats an audience in Rome , and in consultation with Mussolini, the Spanish monarchists were supported with money, weapons and propaganda. Although this could be seen as a betrayal of the republic, acceptance of this support was tolerated. The Lerroux government also wanted to reverse the reforms in Azaña. The aim was to get the army back on their side. As part of the revision, Franco was rehabilitated and the monarchists could be appeased.

On April 20, 1934, parliament passed an amnesty law (one of the three items in the CEDA's “minimum program”). It included pardoning everyone involved in the 1932 coup.

Anarchist Revolution in December 1933

At the beginning of December 1933, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) staged an anarchist uprising which was accompanied by a revolutionary general strike and activities by armed militias. The centers were the city of Saragossa and the regions of Aragon and La Rioja . Usually the goal was the implementation of communist anarchism . On December 8, the uprising spread to Extremadura , Andalusia , Catalonia and the mining area of León . There were violent clashes with the security forces, explosions, the destruction of documents and writings, the burning of churches, sabotage of railways (e.g. train derailments) and bridges as well as telegraphs and telephone lines, and numerous shootings and skirmishes.

The uprising began on the day the newly elected parliament under Alejandro Lerroux was opened. The still provisional right-wing government responded with massive retaliatory attacks. Franco, already a division general and advisor to War Minister Diego Hidalgo , played a crucial role in this. By December 15, he had largely succeeded in suppressing the revolution. On December 18, the first government of Lerroux was sworn in and the situation calmed down again.

The anarchist uprising of December 1933 was the third and last of the CNT's revolts in the Second Republic, after the first uprising in January 1932 and the second uprising in January 1933.

The consequences of the seven-day uprising in December 1933 were 75 dead and 101 wounded among the rebels. The state power lost 11 members of the Guardia Civil as well as three guards to an attack and 45 wounded. The various unions later blamed each other for the defeat.

Asturias uprising in 1934

Following the CEDA's announcement that it would withhold parliamentary approval for Ricardo Samper's government , and demands to join the government, Samper was ousted by Niceto Alcala Zamora and replaced by Alejandro Lerroux. In the new government, the CEDA was allowed to appoint three ministers. When this became known, the socialist opposition threatened a “social revolution”. Because the CEDA ignored this, an armed miners' strike began on October 5, 1934 in Asturias . The strike was preceded by a clear radicalization of the socialists. The reason for this was the defeat in the elections in November 1933. Most socialists abandoned the “parliamentary route” to socialism and henceforth advocated a violent takeover of power, as in the October Revolution in the Russian Empire in 1917. This decision was driven by the activism of the socialist youth and the events of February 1934 in Austria, when the Christian-social chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss crushed a rebellion in Vienna. The event has been interpreted by Spanish socialists as a warning of what to expect if the CEDA came to power. Francisco Largo Caballero , who had been president of the socialist party PSOE and general secretary of the union General de Trabajadores (UGT) since January 1934, played a leading role in this political process .

The announced “revolutionary general strike” began on October 5th and spread to practically every major city in the country, but the use of force was limited and reduced. Only in the center of the revolt in Asturias did shootings break out between revolutionaries, often holed up in civilian houses, and government troops. In the Basque Country , where nationalists and separatists began to support the uprising, the hardest armed clashes took place until October 12th. In the mining area of Bizkaia , guards killed at least 40 people, mostly strikers. In Eibar and Mondragon , violent actions by the rebels cost several victims, including the prominent traditionalist leader Marcelino Oreja Elósegui .

With no connection to the socialist insurgent strike, the President of the Generalitat de Catalunya Lluís Companys i Jover proclaimed a partially sovereign Catalan state within Spain at around 8 a.m. on Saturday, October 6th. He later described it as a measure against monarchist and fascist forces trying to seize power. Companys then called for the formation of a "Provisional Government of the Republic" with its seat in Barcelona. But the Catalan uprising ended quickly due to a lack of planning and poor popular support. On October 7th, the intervention of the army under General Domingo Batet turned the situation back in favor of the central government in Madrid. Betate's relatively moderate measures were able to prevent a bloodbath in time. Nevertheless, eight soldiers and 38 civilians died. President Lluís Companys i Jover was declared deposed and the 1932 Statute of Autonomy suspended (although the monarchist right demanded that it be repealed entirely).

In Asturias, unlike the rest of Spain, today it can be seen as a real attempt at social revolution. There the uprising is called "Red October". The reasons for the “Asturian difference” lie in the CNT's hegemony in the area over the other unions and the Spanish Communist Party and that the uprising was carefully prepared. Preparations included calls from earlier general strikes, the procurement of weapons and explosives through theft in armaments factories and the training of paramilitary militias. Two weeks before the uprising, they numbered about 20,000 workers. During the fighting, the militias managed to gain control of Nalón , Caudal , Gijón and Avilés and the capital Oviedo . Oviedo could not be fully occupied. There were violent clashes between the police and the revolutionaries in the city center. Nevertheless, a "revolutionary committee" was formed there under Ramon Gonzalez Pena with coordinated committees. The aim was to maintain the “revolutionary order”, but it could not stop the wave of violence against right-wing landowners and religious people. The revolutionaries set fire to 58 churches and monasteries, the episcopal palace, the seminary and damaged the cathedral of Oviedo . In order to crush the “Asturian Commune”, the central government had to fall back on the African colonial troops. The Spanish Legion was sent under Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yagüe . However, the entire crackdown operation was under the direction of Franco, who acted as advisor to War Minister Diego Hidalgo in Madrid . In October the 18 insurgent leaders capitulated. The death toll ranged from 1,100 to 2,000 deaths among rebels and civilians. The army and local security forces lost around 300 men.

The Spanish right (both the monarchists of the Spanish renewal and the “accidentalists” of the CEDA) interpreted the “October Revolution” as an “anti-static work” and as non-patriotic or unpatriotic. This gave rise to the idea that the backbone of Spain was the army. The party leader of the Spanish renewal, Jose Calvo Sotelo, also said this in a famous speech. The right-wing press reported almost exclusively on the army and Franco and only to a limited extent on the uprising itself. Furthermore, the anti-republican right had viewed the left uprising as preparation for a major right-wing revolution.

The repression ordered by Franco after the uprising was very severe. With the approval of the government, he had about thirty thousand sympathizers or participants arrested across Spain. For Franco this effectively meant the end of his popularity with the common people. He declared a state of war in Asturias for months and there were massive executions of alleged insurgents. The Guardia Civil even tortured prisoners under its commandant Lisardo Doval. Several leaders of the left were also arrested, including that of the Socialist Revolutionary Committee under Francisco Largo Caballero. The general's uncompromising action against the rebels earned him the recognition of the majority of right-wing and conservative circles.

The former Prime Minister Manuel Azaña was also arrested in Barcelona, ​​where he was accused of participating in the uprising in Catalonia. However, on December 24, after 90 days, the case against him was dropped for lack of evidence and his immediate release ordered. Franco and large parts of the army protested against it.

Chief of Staff under the CEDA government

After the failure of the Asturian uprising, the socialist and anarchist left were severely weakened. There was a slide to the right for fear of having to experience another revolution. The increasing pressure on the government of Ricardo Samper Ibáñez led to a deep government crisis. Prime Minister Samper resigned on October 4, 1934. The Radical Party and the Peasant Party denied him any further support and pursued a policy of “anti-reform” with “counter-revolutionary aims” (as they said), which led to tension with the center-right Republicans and the Catholic right-wing CEDA. In addition, the CEDA pursued the goal of attaining the presidency of the government in order to bring about an “authoritarian turn”.

The government crisis of 1934/35 made it possible for General Franco, who was appointed Chief of the General Staff by the new War Minister José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones , and thus Commander in Chief of the Spanish Army, to act as independently as possible.

Like his predecessor, José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones did not test the officers' loyalty to the republic. In addition to Franco, General Emilio Mola, as head of the Moroccan army, was one of the disloyal officers in high positions. So later the nationalists could rise and start the civil war. Franco, as chief of staff, dismissed members of the army officially known as the “left” with the goodwill of the government, and discreetly began a new restructuring of the Spanish army. Some of the reforms of that time still have an effect today.

conspiracy

prehistory

Parliamentary elections in February 1936

At the end of 1935, the ruling center-right coalition under Alejandro Lerroux broke up amid the Estraperlo corruption scandal. President Alcala Zamora then called on the government to resign and set new elections for February 1936. Already at this point there were fears of a left-wing victory.

In the elections there were two major electoral alliances: the Frente Popular (Popular Front) with the Unión Republicana (Republican Union) and the Communists on the one hand, and the Frente Nacional (National Front) with the remnants of the conservative Carlist on the other. The latter consisted predominantly of the CEDA, which, out of its striving for power, tried to ally itself with republican forces. In addition to the monarchists, the alliance also consisted of radical, liberal and progressive republicans. However, it was impossible to present a common and uniform program. As a provisional solution, slogans such as “for God and for Spain!” Were agreed.

In addition to the two major alliances, there was also a third "centrist" option, led by Prime Minister Manuel Portela Valladares . Niceto Alcalá Zamora was one of their best known supporters and tried to establish a "republican center" against both alliances.

The elections had the highest turnout of all three general elections in the Second Republic, at 72.9%. The result was a balanced distribution of votes. The Frente Popular received 47.1% and the right wing alliance 45.6% of the vote, while the center remained limited to 5.3%. The victory of the Popular Front, which had 263 members of parliament (including 37 from the Front d'Esquerres from Catalonia), triggered growing political bitterness on February 16, 1936 among representatives of the Catholic Church , monarchists and large parts of the armed forces. The Frente National had 156 MPs and the parties of a center-right alliance 54. The Falange , which refused to join one of the three alliances, received 46,466 votes, or 0.5%.

Despite the defeat, the CEDA and the army leadership (including Franco) swore to accept the result and to prevent a possible coup . Despite this confession, Franco took an ambiguous stance. On the one hand, he rejected the electoral victory of the left, on the other hand, he had to come to terms with the government in order not to be sidelined again.

At the end of January 1936, rumors were spread about the preparations for a military coup and the alleged participation of Franco. Prime Minister Manuel Portela telegraphed the General Director of the Guardia Civil Vicente Santiago and asked for a meeting between the two. The meeting turned into a scandal and Franco, who was still chief of the general staff, manifested himself in front of Santiago as a "loyal servant of Spain in the fight against communism".

Although the victory of the Popular Front in February could no longer be averted, Franco and Minister of War José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones tried in a coordinated way to reverse the decision of the polls. On the night of February 17th, Gil-Robles tried to get the Interior Ministry in Madrid to declare a state of war and to suspend constitutional guarantees. Franco was in opposition to this initiative. Nevertheless, Gil-Robles managed to impose martial law with General Nicolás Molero and to have the Guardia Civil take to the streets to prevent unrest.

The next morning, representatives of the Spanish government met to discuss the implementation of martial law. The outcome of the meeting was the declaration of a state of emergency for eight days and the resignation of Portela, who considered martial law appropriate at the time. Franco, knowing that he would remain chief of staff for the time being, sent orders to the various military regions. The regions of Aragon , Valencia and Asturias then decided to declare a state of war. They sent their own main teams to prevent the Guardia Civil from intervening. So when Franco met Prime Minister Portela that afternoon, he was able to play skillfully in both directions. Franco promised Portela the support of the military against the Popular Front if he came to power, but asked for more contributions to the army.

After Manuel Azaña was sworn in on February 19, 1936, the left government and its supporters sparked a campaign against the opposition, which was accused of conspiracy against the republic. According to the right-wing opposition, the real enemies of the republic were not them, but the communists, who would plunge Spain into a “communist dictatorship” (similar to the Soviet Union ) and deprive Spanish citizens of all basic rights.

Popular Front Government

The victory of the Popular Front with the declaration of a state of war was a first attempt by nationalist circles to carry out a coup against the government. General Franco, who at first refused to take part, but then went along with the idea, was called back by the still-War Minister Nicolás Molero Lobo.

The result of the attempted first coup was exactly the opposite of what was intended. The incumbent Prime Minister immediately gave power to the new Azaña government. Azaña was able to form a new government on Wednesday February 19, 1936, and not in March as agreed.

One of the first official acts of the new government was the removal of officers from 1933-1936 from high positions. On February 23, Franco was deposed as chief of staff and installed as military governor of the Canary Islands in Santa Cruz de Tenerife , far from the center of power Madrid . Franco described the procedure as destierro (banishment). He was succeeded by General Emilio Mola as military governor of Navarre .

But the most important measure taken by the new government was to amnesty the leaders of the October 1934 uprising. The reason for this were demonstrations in Madrid that demanded this and the opening of several prisons. The amnesty enabled 30,000 “political and social” prisoners to be released. Another urgent measure was the removal of right-wing or unelected mayors and councilors from 1931 onwards. On February 28, the government had succeeded in appeasing the labor movement and promised the major trade unions that all workers suspended in 1934 would be reinstated and that wages would be paid.

Another important part of the amnesty was the release on March 1st of members of the Government of the Generality of Catalonia . Franco had tried to prevent this before. Shortly thereafter, Lluís Companys i Jover was re-President of Catalonia. The Azaña government also decided to restore the autonomy of the Basque Country. The reforms were opposed by the right-wing, conservative and centralist spectrum. Some of these were also Republicans, which in fact meant an increase in power for Franco.

Nevertheless, it was only when the “agricultural question” was taken up again that the climax of the right-wing protests was reached. The Popular Front government encountered incomprehension among large landowners and the military with its plan to implement land reform. Although the standard of living of the impoverished farmers, like those in Andalusia , improved as a result, the project also met resistance from within its own ranks. Nevertheless, the reform was supported by a majority, and as a sign, around eighty thousand Andalusian farmers and those in Extremadura who were in the Extremadura as a result of a campaign by the socialist Federación Nacional da Trabajadores de la Tierra (FNTT) took their farms, from which they were taken over by the CEDA Governments had been forcibly evicted, demonstratively regained possession. This had created a fait accompli, forcing the Ministry of Agriculture to change previous legislation, demonstrating the instability and weakness of the Second Republic, and playing into the hands of the right wing. The occupation began on March 26th in Badajoz province , during which around 60,000 workers forcibly took over 2,000 factories. On April 19, the Minister of Agriculture, Mariano Ruiz-Funes, presented several conditions to repeal the agrarian reform of August 1935. The law was finally repealed on June 11 and replaced by the 1932 Agrarian Reform Act. In March and July 1936, around 115,000 farmers were able to take ownership of their farms again. However, it came to nationwide riots in which Franco, contrary to his authority, sent the Guardia Civil. She mainly arrested farmers who wanted to fell protected trees on their private farm and was responsible for the deaths of 17 people. But going it alone had no consequences for Franco.

On May 10, 1936, the previous president Niceto Alcalá Zamora was removed from office and replaced by Manuel Azaña. The process began on April 3rd and was passed on April 7th by 238 votes against 5. Since there was resistance within the government to the appointment of the socialist Indalecio Prieto as prime minister, the moderately left historian Augusto Barcia Trelles briefly became head of government and later Santiago Casares Quiroga . For the right and Franco this meant the final loss of power to the left spectrum, since Zamora belonged to the liberal right.

The new government of Santiago Casares Quiroga continued the reform policy. One of the main problems facing the new government was waves of strikes from the anarchist CNT and the Union General de Trabajadores (UGT) union , which were also against the left-wing government. Another problem facing the government was the internal split in the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), the main party on the Popular Front. This encouraged CEDA and its monarchist allies to take action against the government. Meanwhile, the UGT, with the support of the PSOE, tried to enter the government and called for more understanding for the working class.

Political radicalization and violence

The union radicalized its methods due to the denial of entry. The merger of the Unión de Juventudes Comunistas de España (Communist Youth) with the Partido Comunista de España (Communist Party of Spain) to form the Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas (United Socialist Youth) in June 1936 was an important step in this direction. This left-wing extremist association was led by Santiago Carrillo , later a major opponent of Franco in the Spanish Civil War . A majority of the right-wing spectrum under the CEDA also opted for a boycott of the republican institutions and began to support the path of violent abolition of the republic, which the monarchist right advocated. The radicalization has led to an increase in political violence. The Falange , which had been a small party before the victory of the Frente Popular, reached numerous ultra-nationalist youth. There were acts of violence, which left organizations responded with retaliation. The first major attack the Falange committed was an assassination attempt on the socialist MP Luis Jiménez de Asúa . He survived unharmed, but his bodyguard Gisbert Jesus died. The reaction of the Azaña government was the banning of the party on March 14th. Despite the ban, the Falange operated underground. Franco was then assigned to take action against the Falange. He did so, but only half-heartedly, and the party could continue to exist.

On April 14, 1936, the head of the Guardia Civil Anastasio de los Reyes was murdered in a military parade in Madrid. Left and right held each other responsible for this attack. The next day at the funeral, at which Franco was also present, there was a mass demonstration against the republic. In the subsequent shooting between government troops and right-wing and left-wing extremists, Franco was slightly injured in the arm and the cousin of the Falangist leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera Engel Saenz de Heredia was shot.

Between April and July alone, attacks and brawls staged by the Falange and the socialists claimed more than fifty lives. The murder of the secular liberal politician Alfredo Martínez García-Argüelles by Falang supporters caused violence to spread to religious buildings. Numerous churches, monasteries, synagogues and other religious institutions were destroyed by left activists. Franco describes the procedure as an "act of barbarism" and called for police protection for all religious buildings in Spain, as he had previously done in the Canary Islands . Then the Catholic Church began to intervene in the right-left conflict. The Catholic press regularly wrote articles against the government. She called for the overthrow of the "tyrannical government of the Popular Front!" And the elimination of the "enemies of God and religion". There was an exploitation of the confrontation between clericalism and anti-clericalism . The main points of contention were women's suffrage , ringing bells and prayers in public.

The spiral of violence contributed significantly to the formation of the later conspiracy.

Involvement in the conspiracy

Since its inception, the republic has been threatened by a conspiracy. Franco, despite his aversion to republicanism and democracy , reacted hesitantly and did not take a clear stance. For this he was criticized by General Sanjurjo , who led the unsuccessful coup in Galicia in 1932, and José Antonio Primo de Rivera. In his memoirs, Ramón Serrano Súñer noted that Franco's reluctance was a source of growing bitterness among conspiratorial generals and politicians.

After the victory of the Popular Front in February 1936, the conspirators continued to gain popularity, but remained a small closed group. The unsuccessful efforts to proclaim martial law and invalidate the elections, however, slowed the influx again.

On March 8, 1936, the day before Franco left the Canary Islands, a secret meeting was organized in La Esperanza , Tenerife . An obelisk was later erected to commemorate this historic meeting. Among others, Emilio Mola , Joaquín Fanjul, Luis Orgaz Yoldi and Colonel Valentín Galarza Morante, head of the Unión Militar Española (Spanish Military Union) met. The assembly decided to appoint Sanjurjo to lead a possible uprising. Franco was appointed his deputy. Although he was already fully involved, Franco still seemed very reluctant.

After Sanjurjo was appointed head, he tasked Franco with setting the date of the uprising. Mola was responsible for coordinating the preparations. In April, in a second meeting, July 18 was decided as the day of the uprising. On May 25, Mola concretized the strategies for a military uprising in several military regions of Spain. On May 30, a meeting between Franco and Juan Yagüe, who was sent to Franco as the envoy of the conspirators, took place in the Palacio de Carta in Santa Cruz de Tenerife . Yagüe, who tried to finally involve Franco in the conspiracy, could not induce him to make any concrete concessions. Mola was annoyed afterwards and even considered excluding Franco from the plot of the conspiracy. However, due to the high prestige of Franco in the army and especially in the African army in Spanish Morocco , he was forced to involve him. At the same time, the social situation in Spain continued to deteriorate. Political radicalization went hand in hand with rising unemployment . In addition, the Azaña government struggled to advance the reforms promised in the February elections. The Falange increased the instability through increasingly violent attacks on prominent Republican figures and public buildings. Since the paramilitary militias of the left parties, unlike the Falange, which operated undercover, openly retaliated, they stoked fear among the property classes and traditionalist circles across Spain. About a month before the coup, numerous large landowners, bankers and other members of the upper and middle classes fled Spain to the wealthiest metropolises at the time, such as Prague , Paris , London and Biarritz . Although many of them initially knew little or nothing about the conspiracy and consequently did not participate, the conspirators managed to win them over to their side. Franco organized the extensive financing of the conspiracy through representatives and lured the wealthy exiles with the restitution of their property, the reintroduction of the nobility, the monarchy and political influence in the new state.

Although the government was aware of the rumors of a conspiracy, it failed to take concrete action against it. The then Minister of War and Prime Minister Santiago Casares Quiroga wanted to uncover the conspiracy with the arrest of Juan Yagüe, but then hesitated and ordered the secret operation to be terminated. Another attempt was to prove that General Mola was one of the conspirators. On June 3, Casares sent a few dozen police corps to Pamplona , Mola's residence, to conduct a house search under the pretext of preventing the alleged arms trade on the Spanish-French border. But Mola was given early warning by Valentín Galarza, who had been privy to the operation. Mola had enough time to hide important documents and letters. The attempt ultimately failed.

On June 23, 1936 Franco wrote a letter to Prime Minister Casares Quiroga and revealed to him the dissatisfaction of the soldiers within the Spanish army, which he did not answer. In the letter, Franco demanded a free hand from the government for high officers, whatever ideology they belonged to, in the formation and organization of the army. Historians today see the letter as a maneuver by Franco to protect himself against an unsuccessful coup. Others see it as a last remnant of loyalty to the republic.

By the end of June 1936, preparations for the coup were largely complete. She quickly tried the conspirators nor the Carlist involve. The agreement with the Carlist was made without Franco. On July 1, Yagüe and Francisco Herrera, a personal friend of ex-Defense Minister José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones , managed to convince Franco. The compromise was a major extension of Franco's power within the conspirators. Although Mola initially opposed it, on July 3, Mola gave his approval for the compromise that would allow Franco to take command of the troops of all of Spanish Morocco from Tenerife when the coup began. The flight was largely financed by Juan March and with the active participation of the British major and later head of MI6 in the British Embassy in Madrid Hugh Bertie Campbell Pollard - co-organized through his newspaper ABC and Luis Bolín , the ABC correspondent in London, and Douglas Francis Jerrold planned.

Coup in 1936

Assassination of Calvo Sotelo

On July 12, 1936, Jorge Bardina, a member of the Falange, murdered Lieutenant José Castillo of the Republican Guardia de Asalto (Assault Guard) in Madrid . Castillo was a member of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español . The next day, Assault Guard officers arrested the prominent monarchist and former finance minister José Calvo Sotelo . The original aim of the action was actually supposed to be the arrest of José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones, but since he could not be found, the plan was discarded. As a member of parliament, Calvo Sotelo was a staunch opponent of the agrarian reforms of 1936, the expropriations of the nobility and the curtailment of the monopoly of the Catholic Church . Instead, he advocated a corporate state . On July 13, Calvo Sotelo was shot dead by guards in a Madrid prison without trial .

The killing of Sotelo, a prominent right-wing member of parliament, with the participation of the police, aroused suspicion and sparked violent reactions from opponents of the government. The government responded to right-wing killings with brutal repression. The incident shocked the nation and most of the Western European democracies, and Franco decided to take part in the coup on July 15th. The Spanish bourgeoisie was also shocked by the murder. The rebels described the murder as part of a communist takeover of power in Spain that had been planned for decades. This thesis was adhered to by the Franco regime until 1975. Only Thomas Borras, a former member of the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (associations of the National Syndicalist Offensive), was able to refute this claim in 1976. Although the conspiratorial generals under Mola had largely finished planning a revolt, the murder provided a good public justification for their coup. The legitimation for this should be the declaration that Spain can only be freed from anarchy through military and not through democratic means. Meanwhile, the socialists and communists represented in parliament demanded civil subordination to the army. Prime Minister Santiago Casares Quiroga reacted hesitantly.

Franco flew to Tenerife on July 14, 1936 . Two days later, on July 16, the military commander of Gran Canaria, General Amado Balmes, died in a hunting accident. He was shot in the stomach. His death enabled Franco to attend the general's funeral under the guise of flying to Gran Canaria without arousing suspicion. It also enabled General Luis Orgaz Yoldi , who was responsible for conducting the military uprising in the Canary Islands, to arrive.

During the Franco dictatorship, Calvo was nicknamed "the first martyr" (Protomártir). In 1960 a memorial was erected in his honor and several streets across the country were named after him.

Nationalist uprising in Spanish Morocco

Spanish Morocco Protectorate

On the night of July 16-17 , a final search for suspicious activity occurred in Melilla . The search party was led by Manuel Romerales Quintero, who was loyal to the republic. He found that everything was fine. The ignorance of Romerales gave Franco's backers time to mobilize the important garrison there. On the morning of July 17th, the conspirators arranged a final meeting in town. They set the date for the start of the uprising at 5 a.m. on July 18. Shortly thereafter, Alvaro Gonzalez, a local Falange leader, revealed the plans to conspire to several members of the Unión Republicana (Republican Union), who passed the information on to General Romerales. The latter then ordered a new search for the conspirators that afternoon. The successful search led to the seizure of several weapons from the conspirators and the arrest of an involved lieutenant with the surname Zaro. The conspirators were surprised by this action. As a result, Dario Gazapo, also a member of the Falange, had to call in the Spanish Foreign Legion with new weapons in order to make up for the loss of weapons. However, the Republican police spied on Gazapo and overheard conversations between the general and the legionaries. As a result, Gazapo and an entire unit of the Foreign Legion were arrested.

The successful arrest Romerales immediately reported to Prime Minister Casares Quiroga in the afternoon. This then ordered the establishment of all conspirators in Melilla. Romerales reacted hesitantly and would not have been able to carry out the operation as it was beyond his authority. Towards evening the rebels declared a state of war and occupied all government buildings in Melilla. Franco, still in the Canary Islands , reacted indignantly to the premature statement. Although Franco, the official head of the survey, called for moderation, bloody clashes broke out in working-class neighborhoods. Although the workers were not armed, the nationalist militias literally massacred the workers. The workers were followed by the execution of all criminals from the prisons, as well as those of Romerales and the mayor of the city. Late in the evening, the rebels, together with local authorities, drew up a list of members of trade unions, left parties and supporters of Freemasonry . Voters from the Frente Popular in February 1936 and unwelcome Muslim locals were also seen as potential targets for the first nationalist purges. On the night of July 18, the rebels executed 189 civilians and military men loyal to the Republic. A few days later, on July 20, they set up the concentration camp in Melilla, the first of 190 Francoist concentration camps .

The successful takeover of power in the city sparked a wave of republican officers. The prominent General Agustín Gómez Morato also wanted to flee. Shortly before the departure of his plane, he was captured with important documents containing detailed information on the situation in the city and in Spanish Morocco for the Spanish central government. The arrest prevented a more precise description of the situation there and actually made the government “blind”. The action, gratifying for the rebels, was sent in a telegram to Franco in the early morning hours of July 18, 1936.

On the same day there was a counter-coup a few kilometers from Melilla under the command of Virgilio Leret, who first belonged to the rebellion, but then switched sides again. He had enough men to counter the spread of the coup for a few hours. The airport in Melilla was briefly repossessed. Numerous Republican officers and politicians were able to flee and report. The native tribal leader Mohamed ben Mizzian was dispatched to end the republican occupation of the site, who had to interrupt his march to Melilla. After the successful eviction of the Republican troops and the arrest of Virgilio Leret, Franco was able to land in Melilla at 5 p.m. In order not to endanger his family, he had sent his wife and daughter to France .

After the putschists had seized the city of Melilla, the coup d'état spread to the cities of Tétouan , Ceuta and Larache, also in Spanish Morocco . In order to be able to carry out the takeover there in a coordinated manner, Colonel Juan Seguí took up contact with Eduardo Sáenz de Buruaga on the instructions of Franco. He then mobilized his troops together with Juan Yagüe. But he set them on the march 12 hours earlier than planned in order to take the capital of the Protectorate Tétouan. He then telegraphed Franco to explain why the Melilla survey had started earlier than the scheduled time. In Madrid, Prime Minister Casares tried to pull the still loyal sections of the African army to the side of the republic, but this did not succeed. On the same day he phoned the High Commissioner of the Protectorate Alvarez Buylla and promised air support for July 19. The nationalists were able to stop the conversation and arrest Alvarez Buylla before any concrete information was given. After General Antonio Castejón Espinosa and his subordinate unit, Franco's cousin Ricardo de la Puente Bahamonde , remained tolerably loyal to the republic . He telephoned Casares and assured him that his squadron would remain loyal to Tetouan Sania Ramel Airport . In the meantime, except for the residence of the deposed High Commissioner Alvarez Buylla, the nationalists were in control. In the occupied territories, the nationalists responded to unexpected resistance from unionists, leftists and Republicans with arbitrary despotism.

Although the coup was successful, Juan Yagüe went to meet the Grand Vizier of Tetouan Muley Hassan. The latter then felt compelled to send Moroccan volunteers in order not to be dismissed. In Ceuta they then contributed to the easy capture of the city. Yagüe was able to take Ceuta by 11 a.m. without firing a single shot. In Larache, the only major city in Spanish Morocco that was still loyal to the government, bloody fighting broke out between July 18th and 19th. At 2 a.m., the city came under rebel control. Most of the resisters were then executed or fled to French Morocco .

Towards the evening of July 18, rebel units surrounded Tetouan Sania Ramel Airport. After the pilots of Ricardo de la Puente Bahamonde's squadron surrendered, Franco declared in a radio address on the same evening the suppression of the republican resistance and with it the capture of all of Spanish Morocco.

The battle in Africa was short but tough. Captured high republican generals were the first prominent victims of the Francoist repression. The deposed commanding general of the African Army, Gomez Morato, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. General Romerales was shot.

Expansion and initial setbacks

After General Franco left his headquarters in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the morning of July 18 to fly to Spanish Morocco, nationalist generals throughout the island chain declared a state of war. All government buildings there were occupied by the military and the governors of the two provinces were arrested. A general strike was declared as a countermeasure in Las Palmas. But attempts by some groups of workers to form a new civilian government on the island have been prevented by the military. In Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where General Luis Orgaz Yoldi had set up his headquarters, the rebels were confronted with a major resistance movement, which delayed the occupation of the island. Numerous workers protested in Gran Canaria and Tenerife. The armed revolt was put down and brutal repression followed. The prelude to the entire operation on the island was the telegram sent at ten in the morning from Eduardo Sáenz de Buruaga from Tétouan, in which the general announced the conquest of Spanish Morocco.

On the evening of the same day Franco had a manifesto published in Tenerife, which was supposed to justify the military uprising. Previously, the islands had come under complete control of the rebels by noon.

When the central government of Casares Quiroga learned of the uprising and its rapid spread (Spanish-Morocco, Canary Islands) on the afternoon of July 17, 1936, Casares decided to phase out the Republican navy and ordered the air force to attack positions in northern Africa to fly. Naval Minister José Giral Pereira commanded several warships to block the Strait of Gibraltar , which should block the colonial troops from entering the Iberian Peninsula . The blockade, which was initially successful, caused disappointment among the African army among some of the soldiers. The internal revolt weakened the rebellion and paved part of the development into a bloody civil war.

In the air, aircraft such as the Douglas DC-2 and Fokker F.VII , all of which had taken off from Aeródromo de Tablada in Tablada , bombed Melilla, Ceuta, Larache and Tétouan on July 17 and July 18. In the latter city, the air raids destroyed several public buildings and a synagogue and mosque with their surroundings. After the bombing, Tétouan suffered numerous civilian casualties, which meant that the city changed sides in favor of the nationalists. The Spanish Republican Navy also bombed several positions and cities again on July 20 and 21. The destroyer Sánchez Barcáiztegui massively bombed Ceuta.

After the conquest of the Canaries, the coup spread to Andalusia . At 2 p.m. on July 18, part of the troops stationed in the regional capital Seville revolted against the government. The coup in Seville led to the arrest of General Jose Fernandez de Villa-Abrille, who was in command of the 2nd division in Andalusia. Around 4,000 soldiers were able to take control of the city's most important facilities within a few days. Only a minority of the troops stationed in the military province remained loyal to the government, as did the civil governor of Seville Jose Maria Varela Rendueles and some volunteers from left-wing parties. Since the civilian government did not surrender out of fear as hoped, the rebels voluntarily tried to persuade them to resign, but met strong resistance. Ultimately, the guards of the Palais de San Telmo , the residence of Jose Maria Varela Rendueles, were overpowered by the nationalists.

The governor surrendered at eight o'clock in the evening. The coup was successful in Seville as well as in Córdoba and the province of Cádiz , but failed in the second largest city of Málaga . There, an unknown number of left wing militants resisted with light arms. From the province of Huelva , the government sent reinforcements of 120 men. But the head of the auxiliary corps went over to the insurgents and on July 19 there was a massacre of miners who had revolted against the nationalists.

On July 20, on Franco's personal orders, the nationalists launched attacks on Triana and St. Mark's Square in the center of the district. The next day, an offensive ended the resistance. On July 22nd, there were several massacres of the remaining resistance fighters in Seville and Málaga. In these politically motivated purges , the rebels shot between 3,000 and 6,000 people. It is unclear whether Franco promoted this repression, but there is evidence that he did not intervene. The putschists themselves lost “only” 13 men. Outside the conquered territories, captured nationalists or sympathizers were lynched by communists and socialists.

After the conquest, Seville became an important foundation for the rebels for the looming civil war, which had been caused by the republican blockade of the strait and the associated failure of the coup. From there, the offensives against Huelva (July 1936), Madrid (August 1936) and Málaga (January – February 1937) were started. On July 22nd, under the destroyer Cervantes , the Republican Navy launched an attack on the cities of Seville, Algeciras and La Línea de la Concepción as a flagship in the Bay of Algeciras in order to recapture them, which was unsuccessful. On July 25, the battleship Jaime I , the cruisers Libertad and Miguel de Cervantes bombed Melilla with the same aim.

Failure of the coup

The nationalist revolt immediately spread to the motherland, but not to most of the major cities. In Barcelona , the army was divided into loyalists and putschists. The Guardia Civil also remained loyal and received support from police forces and the Generalitat de Catalunya . The participation of armed workers ultimately thwarted the coup, although when General Manuel Goded arrived, everything had pointed to a victory for the nationalists. In the army barracks of the Catalan cities of Girona , Lleida and Mataró , the rebels were overwhelmed and Catalonia remained in the hands of the Republicans. In Madrid , a wrong decision by General Joaquín Fanjul led to the failure of the uprising there. Despite orders from Franco, Fanjul had withdrawn his troops from the capital to meet General Mola in northern Spain. The withdrawal from Madrid deprived rebellious civilians and Franco sympathizers in the city center and the insurgents had to surrender. In Valencia , apart from a few skirmishes, there was no uprising. Most of the military remained in the barracks and insurgents have already been arrested there. In Asturias , the rebels only gained control of Oviedo , where Antonio Aranda won a major victory in the siege of Oviedo from July 19 to October 16, 1936.

In fact, the July 1936 coup had the support of only four of the 18 great generals in the Spanish armed forces , but it had much greater officer support at 14 of the 56 brigadier generals. Despite fears that the insurgents might have an impact on socialist and anarchist revolutionaries, workers' responsiveness had been rejected. On the other hand, the government side, there were two major military decisions. The first was for Juan Hernandez Saravia to take command of the paramilitary Unión Militar Republicana Antifascista (UMRA) and the second was for General Ambrosio Ristori y Granados to take command of the navy . Both commanders were later defeated and killed by the rebels. In Spain one speaks of the first prominent victims on the part of the Republicans.

Another factor in the coup's ultimate failure was its simple underlying plan, based on the naivete of some generals. In fact, the conspirators had already planned the navy to switch sides in their favor. The navy was not even included in the planning. A blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar was not expected either. A coup in the Navy, which should have moved them to change sides, also failed. The failure is mainly due to Navy Minister José Giral Pereira . This had previously warned the commanders of the most important naval ships by radio in Madrid. Most of the conspirators discovered were arrested or murdered. In contrast to the other two armed forces, the Spanish Air Force remained almost completely loyal to the republic. Only a quarter of their soldiers defected to the rebels. The fact that the country's most important industrial areas had remained in the hands of the Republicans, including large chemical and explosives factories and the Asturian coal mines, which made it impossible to access the resources it needed, undermined the coup. In addition, the arms industry was under the control of the Republican government. The Bank of Spain's gold reserves and most of the silver reserves were also kept under control. The oil monopoly Campsa refused, contrary to Mola's plans, to supply the nationalists with fuel.

Spanish Civil War

Epaulette and sleeve badge Franco as Generalissimo from 1943

The Spanish Civil War began in July 1936 and officially ended with Franco's victory in April 1939, claiming 190,000 to 500,000 lives. Despite the establishment of a committee for non-interference in Spanish affairs and the ratification of a corresponding agreement in August 1936, the course of the war was decisively influenced by foreign forces. The nationalist side was supported by the Kingdom of Italy , which sent the Corpo Troop Volontarie (CTV). In July 1936, the National Socialist German Reich followed with the Condor Legion and Portugal .

The Spanish Republic was mainly supported by the Soviet Union , Mexico and by communists, socialists and anarchists in Spain. The UK and France adhered to the non-interference agreement and respected the arms embargo. Further Republican support came from the International Brigades .

Because Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin de facto used the war as a testing ground for modern warfare, some historians, such as Ernst Nolte , are of the opinion that the Spanish Civil War, along with the later Second World War , was part of a “great European civil war” between 1936 and 1936 1945 was and was mainly influenced by the ideological conflict between the right and left spectrum. However, this interpretation is controversial among historians who believe that the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War are two different conflicts.

The first months of the war

After the abandonment of the plans for a quick takeover, the first days of the civil war were dominated by the struggle for the protectorate of Spanish-Morocco. On the one hand, Franco managed to win the support of the natives and their nominal authorities, and on the other hand, complete control of the army. This resulted in the execution of around 200 high-ranking officers loyal to the Republic (one of whom was his own cousin). His loyal bodyguard was shot dead by Manuel Blanco.

Franco's first problem was getting his troops to the Iberian Peninsula , since much of the Spanish navy was in the hands of the Republicans, and blocking the Strait of Gibraltar . He asked for help from Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini , who responded with an unconditional offer of weapons and airplanes. In the German Reich, Wilhelm Canaris , the head of the Abwehr , the military secret service, and Franco's personal acquaintance, convinced Hitler to support the nationalists. The airlift was formed after the Nationalists captured the Tablada airfield and completely evicted the Republicans from the site of the facility. In Seville, Alfredo Kindelán Duany was able to bring the airport Aeropuerto de Sevilla under nationalist control. The airlift proved successful with the initial flight of three Fokker F.VII planes to Morocco. At the beginning, smaller groups of legionaries (10 to 15 per flight) were flown from Tetouan to Tablada. A Douglas DC-2 and another Fokker F.VII were added later. But the actual airlift could only be formed in Morocco at the end of July with the arrival of twenty German Junkers Ju 52 / 3m transport aircraft , which could later easily be converted into bombers . On July 30th, the first of the nine Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 machines arrived from the Kingdom of Italy. These modern, high-altitude aircraft were able to bypass the Republic navy blockade. On August 5, a fleet specially set up by the nationalists was able to achieve a victory against the Republican Navy in the battle of the Convoy de la Victoria (Convoy of Victory), which ensured the survival of the airlift. Between the end of July and the end of October 1936, over 13,000 legionaries and soldiers of the Regulares Indígenas were flown to the Spanish mainland. The highest estimates speak of 25,000 soldiers flown over.

The air superiority of the rebels led to the bombing of naval positions. On August 13, the battleship Jaime I was damaged in an attack by two Junkers Ju 52 / 3m in the port of Málaga . More bombings followed on August 22, 30 and 31.

Through representatives, Franco began to negotiate with the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Italy and the German Reich for further military support, but above all for more aircraft. The negotiations proved successful and Franco flew his plane to Tétouan on July 25th , where he arrived on August 2nd. On August 5, Franco was able to break the Republican blockade with the newly arrived air support and carry out a successful mission with a ship convoy with 2,000 soldiers.

At the beginning of August the situation in western Andalusia was stable enough to allow a column of around 15,000 soldiers, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yagüe , to march through Extremadura and later attack Madrid . On August 8, Franco ordered his troops to march towards Mérida to meet with Lieutenant Colonel Asensio and General Mola. Overcoming any resistance from inexperienced workers' militias, reinforcement from the south and because of the terror practiced behind the fronts, Franco's troops reached their goal after 200 kilometers in ten days. In Mérida, Franco was able to persuade General Mola to give his troops some of his ammunition supply. However, Franco's efforts to unite the two armies failed in order to march from there to Madrid.

The rebels were able to take control of the Navarre thanks to direct intervention by Mola and because the conspiracy was better organized and carried out there. The powerful paramilitary arm of the Carlist Requeté was able to take control of the banks of the Ebro and support General Miquel Cabanellas in the battle for Zaragoza. Despite these successes, Franco's army could not move away from the municipality of Guadarrama and continue its advance towards Madrid. The main reason for this was the acute shortage of men and ammunition. On August 11th, his troops took Tolosa . On August 13th, Mola and Franco met in Seville and they both agreed that it would be pointless to attack Madrid in August. Instead, both launched a joint attack on Irun to drive the Republicans off the French border and cut them off. On September 5th, after a tough battle, the nationalists defeated Mola and took Irun. On September 13, the Republicans withdrew and the rebels captured the city of Donostia-San Sebastián . Franco then had the opportunity to arm his troops again with ammunition. On August 14, Franco participated in the Battle of Badajoz Badajoz , where his soldiers slaughtered a great and sacked the city. There was a day-long massacre of Republican defenders and civilians in the city. A mass shooting was carried out in the local bullring and there were numerous rapes . About 1,800 to 4,000 people died.

When Franco and other rebels met on August 16, the unification of the two individual rebel areas was completed after the conquest of southern Extremadura . In addition, Mussolini ordered the march of 12,000 motorized soldiers of the CTV to Seville and asked Hitler for a squadron of the Luftwaffe (2JG / 88) with around 24 aircraft. All of these planes had nationalists' insignia painted on them, but were flown by Italians and Germans. The backbone of Franco's Luftwaffe in those days were the Italian SM.79 and SM.81 bombers, the CR.32 biplanes and the German Junkers Ju 52 cargo bombers and the Heinkel He 51 biplanes.

After taking Badajoz, Yagüe turned his troops in the direction of Madrid and occupied the town of Talavera de la Reina on September 3, after the battle of Talavera . It was the last attempt by the republican government to block the way to Madrid for Franco's advancing troops. This whole campaign, in which Franco's army had marched over 500 kilometers in a month and raised numerous terrains, was a complete success for Franco, even if some of his decisions were controversial.

In the meantime, violent, revolutionary outbreaks broke out in the republican zone. Around two million anarchists sparked a social revolution . Many companies in the Spanish economy were subjected to workers' rule; in anarchist strongholds like Catalonia the percentage was above 75%, but lower in areas with strong socialist influence. Factories were run by workers' committees, agricultural land was collectivized and operated as “free communes”. Companies such as hotels, hairdressing salons and restaurants were also collectivized and run by their employees.

From September 21 to 27, Franco made a detour to Toledo . This controversial decision gave time for the Popular Front to strengthen defenses in Madrid and hold the city. The defense of the Alcázar of Toledo was nevertheless an important propaganda success for the nationalists.

Rise to power

In contrast to his fellow campaigners, Franco was convinced that the coup would fail from the start. Still, he felt the blow was necessary. He was the first to reveal his true opinion to his assistant, Francisco Franco Salgado-Araujo . When the coup finally failed at the end of July 1936, Mola was discredited as the main planner by it, but Franco was able to rely on his true opinion. Even Luis Orgaz Yoldi came with some rebels in the conflict, and neither he nor Mola were accepted by all rebels (among others Franco) as a possible leader of a future Spain. But Franco respected General José Sanjurjo's claim to leadership within the nationalist faction. For this he was promised the office of High Commissioner of Morocco after a victory. On the other hand, like the rest of the military conspirators, he believed that command of the army should be unified and removed from civil authority, in contradiction to Sanjurjo. After flying to Spanish Morocco on July 18, 1936, Franco took sole command of the Spanish African Army, which comprised 35,000 men. The importance of the African army, as well as the high reputation of Franco among the soldiers, favored the general's beginning ascent. From July 30th, Franco had been given the authority by high-ranking nationalist generals to make decisions independently or to revise those of his colleagues. Immediately afterwards he single-handedly dispatched Luis Bolín to Rome to ask Mussolini again for help. In a conversation with Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano on July 21, Bolin assured him that after the death of General Sanjurjo the day before, Franco would be the new head of the uprising. Italian diplomats in the international zone of Tangier confirmed Bolin's claim in the telegrams they sent. The same was true of German diplomats and the German consul in Tétouan , who promised renewed aid to the rebel troops on behalf of General Franco. In this way, Franco was able to count on international support with his position as the new leader of the rebellion, which had been awarded to him without consulting other generals.

On July 22nd, Franco Adolf Paul Johannes Langenheim , who was appointed to Hitler in Berlin , said that a military board had been established under his chairmanship. On July 27, Franco confirmed his testimony in an interview with American journalist Jay Allen in Tétouan.

On August 1, 1936, an incident occurred that earned Mola the hostility of the monarchical generals and thus paved the way for Franco towards the only accepted military commander. That day, Juan de Borbón y Battenberg , the third son of King Alfonso XIII , met in Burgos . , from his exile in Italy by car. The aim of the trip was to win the support of the rebels for a restoration of the monarchy . While Franco was waiting, Mola sent the escort back to the border with Portugal, threatening to shoot the Crown Prince.

On August 7th, two days after the success of the Convoy de la victoria , Franco moved his headquarters to Seville. He chose the Palacio de Yanduri as his residence and quartered his assistants Francisco Franco Salgado-Araujo, Carlos Varela Diaz, Martin Moreno, Alfredo Kindelan and José Millán Astray.

On August 11, Mola gave Franco control of all arms and food deliveries from abroad in a personal phone call. A few days later a German agent informed Mola that aid from the German Reich would have to be arranged by him with a vote. Historians such as Paul Preston see this as a deception to give Mola the impression that Franco would treat him equally and that a candidacy for the office of head of the nationalists would not be ruled out. In truth, however, Mola had been confronted with a fait accompli and its military capabilities limited.

On August 15, Franco laid the flag of the Kingdom of Spain, which existed until 1931, in a slightly different form as the banner of the rebels. He made this decision without consulting Mola and the nationalist board. The Carlist monarchists interpreted this as a first step towards the restoration of the monarchy and demonstratively stood behind the general. Two weeks later, the rest of the rebel military leadership confirmed this decision. With this gesture, Franco seemed to have the majority of the rebels behind him. For Mola it meant yet another defeat, which made him abandon monarchist principles and largely isolated him within the rebels.

On August 16, Franco flew to Burgos to meet with Mola. In a long monologue, Franco was able to persuade Mola to elect a unified commander and to organize a centralized diplomatic and political apparatus. At this time, Franco's employees staged his military triumphs and awarded him the title of Commander-in-Chief. A title that the international press picked up and thus legitimized Franco's claim also in the western democracies.

The advance of the African Army in Andalusia allowed Franco to move his headquarters from Seville to Cáceres in the Palacio de los Golfines de Arriba on August 26th . There he called a committee into being, which should strengthen him in the power struggle against his rivals. Members were José Antonio de Sangroniz, head of the diplomatic office and mediator in the negotiations between Franco and Italians and Germans, Lieutenant Colonel Lorenzo Martinez Fuset, political secretary and legal advisor, José Millán Astray, in charge of propaganda, and Franco's older brother Nicolas Franco , as Franco's personal advisor. Shortly afterwards, the Falange organized a mass rally in support of Franco.

On September 3, the army of Juan Yagüe, another important potential rival Franco, was greatly weakened in the victorious battle of Talavera , so that this could no longer pose a threat.

On August 28, Wilhelm Canaris and his Italian counterpart, General Mario Roatta , head of the secret service Organizzazione di Vigilanza e Repressione dell'Antifascismo (OVRA), agreed that Italy and the German Reich should only give Franco control and insight into what was going on. Mola was then released as a partner of Franco in the shops for arms deliveries. A few days after the meeting in Rome, Roatta, as head of the Italian military mission in Spain, telegraphed a letter of credence to Franco, which could also be seen as a factual recognition of Franco's position as head of the insurgent side by Italy.

After the capture of Talavera de la Reina and Irún by the troops of Franco and Molas, Francisco Largo Caballero was appointed the new President of the Government and Minister of War of Spain on September 4, 1936 . He advocated unity of the republican left of socialists, communists, POUM , anarcho-syndicalists and left-wing Catholics and encouraged the nationalists to form a unified leadership.

In mid-September, the German agent Johannes Bernhardt delivered Franco a letter from the German government asking him to declare himself head of state of Spain. When Franco was reluctant to accept political office, Bernhardt warned him that Berlin had assumed that Franco was already the only candidate for political office. When Bernhard went to Berlin to meet Hermann Göring for a briefing in Spain, Nicolas Franco assured him that he would convince his brother. Nicolas was already part of a group of soldiers who accepted Franco as their sole leader. In addition, Nicolas could count on the support of Generals Kindelan, Orgaz and Gil Yuste and the monarchists.

Seizure of power

Although Franco's takeover of power was seemingly assured, there were several potential rivals within the nationalist conspiracy. After General José Sanjurjo died in a plane crash on July 20, 1936, the resulting power was divided into several regional commandos. General Mola undertook the subdivision based on a list of officers drawn up on July 19. Miguel Cabanellas became Chairman, Mola Chief of the Northern Army and Franco Chief of the Southern Army. The Spanish army in Morocco itself was split into two smaller units. One was commanded by General Juan Yagüe and the other by Colonel José Enrique Varela .

On July 24th, a coordinated military junta was established in Burgos . Officially it was called the Junta de Defensa Nacional and consisted of seven members. The junta practically exercised the function of a government of the insurgents and passed laws and regulations. On August 3, Franco was inducted into its board of directors.

From mid-August an intense struggle for power broke out within the junta. In addition to Franco, who held the support of the majority of the board, Mola was supported by a minority. On September 21, 1936 the board met again to determine a uniform military commander in chief. The meeting of the rebels took place on the premises of Salamanca Airport, about 15 km from the city of Salamanca . The reason for the meeting was the change of government in the republican zone and the takeover of power by Francisco Largo Caballero . This carefully unified the various factions (communists, anarchists, socialists and workers) within the republican armed forces. This gesture of an apparently unified army and the slight resurgence of the enemy emphasized the need for a unified military command within the nationalists. In September 1936 the armies of Mola and Franco stood before Madrid, a joint attack was out of the question for all four due to disputes between Franco and Gonzalo Queipo de Llano and Mola and Yagüe. Also, not everyone was in favor of a unified command: Mola thought it would take time, and General Alfredo Kindelán proposed that a meeting be called to redistribute the armed forces. Franco supported this proposal for a week, but then rejected it. The September 21 meeting was therefore held on his initiative. Franco was backed by the Falange, who organized a mass rally in the city to support him.

There is no record of the September 21 meeting. However, there is evidence that Franco, who was by far the highest-ranking officer, had the most favorable conditions to be appointed Generalissimo ( Generalísimo ). Although he would have been only 23rd in the Republican armed forces, the rebels were referring to the time of the monarchy, when it was first rank. Other favorable factors were the weaknesses of Franco's rivals or the failure of them. Sanjurjo died on July 20, General Juan Antonio Ansaldo was injured, Manuel Goded and Joaquín Fanjul led the coup in Barcelona and Madrid respectively and were shot after each of them failed, Cabanellas had rebelled against the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera and was Freemasons and Republicans, Queipo de Llano was too low-ranking as major general and disgraced by his initial collaboration with the Republic, General Andrés Saliquet was too old and no longer of political importance, and Mola was weakened and had the support by his initial military failures of the Carlist monarchists. Franco also had the advantage of having planned several major military victories within the civil war and the reputation of a monarchist general. In addition, his troops were closest to the capital, Madrid, and he had the support of the powers Italy and the German Empire. The Falange, the Spanish Legion and the Regulares also had his back. Most of the soldiers stood behind him because of his courage and charisma, which he had previously valued . Franco had also convinced the Moroccan authorities of the Spanish-Morocco Protectorate and recruited local mercenaries for the rebels . However, some historians see Franco's calm and professional superiority and nearly three decades of experience as the reason for his supremacy.

On the evening of September 21, Franco was elected "Generalissimo of the Armies" by the majority of the board of the junta and was thus appointed supreme commander of all nationalist forces. Only Cabanellas decided to abstain. Ultimately, Franco's first stage in taking power enabled the junta members to dislike one another. The only major rival, Mola, had been too weakened by the lack of support from the monarchists, the release from arms trade with fascist Italy and Nazi Germany and the strong republican resistance in the mountains of Guadarrama, and the lack of ammunition that halted his advance to oppose Franco on this decision. But despite the almost unanimous appointment, it was obvious that Franco's joy in increasing power was little. Some voters thought that the unification of the command was necessary for victory and therefore only temporary. At that time an end to the war was quite possible. Many conspirators believed that a successful attack on Madrid would end the war. In addition, the council had given Franco only military and not political power. However, no specific deadline was set for the resignation of the office and the fact that the decision was kept secret did not cause any resistance.

Shortly before the nationalists were able to achieve a victory in the siege of the Alcázar of Toledo on September 29, 1936 , Franco called the members of the Junta de Defensa Nacional to another meeting the day before . There they discussed the appointment of a political leader. As with his previous appointment as Commander in Chief, Franco had the best chance of this post.

On the afternoon of Sunday, September 27th, when the news of the nationalist occupation of the Alcázar became known, Yagüe shouted from the balcony of the Palacio de los Golfines de Arriba “Tomorrow we will have him as our Generalissimo, at the head of the state!”. Millán Astray also confirmed the statement. Then units of the Falange and the Spanish Legion marched in front of the palace in support. That evening, Nicholas Franco and Alfredo Kindelan presented a draft ordinance to the same generals who had been present on September 21. The document called for the transfer of all political orders to the Generalissimo, and thus to Franco.

The meeting took place on September 28th at Salamanca Airport. In the course of the talks about the appointment of Franco, Mola boycotted it. Queipo de Llano and Orgaz were reluctant. In general, most of the officers present reacted coolly to the suggestion and asked for time. The symbolic victory at Toledo, which was on Franco's account, and the pressure from the Falange to only want to support Franco, brought everyone involved to give in after almost a day of negotiations. With this, Franco's seizure of power was largely completed. After Franco Abend was appointed “head of the state government during the war”, he described it as “the most important moment in his life”.

The two appointments took place despite significant ideological and cultural differences. The unification of military and political leadership on the nationalist side is seen by most military historians as a wise move on the part of the rebel side. Because the unification of the previously relatively dispersed rebel groups, which was also responsible for the failure of the coup, was able to strengthen the nationalists and give them another advantage over the disorganized republican side, which was divided into different factions. With the Republicans from the outset, military command had been divided between various regional powers that carried out their own military operations. The takeover of power by Largo Caballero, who tried to unite the various political camps, could not prevent the unauthorized enrichment and expansion of regional powers to the regional governments of Catalonia and the Basque Country . Regional councils have also been created in Aragon, Asturias and Santander.

Franquist memorial plaque for the appointment of Franco as generalissimo and head of state of Spain at the Palacio de los Golfines de Arriba in Burgos

Although Franco had been granted military and political leadership on September 21 and 28, respectively, the announcement was kept secret. It was not until October 1 that Franco was appointed Generalissimo in the throne room of the Palacio de Capitanía General in Burgos in the presence of high-ranking generals and foreign diplomats from Italy, the German Empire and Portugal , and was proclaimed head of state of Spain as Jefe del Estado .

After the ceremony, Franco was greeted by a cheering crowd on the palace balcony. The general's apparent aloofness was stylized into a myth in Spain and later became a model for military dictators in Africa and Latin America (such as Jean-Bédel Bokassa in the Central African Republic , Augusto Pinochet in Chile or Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay ). When Franco then gave a speech, he prophesied the transformation of Spain into a totalitarian state. He used the term "hierarchical system" instead of dictatorship , like General Primo de Rivera 13 years earlier.

After taking power, Franco telegraphed Victor Emmanuel III. , Mussolini and Hitler. He thanked for the support on the way to the appointment of the head of state. He also prophesied the capture of Madrid in November 1936 and thus the end of the war. In November 1936, his government was also officially recognized by the National Socialist German Reich and the Fascist Kingdom of Italy .

The first decree issued by Franco as head of state was the dissolution of the Junta de Defensa Nacional and the re-establishment as Junta Técnica del Estado on October 3rd. Then he set up a general secretariat under his brother Nicolas. The Guardia Mora was made available to him as a symbolic escort and a coat of arms, monogram and banner were designed.

Military supreme command

Franco (right) with other insurgent generals at headquarters, between 1936 and 1937

From the time he came to power until the end of the war, Franco was in personal supreme command of all nationalist armed forces and also planned most of their military operations. After the failed attack on Madrid in November 1936, Franco decided to win the war on a fragmentary approach rather than maneuvering it courageously and risky. This was expressed, for example, in his decision to exonerate the nationalists in besieged Toledo . Other decisions, such as in June 1938, when he preferred to attack Valencia rather than Catalonia , remained controversial from a military point of view. However, it was in Valencia, Castellon, and Alicante that the last republican troops were defeated by Franco.

Although the German Empire and Italy supported Franco, the influence of the two powers seems to have been limited in the course of the war. Nevertheless, in spite of not always effective operations, the Italian troops were present in large numbers, while the German planes helped the nationalists to dominate the Spanish airspace. Portugal's dictator António de Oliveira Salazar also openly supported the nationalists from the start and sent 20,000 soldiers to Spain. Franco had limited control over the foreign troops. This is particularly true of the Italian troops, while the Condor Legion was almost completely under Franco's control and very rarely made its own decisions.

Political influence

From 1937 to 1948, the Franco regime was at least a doctrinally semi-fascist state, with the categorically fascist Movimiento Nacional as the state party, whose denominational character, however, weakened its full membership of the fascist movement and was assigned more to clerical fascism . Amando de Miguel called it fascismo frailuno (monastic fascism). Franco himself is not seen as fascist in his orientation, as the Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm also noted ("cannot even be described as a fascist").

On April 19, 1937 Franco succeeded in protecting and safeguarding the ideologically syndicalist Falange , the Carlist and a handful of other monarchist and conservative parties, the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS ), which was the only legal party in Spain in 1939. In contrast, some other fascist movements, such as the Falangists, developed their own official program. This 27-point program covered all important points of the fascist doctrine. Franco made himself as Jefe nacional to head the new FET (Falange Española Tradicionalista). Five days later (April 24th) the Italian Saluto romano was officially made by the Falange as its own official greeting and later that of the nationalist regime. After the nationalists' victory in 1939, the fascist style prevailed across Spain. Historical propaganda calls such as Franco, Franco, Franco. and the Falangist hymn Cara al Sol reinforced this.

This new political formation appeased the revolutionary-antimonarchist Falange and the monarchist-absolutist Carlist Comunión Tradicionalista . This was mainly thanks to Franco's brother-in-law Ramón Serrano Súñer , who was his main political adviser. Súñer was able to pit the various parties under Franco against each other and weaken them in order to moderate a series of political conflicts against Franco. Later Franco drove out the originally leading members of the Carlist ( Manuel Fal Conde ) and the Falangists ( Manuel Hedilla ) in order to finally secure not only the military but also the political leadership.

Further course

After the appointment as head of state, a cult began to develop around the personality of Franco in the fascist style. The areas controlled by the nationalists were flooded with posters by Franco, newspapers advertised with the slogan "One country, one state, one leader". Franco, like Mussolini Duce and Hitler Führer , chose the title El Caudillo . He was celebrated by his followers in his speeches and at public events, and his alleged virtues were massively spread. Franco sent telegrams to Hitler and Rudolf Hess in which he asked for more support. Hitler replied through the German diplomat Du Moulin-Eckart. On October 6, he met Franco and offered support from the German Reich, but made the recognition of the rebel government dependent on the occupation of the capital Madrid.

On October 3, Franco moved to Salamanca and resided in the local bishop's palace, which had been offered to him by Bishop Enrique Pla y Deniel . At the same time he increased his religious zeal and began to pray with his wife, Carmen Polo every morning and evening, and sent a personal confessor.

For the next two weeks after his appointment, Franco focused on consolidating his position of power and launched a major offensive towards Madrid in October. On November 8, 1936, there was a large-scale attack on the city. The Republican government had previously left Madrid on November 6 and moved the seat of government to Valencia , which was outside the combat zone. Fierce fighting broke out between November 8th and 23rd, and although his army had managed to cross the Manzanares River and occupy several districts, the whole conquest of the city failed. The rebels were repulsed by the republican defenders in hand-to-hand combat and on November 23 the insurgents were finally unable to take the city. The Madrid resistance could not be broken until April 1, 1939, the day of Franco's victory. An important factor in the successful Republican defense in 1936 was the strength of the Fifth Regiment ( 5º Regimiento de Milicias Populares ) and the support of the International Brigades , even if only 3,000 foreign volunteers had participated. The capital was also prepared for the attack. On October 15, the first Soviet weapons arrived from the port of Cartagena in support of the Republicans in Madrid. 108 bombers, 50 tanks and 20 armored vehicles were delivered to Madrid. Since then a new kind of war has been fought. Until then, the African troops were materially and by virtue of their experience superior to the poorly equipped republican militias and army.

After failing to take the capital, Franco had it bombed from the air and launched several offensives over the next two years to try to conquer Madrid. It was the beginning of the nearly three-year siege of Madrid . On December 13, 1936, the second battle for the strategically important national road Carretera Nacional N-VI began , which ended in a draw in January 1937. A nationalist offensive in the northeast was able to push back the Republicans, but failed at Madrid, which from then on was largely cut off from the Republican zone.

Together with Italian troops of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie and Spanish colonial soldiers from Morocco, Franco made another unsuccessful attempt to occupy Madrid in January and February 1937. On February 3rd, the nationalists started the Battle of Malaga with Italian support . By using tanks from Italy and the Moroccan colonial troops, the Republicans had to capitulate to Franco's troops on February 8th. An offensive by the republican militia to recapture the province of Malaga and a nationalist offensive in southeastern Spain turned into a disaster for the republicans.

The battle of the Jarama near the city of Arganda del Rey took place east of Madrid from February 6th to February 27th . Franco's goal was to cut the republican connection between Madrid and Valencia in order to be able to take Madrid afterwards. Although he and the Irish Brigade managed to cross the Jarama River, the nationalist troops ultimately failed to break the Madrid-Valencia connection. The area then lost its strategic importance and a trench war broke out . The battle resulted in heavy casualties (6,000-20,000) on both sides. A similar nationalist offensive, the Battle of Guadalajara , was another defeat for Franco and his armies. It turned out to be the last major Republican victory and helped boost the morale of the troops. The Republicans captured a large amount of much-needed war material (35 artillery pieces, 85 machine guns and 67 vehicles). The Italians lost about 6,000 men and a large number of tanks and planes. The victory also prevented the attempt to re-enclose Madrid and destroyed Franco's hopes of dealing the final blow to the republic by taking Madrid in March 1937. He now decided on a new strategy and concentrated his military efforts on the north.

As a further consequence of the battle, Franco disbanded the Italian corps of the CTV and integrated them into various departments of the Spanish units.

The so-called war in the north began in mid-March with the Biscay campaign . Franco dispatched around 50,000 soldiers, under the command of Molas , to conquer the provinces of Bizkaia , Cantabria and Asturias . The operation was carried out with the support of the Condor Legion , which was responsible for massive bombings such as the air raid on Durango from March 31 to April 4, 1937 or the air raid on Gernika on April 26. The Basques suffered most from the lack of aircraft for the creation of a suitable air force. The bombing killed around 900 people and caused severe damage.

In April and May there were power struggles among the republican groups in Catalonia (see May events ). This term denotes the civil war-like clashes within the republican zone between the Kremlin-loyal communists of the PCE and right-wing socialists (united in the PSUC ) on the one hand, parts of the anarcho-syndicalists of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo , anarchists of the FAI and left-wing Marxists of the POUM on the other. The short-term instability of the enemy would probably have benefited the nationalists, but was not used. After the nationalist conquest of Gernika in April 1937, the republican government began to fight back with increasing effectiveness. After Stalin increased arms deliveries, the Republicans launched the Segovia offensive to recapture the city in July . Franco had to postpone his attack on the then Basque regional capital Bilbao to June 12th. The fighting for Segovina lasted two weeks and ended with a victory for Franco's troops. On June 19th, the fall of Bilbao enabled the nationalists to gain further ground. At the same time, they were able to repel a Republican counteroffensive, the Huesca offensive.

On July 6th, Republican militias launched an attack on Brunete . The city was the focus of another offensive to the west of Madrid. The battle of Brunete was a definite defeat for the republic, which lost a large part of the troops there. The offensive resulted in a gain of about 50 square kilometers, but claimed 25,000 Republican victims.

A Republican offensive against Zaragoza also turned out to be a failure. Despite strategic advantages over the land and air sovereignty, the Battle of Belchite resulted in an advance of only 10 km and the loss of much equipment. Then the Republican General Staff decided on a series of smaller offensives in Aragon to stop the advance of the nationalists in the north. Franco was able to occupy the majority of the territory of Aragon in a counteroffensive in August and take the city of Santander in mid-September . On August 25th, with the conclusion of the Santoña Pact between the Basque regional government under José Antonio Aguirre on the one hand and Italian representatives, the entire Basque Country was in Franco's hands. Although he let leading Basque representatives go into exile and also offered former Basque soldiers to fight on his side, he left the region massively suppressed from then on. On October 21, 1937, the war in the north ended with the capture of the city of Gijón .

At the end of November, the republican government had to move its seat of government to Barcelona due to the constant bombardment and the approach of Franco's troops .

In February 1938, the Battle of Teruel was a major decision maker in the power struggle between the nationalist and republican camps. The city, which previously belonged to the Nationalist Zone, was captured by the Republicans in January. The Franco troops launched an offensive and recaptured the city on February 22nd. Despite the subsequent success, Franco was dependent on massive air support and in January 1938 had to agree in a joint Italian-German decision to include ten mostly Italian and German representatives in his military strategies.

On March 7, 1938, the rebels launched the Aragon offensive . It lasted until April 19, 1938 and destroyed the remnants of the republican armed forces and brought the nationalists the profit of Aragon, parts of Catalonia and the Levant . The Republican government then tried to start peace talks in May. Franco, however, demanded unconditional surrender and the negotiations failed. An attempt to take Valencia on an offensive in March failed because of the city's massive fortifications and claimed 20,000 deaths on the part of the nationalists. The defeat of the republic was sealed with the Battle of the Ebro from July to November. The republican territory was thereby split in two. On December 28th, Franco launched the final Catalonia offensive to invade Catalonia.

End of the civil war

Before the fall of Catalonia in February 1939, the Republican Prime Minister Juan Negrín unsuccessfully offered the Republicans surrender at a meeting in Figueres . The only condition was the protection of the vanquished from state terror. Franco refused, and Negrín was eventually deposed and fled into exile in France.

After that, only the capital Madrid and a few other smaller areas remained under the control of government forces. On February 27, the governments of Neville Chamberlain in the United Kingdom and Édouard Daladier in France recognized the Franco regime as representing Spain. As a last stand, the Spanish Communist Party tried to instigate a mutiny in Madrid with the aim of restoring Negrín. José Miaja retained control and put down the revolt. Finally, on March 28, 1939, with the help of Franco sympathizers within the city, Madrid fell into the hands of the nationalists. The next day also Valencia , for which they had fought for almost two years. On April 1, 1939, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered, Franco announced victory. On the same day, he made a symbolic gesture by placing his saber on an altar in a church and promising that he would never use his sword again unless Spain was threatened by a [communist] invasion.

During the war, over 70,000 people in the areas controlled by the nationalists were executed without a trial. Franco's victory was followed by another 15,000 to 25,000 people and numerous imprisonments. Many detainees had to do forced labor, rebuilding buildings and railways destroyed in the war, drying up swamps and digging canals such as the Canal del Bajo Guadalquivir in Andalusia. The largest building project was the construction of the Valle de los Caídos memorial , later Franco's tomb. The shooting of the President of the Catalan government Lluís Companys in 1940 was one of the most remarkable cases of this early suppression of opponents and dissenters in Francoist Spain. According to historian Gabriel Jackson, the number of victims of so-called White Terror (executions, starvation or illness in prisons) between 1939 and 1943 was around 200,000 people.

Although Spanish communists, anarchists and socialists were among the main targets of state terrorism , Spanish intellectuals and atheists, as well as former military and government officials who had been loyal to the republic during the civil war, also suffered from repression.

In his works on the Spanish Civil War, the British historian Antony Beevor reckons with 200,000 fatalities spread over the entire Civil War and the post-war period. According to him, the previously communist Red Terror had already killed 38,000 people in the civil war. Julius Ruiz concludes that, while the numbers are controversial, a minimum of 37,843 executions were carried out in the Republican zone and a maximum of 150,000 executions in the Nationalist zone (including 50,000 post-war). The long assumed fact that Franco knew in detail about the mass executions during the war and in the post-war period is untenable on the basis of historical facts.

Despite the official end of the war, there was a guerrilla movement ( macchia ) against Franco in the mountainous regions of Spain and the fight against him continued until the 1950s. On October 19, 1944, a group of 5,000 Republican veterans who had previously fought the Germans in France rebelled in Val d'Aran in northwest Catalonia, but were forced to retreat by Franco's forces on October 28-30.

The end of the war led to the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Spaniards abroad. They emigrated mainly to France, but also Mexico, Chile, Cuba, the United States and other countries. In France the refugees were interned in camps like Camp de Gurs or Le Vernet , where 12,000 of them lived in appalling conditions. The 17,000 refugees in Gurs were divided into four categories (brigadists, pilots, gudaris and common Spaniards). The Gudaris (Basques) and the pilots could easily find local supporters and jobs and were also allowed to leave the camp, while the peasants and ordinary Spaniards, who could not build on ties in France, were asked, in coordination with the Franco government, to return to Spain. The vast majority did and were constantly shadowed by the Franco authorities.

Following the proclamation of the French state ( Vichy regime ) by Marshal Philippe Pétain , the refugees were made political prisoners and arrested by the French police. Together with other “undesirables” they were interned in the Drancy assembly camp before they were deported to the National Socialist German Reich. 5000 Spaniards died in the Mauthausen concentration camp .

The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda , who was appointed special consul for immigration in Paris by Chilean President Pedro Aguirre Cerda , helped around 2,000 Spanish refugees to flee to Chile.

Dictator 1939 to 1975

Francisco Franco as dictator, 1960

Franco was recognized as the Spanish head of state in November 1936 by the German Empire and Italy, in February 1939 by the United Kingdom and France. As a dictator, he ruled Spain for 39 and 36 years, respectively, after his victory in the Spanish Civil War until his death in 1975. He relied on the ideology of Franquism .

Role in World War II

Rapprochement with the Axis powers until 1943

After the end of the civil war, Franco began to lean increasingly against the Axis powers . On April 7, 1939, just a week before the end of the civil war, Franco announced that Spain would join the Anti-Comintern Pact between the German Empire, the Kingdom of Italy and the Japanese Empire . The next day he announced his country's withdrawal from the League of Nations , based on another promise made to Mussolini.

Shortly after the celebration of the nationalist victory parade on May 19, Franco traveled to León to see off the Condor Legion . Shortly before her return to Germany, he said to her commander, Hans Seidemann : "I would like to express the undying gratitude of Spain to you." He also thanked the Italian and Portuguese combat troops when they were dismissed.

The Italian armed forces were accompanied by Ramón Serrano Súñer on their return to the Kingdom of Italy . He promised Mussolini and Count Ciano in Rome that Spain would need two or three years to be militarily and economically armed for a world war . He later added: "A neutral Spain would live in poverty and humiliated in the future."

On June 5, 1939 Franco summoned in a speech at a meeting of the leadership of the state party Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS in Burgos "the victory against the will of the false democracies, in relation to Great Britain and France, Freemasonry and Communism". This message led to an opposition with France and Great Britain, whose conservative politicians (including Winston Churchill ) also saw positive things in Franco's politics. After the Italian ambassador to Spain defended Franco's speech a month later, Spain demonstratively backed the Italian plans for supremacy in the Mediterranean , and Franco recognized the Italian annexation of Ethiopia in 1935 , which republican Spain had refused to do. The Italian-Spanish relations were at their peak.

Franco in San Sebastian in 1939

At the end of July Wilhelm Canaris , Chief of Defense, visited Franco. The two agreed that from this point on, the ports of Spain would not only be open to Italian ships of the Regia Marina , but also to German submarines of the Navy . A change of government followed the agreement. Franco dismissed the pro-British Foreign Minister Francisco Gómez-Jordana Sousa and replaced him with Juan Beigbeder , a decision that also brought closer ties to the German Empire. However, the announcement of the signing of the German-Soviet non-aggression pact (Hitler-Stalin Pact) on August 24 led to initial resentment between Franco and Hitler. Numerous high-ranking Spanish generals voiced their indignation, and Franco said to his brother-in-law Ramón Serrano Súñer: "We are now allies of the Russians."

On September 1, 1939, the Second World War began with the German invasion of Poland , and on the same day Franco announced the neutrality of his country due to the poor economic situation in Spain. The state press, however, continued to take a pro-Italian and German stance.

On September 26, Franco spoke again to the leadership of the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS in Burgos. He spoke of his willingness, presumably to appease the army and Falange , to announce Spain's entry into the war on the side of the Axis powers. On September 27, Hitler gave Franco a Mercedes-Benz W-31 car as a token of his gratitude for his speech - this token of appreciation had only been given to Mussolini until then. At that time, the first German submarines had already arrived in the Spanish ports. In addition, the Spanish Foreign Ministry mainly supplied Italy and later also Germany with confidential information about France, which was later of great importance for the Western campaign .

A few weeks after the German attack on Denmark and Norway ( Operation Weser Exercise ) in April 1940, General Carlos Martínez Campos, Chief of the General Staff, brought Franco a detailed report on the state of the Spanish army . In this report Campos, like General Alfredo Kindelán in 1939, criticized the lack of preparation of the Spanish armed forces for war and reported on the shortage of planes and tanks. Added to this was the lack of energy reserves. From then on, Franco reacted with increasing caution, considering at most military operations in Gibraltar and Morocco . On April 30th, Franco sent a letter to Mussolini in relation to Campos' letter, in which he regretted the situation in his country and wrote: “You will understand how stressful it is for me and my people to hear such an unwelcome surprise . "

Heinrich Himmler with Karl Wolff at a meeting with Francisco Franco and Ramón Serrano Súñer (far right) in Spain, October 20, 1940

The German victories over the Netherlands, Belgium and France in May and June 1940 and Italy's entry into the war on the side of the German Reich on June 10th put Franco in distress, and calls for entry into the war grew louder in Spain. In mid-June Franco wrote a letter to Hitler, which Juan Vigón delivered to Hitler on July 16 . In it Franco congratulated Hitler on his victories and for the first time took a position on the Spanish claims in the Mediterranean and in Africa and on the requirements for weapons, vehicles, fuel and food for Spain's entry into the world war. Hitler wrote back that "he must first consult with Mussolini," whom he met the next day in Munich.

On June 13, 1940, when the Wehrmacht was about to take Paris, Franco left neutrality and declared Spain's “non- warfare ” ( no beligerancia ), like Italy from September 1939 to June 1940. Shortly afterwards, the British ambassador Samuel Hoare sought Franco in the El Pardo Palace to prevent him from entering the war by Spain and revealed to him the possible consequences of entering the war.

On June 14, 1940, Spanish troops in Morocco occupied the International Zone of Tangier , and the city was incorporated into the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco in November 1940. The regime-controlled press interpreted the occupation as the first step towards the re-establishment of the Spanish colonial empire . Hitler was pleased with the news. Franco took this as an opportunity on June 19 to reveal his territorial claims to the Italians. However, these were scaled back a little by him so as not to endanger the Italian claims.

On July 1, Franco met with Wilhelm Canaris. Canaris confidentially advised Franco not to enter the war, but asked him if German troops could march through Spain if Portugal joined the Allies . Canaris also suggested that German troops could take over the capture of Gibraltar . Franco was not persuaded to make any concessions.

On July 17, Franco defended the victories of Mussolini (in relation to the conquest of British Somaliland in the East Africa campaign ) and Hitler's Burgos in an unusually sharp discussion . The next day, Hitler presented him with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the German Eagle , the highest German award for foreigners.

The British resistance in the Battle of Britain , which was unexpectedly strong for the German leadership , led Hitler to rethink alliance policy. Although he had previously instructed Canaris to prevent Franco from joining the war, he now called for Spain to join the axis. The background was probably primarily the country's strategic location. On August 2nd, the German ambassador in Madrid, Eberhard von Stohrer, met on behalf of Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Franco in the El Pardo Palace. Stohrer demanded from Franco the immediate entry of Spain into the Second World War. As compensation for the efforts, Stohrer told him to supply 400,000 tons of gasoline, 600,000 or 700,000 tons of wheat, 200,000 tons of coal, 100,000 tons of diesel fuel, 200,000 tons of oil and, in addition to the large quantities of raw materials, cotton, rubber, cellulose, hemp, Jute etc. too. Franco also demanded that Germany should first fulfill the Spanish aspirations in Africa.

In September 1940, Franco ordered Ramón Serrano Súñer to Berlin to discuss the conditions for Spain to join the war on the Axis side. However, the German leadership did not share Hitler's optimism. In view of the precarious economic and military conditions, Spain had nothing to offer. Admiral Canaris was able to convince Hitler briefly to fix Spain's entry into the war in the event of Britain's defeat. Hitler then emphasized "that from the beginning the policy of the Franco regime was and is not to enter the war until Great Britain is defeated". In addition to Göring , Hitler also refused the arms deliveries to Spain demanded by Franco until the start of the war.

Súñer arrived in Berlin on September 16. Individual differences arose in the negotiations with Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. When Súñer called for the annexation of French Morocco , Ribbentrop responded by setting up German bases in Essaouira , Agadir and the Canary Islands . About the meeting, Súñer later said that he had been treated like the representative of a satellite state.

After meeting Ribbentrop, Súñer accepted Hitler's invitation to the Berghof . The visit was viewed as a failure by both Germans and Spaniards. Hitler believed that Súñer made too many claims but offered too few for them.

The increasing rapprochement between the Franco regime and the Axis was reinforced by the appointment of Ramón Serrano Súñer as Foreign Minister on October 16, 1940. Despite the setback in Berlin, he continued to maintain a pro-Italian and pro-German attitude. This appointment prompted Great Britain to make provisions in the event that Spain entered the war. On October 20th Heinrich Himmler traveled to Spain to prepare security measures for the meeting between Franco and Hitler on October 23rd. Another goal of the trip was to get Franco to work more closely between the Spanish police and the Gestapo .

On October 23 took place in the French resort of Hendaye , the Conference of Hendaye between Franco and Hitler instead to renegotiate the possibility of Spain's accession to the side of the Axis powers. However, Franco's demands for food, military equipment and the annexation of French colonies in North Africa (Morocco, parts of Algeria and Mauritania) and British Gibraltar proved impossible for Hitler, who was initially willing to make concessions. In addition, Franco refused to let German troops into his country, stating that foreign troops on Spanish territory were incompatible with Spain's sovereignty. So no agreement could be reached. An often-quoted remark made by Hitler after the meeting was: "He would rather have his teeth pulled out than negotiate with Franco again." The close ties between Spain and Nazi Germany continued to exist.

The catastrophic Italian invasion of Greece caused the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) to occupy Gibraltar in order to cut off the route to the Mediterranean for the British, who supported the Greeks. From then on Hitler put increasing pressure on Franco and demanded that Franco enter the war immediately without any conditions. On November 12th, Hitler ordered preparations for Operation Felix to begin . Two days later, the German ambassador informed Franco and brought his Foreign Minister Súñer an invitation from Hitler to the Berghof. On November 19, the second meeting between the two was held. When Hitler described it as an "absolute necessity" to occupy Gibraltar and later the Suez Canal , Súñer referred to the outstanding, agreed deliveries. The meeting ended with no results. Súñer returned to Madrid, where Franco fully supported his position.

Hitler then decided on January 10, 1941, to send Canaris to Madrid. The latter wanted to ask Franco if he would allow German divisions to march through Spain to attack Gibraltar and promised that the requested supplies would be handed over later. But Franco refused. In view of the failure of the Canaris mission, Hitler put the preparations for Felix on hold.

The Axis powers made one last attempt to convince Franco at a meeting in the Villa Margherita in Bordighera, Italy on February 12 and 13, 1941. Franco accepted Mussolini's invitation only "reluctantly". He was accompanied by Súñer. Mussolini initially supported Hitler's position, but was convinced by Franco that Spain should be neutral. The failure of the conversation meant the final refusal to enter the war on the part of the Franco regime. The question of why Franco did not want to go to war is answered by some historians by referring to Wilhelm Canaris' advice on July 1st. Other historians claim that Franco did not want to become dependent on the German Reich and Italy, as happened with Romania , Hungary , Slovakia , Croatia , France ( Vichy regime ) and Bulgaria .

When Hitler began the invasion of the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ) on June 22, 1941, Franco sent a contingent of soldiers and officers to the Eastern Front. The so-called Blue Division ( División Azul ) comprised 47,000 volunteers and got its name from the color of the Falangist uniforms. Hitler accepted the offer, but Foreign Minister Ribbentrop asked his Spanish counterpart that his government should only declare war on the Soviet Union. Súñer refused for fear of British reprisals.

When the British Embassy in Madrid learned of the division on July 14, 1941, Ambassador Samuel Hoare protested against the sending of the Blue Division and condemned Franco's ambiguity. Franco doesn't react to it.

Domestic political crisis 1941/42

Franco with other generals during a troop maneuver in Gipuzkoa , 1946

During the war, Franco promulgated the second constitution on July 17, 1942 , one of eight that resulted in the re-establishment of parliament as the highest organ of the Spanish people. However, this had no legislative powers, but only had an advisory function.

The rise of radical fascism in the German and Italian puppet states in Europe caused great concern among the two main pillars of power, the Catholic Church and the army. The tensions led to a serious political crisis with the assassination attempt in Begoña in August 1942 , which Franco was able to resolve with the appointment of the monarchist general Francisco Gómez-Jordana Sousa as foreign minister.

The change in the war plans led to another crisis. On September 8, 1943, Franco received a letter from eight lieutenant generals urging him to rule the monarchy under Juan de Borbón , the legitimate heir of Alfonso XIII. to introduce. Franco refused and was able to rely on the support of the military.

In 1943 the economic situation in Spain was catastrophic and the result of the self-sufficient and interventionist economic policy was a misallocation of means of production and test system malfunctions. Due to the rationing of food, the black market was booming at that time .

After a deep economic crisis that was to last for more than ten years, there was a sharp decline in agricultural production, which led to a severe famine . To improve the situation, Franco allowed some foodstuffs to be imported during the war. This was the only way to avert an overall food catastrophe.

The deteriorating living conditions cost Franco much of his popularity among the nationalists. Poor peasants and workers regularly went on strike. The industrialization process, which was largely broken off in Spain in the 1920s, could not be revived.

Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust

Between 1919 and 1941 Franco represented anti-Semitic positions in his speeches on several occasions. His New Year's speech of December 31, 1939 contained a slightly veiled justification for the National Socialist racial policy: “Now you will understand why some nations have decided to fight and remove those races that are stigmatized by greed and greed, especially theirs Domination within society leads to disruption and endangers the realization of the historical destiny of these nations. We, who by the grace of God and the foresight of the Catholic kings, have freed ourselves of this heavy burden centuries ago, cannot remain indifferent in the face of the new flowering of greedy and selfish spirits who are so attached to worldly goods that they prefer theirs Children sacrifice as their troubled business. "

According to the latest discovery, Franco sent Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler a list of 6,000 Spanish Jews drawn up by his provincial governors during World War II . Despite the creation of the list, there is no evidence that the Jews listed were deported. Despite being a member of anti-Semitic groups, Franco had Jewish friends in Morocco and even publicly stopped the outbreak of pogroms against Jews in Spanish Morocco. During Franco's dictatorship, no concentration camps for Jews were established on Spanish territory, and Spanish Jews retained their full political rights. In addition, as a transit country, Spain, with around 20,000 to 35,000 Jews, took in more Jews than any other neutral country in World War II, with the exception of Portugal, which was also neutral. Numerous Spanish diplomats placed Jews in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the Balkans under their protection. New archival finds from Madrid show that Franco had been informed in detail about the extermination of the Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp since 1944 at the latest and that he “knew the extent of the extermination very well”.

post war period

Franco during a speech in Eibar , 1949

The likely victory of the Allies in World War II was framed by enormous expectations from the Republican opposition. The creation of a National Alliance of Democratic Forces and the overthrow of the regime were planned.

Meanwhile, in August 1945, a special meeting of the Republican government-in-exile of Spain was held in Mexico. However, the government of José Giral Pereira was not recognized by any of the victorious powers, so that José Giral Pereira resigned as prime minister in exile in February 1947.

In addition, the Republican opposition was split into several factions and ideologies.

On March 19, 1945, when the defeat of Hitler and the Axis powers was very close, Juan de Borbón broke completely with Franco and published the Lausanne Manifesto , in which he declared that the Franco regime had from the beginning supported the systems of totalitarianism and the Axis Powers was oriented, which would not be compatible with the victory of the Allies and is also a danger for the future of the Spanish nation.

In February 1946, Juan de Borbón relocated his official residence to Estoril (near Lisbon), where he received a welcome letter signed by 458 high-ranking members of the Spanish elite, including two former ministers. Franco raised serious concerns, saying:

"This is a declaration of war."

On July 17, 1945, Franco passed the third Basic Law. However, in this law, known as the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, the Spaniards were subject to many restrictions. As a further modernization measure, a new government was formed. The liberal Alberto Martín Artajo became responsible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The role of political Catholicism was placed at the center of the regime. On October 22, 1945 Franco passed the fourth Basic Law so that the head of state could be recognized as appropriate by the Spanish after consultation.

On February 28, 1946, the French government closed the border with Spain, and four days later a joint declaration was issued by the United States, Great Britain and France calling for the peaceful withdrawal of the Franco regime in favor of a return to democracy.

At the same time, the question of imposing sanctions on the Franco regime arose. It was discussed at the United Nations in 1946. Due to the refusal of Great Britain and the United States, military measures against the regime could be averted. Finally, on April 29, 1946, the UN Security Council condemned the Franco regime by a majority in Resolution 4 . Then the organization recommended the immediate withdrawal of the ambassadors accredited in Madrid from its member countries. As early as 1945, the newly created United Nations rejected Spain's membership. Officially it was said:

"There is no place in the United Nations for a government whose principles are based on fascist ideology"

The foreign policy isolation of Spain was enforced in particular by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, and Spain was denied participation in the Marshall Plan . Only Peronist Argentina stood by Franco and agreed a contract for wheat deliveries, which should alleviate the plight of the Spanish people. In January 1947, the Argentine First Lady Eva Perón came on a state visit.

Franco responded to the boycott by organizing a mass demonstration on December 9, 1946 in the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid under the motto "Franco yes, communism no!" In support of the regime. From the balcony of the royal palace, he pushed off the isolation of the regime attributed to a conspiracy of Freemasonry and Communism. On the same day, the UN General Assembly condemned Franco-Cortes having initiated the minting of new coins in Spain with the image of Franco and the inscription Francisco Franco, leader of Spain by the grace of God . Another way to cope with isolation has been international support from Catholic circles around the world, especially among Latin American countries.

However, the main strategy of the Franco regime in order to survive was to seek monarchical legitimacy. In March 1947, Franco proclaimed the legal re-establishment of the monarchy in Spain, but without appointing a monarch. This gesture was also done to appease the monarchists in the Movimiento Nacional (Carlist and Alfonso). Although he himself showed monarchist tendencies, Franco did not feel that it was time to appoint or proclaim a king. In this fifth constitution, in addition to the reintroduction of the Spanish monarchy, the change of the official state name from Spanish State to Kingdom of Spain was decided. Article 2 of the law confirmed Franco's role as head of state and generalissimo of the armies as sole commander in chief of the Spanish armed forces . Franco left the Spanish throne vacant, with him as de facto ruler for life. During this time he acquired many of the privileges of a king. He wore the uniform of a captain general (a rank traditionally reserved for the king) and from 1940 lived in the El Pardo palace, northwest of Madrid. His portrait also appeared on most Spanish peseta coins and postage stamps - an honor that was previously reserved almost exclusively for the king. Mostly by the grace of God, he added to his titles what actually applies more to monarchs.

In the post-war period, Franco first sought the support of various more moderate groups to alleviate the fascist image. At first, the Franco government marginalized fascist ideologues in favor of technocrats, many of whom were members of Opus Dei , and looked for ways to modernize the economy in what would have been a departure from fascist economic principles.

Although Spain under Franco's rule had symbolically adopted some trappings of fascism, Franco and Francoist Spain cannot usually be called fascist. One of the larger distinctions from fascism is the goal pursued by fascist ideology to create a new society, which Franco and his regime did not attempt and, while respecting traditional and conservative mores, did the opposite. Stanley Payne wrote of Franco:

"Hardly any serious historian and analyst can describe Generalissimo Franco as an essentially fascist person."

The few consistent points in Franco's long reign were mainly authoritarianism , nationalism , Catholicism , anti- freemasonry and anti-communism .

Even after the Second World War, the consequences of the civil war in Spain were socially dire. Many of those who supported the republic fled into exile. Spain lost thousands of doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, judges, professors, business people, artists, etc. Many of those who lost their jobs after the end of the Second Republic remained unemployed and their jobs were often left by unskilled or untrained staff occupied. A reconstruction of the infrastructure of Spain was far from possible and also did not enable rapid economic development as in the other western European countries.

In his Estoril Manifesto of April 7, 1947, Juan de Borbón rejected the law and defended the inheritance rights of the succession. This news was not made public in Spain, where the press sparked a campaign against the applicant . To give the regime democratic legitimacy, the law was first passed by parliament on June 7th and then passed a referendum, which resulted in a high turnout and approval of 93% of voters.

At the end of 1947 came the first evidence that the beginning of the Cold War changed the attitude of the Western powers towards the Franco regime in Spain. The United States could no longer afford to exclude Spain from the western world because of its geostrategic needs. After the February communist coup in Czechoslovakia , the border with Spain reopened in spring 1948 as a reaction to France, and in early 1949 the Franco regime received a first loan from an American bank with the approval of its government worth 25 million dollars.

On November 4, 1950, with American support and with the abstention of France and the United Kingdom, the UN General Assembly ended the condemnation of the Franco regime with a large majority in Resolution 10 . In the months that followed, the Western ambassadors returned to Madrid. A proposal by the United States for Spain to join NATO was rejected both by Franco, who wanted to preserve his country's military independence, and by most of the Western European countries.

The international rehabilitation of Franco's regime and the adoption of the Fifth Basic Law by the people in July 1947 forced Juan de Borbón to change his attitude towards Franco. On August 25, 1948, the two met on de Borbón's yacht Azor in the Bay of Biscay. As a result of the talks, it was agreed that Don Juan's son, Juan Carlos de Borbón, would go to Spain and be brought up under the direction of General Franco.

With the recognition and rehabilitation of the Francoist state, the republican opposition collapsed in exile and had to be reorganized. In the interior of Spain, too, there was relative calm between 1949 and 1951.

Repression and instability in the 1950s

Franco with two toreros after a bullfight in San Sebastián , 1950

The first two decades of Franco's rule saw the continued suppression and killing of an indefinite number of political opponents even after the nationalist victory. In the 1950s, estimates of people executed were somewhere between 15,000 and 50,000.

Subsequently, the Franco state became less violent, nevertheless non-state trade unions and all political opponents, from the communist and anarchist organizations to the liberal democrats and Catalan or Basque separatists, were either suppressed or strictly controlled and shadowed across the political spectrum. The trade unions Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) were banned and replaced by the corporatist Sindicato Vertical in 1940. The Spanish Socialist Workers Party and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) were banned in 1939, while the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) went underground. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) went into exile and in 1959 the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), a Basque terrorist organization to fight the Franco dictatorship, was founded.

The Spanish nationalism promoted by Franco and the establishment of a unified national identity contradicted the cultural diversity of the individual regions. Bullfighting and flamenco were promoted as national traditions, while those traditions that were not recognized as Spanish were suppressed. Franco's view of Spanish traditions and customs was somewhat artificial and arbitrary from today's perspective. While some regional traditions were suppressed, flamenco, an Andalusian tradition, was elevated to a part of a larger, national identity. All cultural activities, even those recognized by the state, were censored and many activities, such as the sardana , the Catalans' national dance , were often unpredictably banned. This restrictive cultural policy , which peaked in the 1950s, relaxed again over time (especially in the late 1960s and early 1970s).

Franco also tried to establish the national homogeneity of Spain in a restrictive language policy . He promoted the use of the Spanish language in school and everyday life and had languages ​​such as Catalan , Galician and Basque suppressed. The legal use of languages ​​other than Spanish was prohibited under Franco. All government, notarial, legal and commercial documents were in Spanish only and null and void in any version other than Spanish. The use of other languages ​​was banned in schools, on billboards, on the street and on signs. Citizens were still allowed to speak the forbidden languages ​​unofficially and were therefore not persecuted. This policy was practiced until the late 1950s, but then subsided. After 1960, the non-Castilian languages ​​were allowed to be spoken freely again and also used publicly.

The Roman Catholic Church, which had been declared the state religion , and the Jewish community in Spain were spared the repression . The Catholic Church was given back the traditional privileges that had been revoked in the Second Republic. Officials were required to be Catholic, and some employers even required a "good behavior" statement from a priest. The civil marriage that had been introduced in republican Spain was annulled unless it was approved by the Catholic Church. Divorce, contraception and abortion were banned by Franco by decree. Although Franco's Spain had not recognized the new state of Israel in 1948, the Jewish community was relatively tolerant and largely spared from repression. In view of the tense situation in Spanish Morocco and Spanish Sahara, Franco issued several decrees that made assaults on local Jews a punishable offense, but denied him the support of most of the locals, and after the Six Day War gave financial and bureaucratic support to the Jewish emigration from Morocco.

Most rural towns and rural areas were guarded by the Civil Guard , a military police force for civilians. Larger cities and regional capitals were largely guarded by the Policia Armada (called grises in Spain because of the color of the uniform).

Student revolts at universities in the late 1960s and early 1970s were forcibly suppressed by the heavily armed Policía Armada. In May 1972, the indictment of an American student caused an international stir and upset between Spain and the United States.

The enforcement of traditional Catholic values ​​by the state authorities was a declared intention of the regime. The Ley de Vagos y Maleantes, Vagrancy Act , which was enacted during the republic, retained its validity in Francoist Spain and had major consequences for the remaining nomads of Spain and often led to their often encouraged emigration. In 1954 a law was passed that made homosexuality , prostitution and pedophilia a criminal offense under threat of the death penalty.

In 1951, harsh working conditions and soaring prices resulted in the 1951 tram strike in Barcelona, ​​forcing General Franco to react and appoint a new government in July to ensure that social unrest did not rekindle. The predominance of political Catholicism remained and Luis Carrero Blanco was appointed as the new Secretary of State.

After long negotiations, a new concordat was concluded with the Catholic Church in 1953 , which was an important step towards international recognition of the regime.

The ratification also confirmed the supremacy of the Catholic Church under Franco and the status quo between state and church that had prevailed since the end of the civil war.

Negotiations with the United States to establish four US military bases on Spanish territory in exchange for limited economic and military aid dragged on until 1953, integrating Spain into the Western defense system. A proposal by the United States to install nuclear weapons on Spanish soil could not be implemented due to the intervention of Franco, who himself was interested in producing his own nuclear weapons.

After the decision of the General Assembly in 1950, Spain could gradually be integrated into the UN specialized agencies and was finally admitted as a full member of the UN in December 1955. It was the end of the isolation of the Franco regime.

In February of the following year, there were some violent incidents at the University of Madrid as a result of clashes between students who had voted for free elections and state police forces. A student died in the process.

It was the first major internal crisis in post-war Francoist Spain. To calm the situation, Franco had to issue several emergency decrees.

In March 1956, France granted its protectorate of Morocco independence. Shortly thereafter, on October 23, 1957, the Ifni War broke out over the Spanish colony Ifni , an exclave of Spain surrounded by the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco. After a Moroccan invasion, Spanish troops under the personal command of Franco were able to repel the Sahara Liberation Army . The war in Ifni lasted until June 3, 1958.

In 1957 there was another political crisis. José Luis Arrese , who proposed to Franco that the powers of the Falangist unity party Movimiento Nacional be strengthened, sparked protests within the army. The Catholic Church and the government abstained from making a decision. Even the monarchists in Franco's power apparatus were not prepared to accept a totalitarian regime based on only one ideology, such as with fascism in Italy, National Socialism in the German Reich or Peronism in the Republic of Argentina. In the face of this abundance of protests and before he began to deal primarily with the economic problems of his country, the Generalissimo decided in February 1957 to enact a provisional law that was valid for an indefinite period. This law weakened the influence of the Falange within the state party and became the sixth basic law of the Francoist state. Officially, it was said that Spain was not represented by a movement, party or organization, but was a “community” (the car list mode) and a “traditional monarchy with Catholic, social and representative principles”. This enabled both monarchists and representatives of the Church and the army to be satisfied.

Faced with the severe deterioration in the economic situation, Franco Carrero persuaded Blanco to reform the self-sufficient economic system. As part of the reform, a secular Catholic office was established by Opus Dei . Alberto Ullastres became head of the Ministry of Commerce and Mariano Navarro Rubio was brought to the Ministry of Finance.

In 1958 strikes broke out again, particularly in Asturias and Catalonia. This was due to calls for a wage increase, as inflation had caused real wages to decline. There were recurring strikes, particularly in the Asturian coal mining industry. The intensity of the Asturian strike movement led Franco to declare a state of emergency in the region for four months on March 14, 1958.

On April 1, 1959, 20 years after the end of the civil war, the Valle de los Caídos war memorial was inaugurated.

Economic rise in the 1960s

Franco, 1964

In the 1960s, under Franco's rule, Spain experienced strong economic growth, which was then called the Spanish economic miracle . The average growth rate for that decade was 7%. However, Franco was also confronted with increasing social and political tensions. Thanks to stable support in the military, but also in the important Catholic Church in the country and the large landowners, Franco survived this situation politically unscathed.

The roots of this economic expansion lay in the 1950s. The self-sufficient model ( self-sufficiency policy ) set up by Franco had brought Spain to the brink of national bankruptcy. During this decade, with the decline of the resistance movements of the 1950s, a slow liberalization of the economy took place, initiated by the Falangists and the Franco regime itself . US aid, following the signing of a bilateral agreement, also had a decisive effect on alleviating the critical economic situation.

Economic growth in Europe, which began with the Marshall Plan after the end of the Second World War, did not materialize in Spain. The country was very backward in the 1950s and did not experience the full economic progress of its neighbors, until Franco decided to allow so-called “technocrats” into his government and began promoting a general better technical education in the economy. In doing so, he broke with the old, self-sufficient model. In 1959, with the help of the IMF and the OWCE , a stabilization plan was drawn up and a new economic policy was initiated. Spain sent a memorandum to the IMF in exchange for financial aid in which the country undertook to take action to address the Spanish economy in terms of solvency and economic instability. The result of the plan was an average growth of 7%. This put Spain in second place after Japan . Spain began to transform itself from one of the poorest countries in Europe, together with Greece and Portugal, with a per capita income that was lower than in some Latin American countries, to the fifth largest economic power in Europe. During the period 1960 and 1973 industrial production grew by more than 10% and there was a structural change in the economy: Spain had transformed from an agrarian state into an industrial nation of the first world. As a result, the share of the revenue generated from the export of agricultural products in the gross domestic product fell from 22.6% in 1960 to 11.6% in 1973 and the unemployment rate fell to 2% (1970). Above all, the influx of foreign capital, the influx of tourism and money transfers from guest workers and emigrants (around 800,000 Spaniards) made this development possible.

Franco on a golden Pesetamünze from 1966 with the inscription Francisco Franco, leader of Spain, by the grace of God displayed

In the mid-1960s, the constant influx of people from the countryside to the cities triggered a rural exodus and the consequent creation of new jobs failed to materialize. Instead, the limited capacity hindered job creation and increased the number of unemployed.

Although the majority of people in Spain benefited from this development, most of the wealth fell into the hands of people close to the regime. Despite this imbalance, society was modernized in parallel. The Spanish population transformed from an agrarian to an industrial society, with advances in education, the achievement of an enrollment rate of 90% and a reduction in the illiteracy rate. Another step forward was the slow integration of women into what was previously male-dominated society.

The Spanish economic miracle also brought about great social changes. Spanish society was getting closer and closer to other societies in Western Europe and a culture of mass consumption developed. In 1960 the per capita income in Spain was 1,042 US dollars. In addition, there was an increase in welfare and the country's infrastructure was extensively renewed. New liberal customs such as the miniskirt, men with long hair, bikinis, pop and rock music were rejected by the conservative Franco, but tolerated by the authorities. With the sale of over a million contraceptive pills in 1967, there was also a change in sexuality.

But the economic and social changes also partly led to political changes. Carrero Blanco formed a new, more liberal government from 1962 to 1965 and in 1963 Spain introduced social security , so in 1973 four out of five Spaniards had health insurance. However, there was no clear and uniform tax system.

Even the 60s and the rise of technocrats before developing the Falangists had in several trade union organizations entrenched and Franco had, due to the strong changes also force an opening of the Falange. This project was carried out by Minister José Solis Ruiz and it culminated in relative freedom at the end of 1966.

In Spain, for the first time since the purges in the 1940s and 50s, a left-wing opposition could be formed again.

In fact, two major successes had been achieved with openness. These were the Press and Printing Act, which relaxed censorship, of March 1966 and the Law on Religious Freedom of June 1967, which now also granted more rights to the previously suppressed Islam . The first law was enforced by the young Falangist minister Manuel Fraga and is still valid today in a modified form. The second law was the work of Foreign Minister Fernando María de Castiella Maíz and was passed after the Second Vatican Council had agreed on new guidelines for dealing with minorities. Ultimately, however, narrow limits were imposed on the non-Catholic denominations.

From an opposition perspective, the first and most important challenge facing the Franco government was the return of the labor unrest that began with the Asturian miners' strike of 1962. In addition, there were student protests at universities across the country, which had the support of some professors such as José Luis López, Enrique Tierno Galvan and Agustin Garcia Calvo. A third area of ​​opposition was progressive priests who supported the workers' and student protests. In addition, meetings in the church, which guaranteed immunity under the 1953 Concordat, served as meeting places for opposition members.

The newly established cultural and political demands in Catalonia and the Basque Country also put the regime under pressure. The protest is now often cited as the beginning of the rebirth of Catalan nationalism in Francoist Spain in the 1960s. An important event was the (illegal) celebrations for Catalan National Day on September 11th.

As for the Catalan were also the Basque nationalism. The Basque government in exile and ETA railed against the Franco regime and from 1962 also resorted to violence in the fight against Franco. In August 1968 members of the ETA murdered a police superintendent in Irun . In 1968 and 1969 two more people died as a result of the ETA terror.

In this context, social mobilization was expanded in the 1960s. Numerous new unions were formed under the auspices of the Spanish Communist Party. The new working class protest movement was undoubtedly the greatest challenge the Franco regime faced in the 1960s.

It was precisely these organizations that led to another wave of purges. The newly created Court of Public Order (TOP) reported in a total of 4,500 summaries: illegal propaganda, illegal associations, illegal gatherings, illegal demonstrations, etc.

In the second half of the 1960s, the aging Franco began to withdraw more and more from political affairs and devoted himself increasingly to his free time. The talks about Spain's entry into the European Community were nevertheless blocked by Franco and labeled as a plot by allegedly hostile forces of the workers and student demonstrations.

Franco in the Spanish Parliament on the appointment of Juan Carlos I as his successor, July 22, 1969

In January 1966, the state organization law , which would have fundamentally changed the status quo and, among other things, called for the separation of the offices of head of state and head of government, which Franco had united, was put forward in the Spanish parliament . Franco decided on a referendum and declared:

“There will be no debate in Parliament on complex law. It would first be up to the Spanish people to examine their advantages and disadvantages and to decide on them "

On December 14th, a referendum with a turnout of 88% voted against the law with only 1.81% against.

Franco began to look for a successor for himself in the second half of the sixties under increasing pressure and in view of increasing old age. As early as 1961 he had proposed that Otto von Habsburg be appointed king after his death. However, he refused on the grounds that he was not a usurper . In 1968 there were several candidates for the successor, including Juan de Borbón y Battenberg , who tried to substantiate his legitimacy in various talks with Franco. But finally Juan Carlos de Borbón , the grandson of Alfonso XIII. who had been brought up under Franco's supervision as the future King of Spain since 1948, as his successor for the time after his death. Franco ensured, however, that this would not have the same level of power, but only very little leeway to prevent a falling away from Franquism. Franco announced his decision in January 1969 and announced it in Parliament on July 22, 1969. With 419 votes in favor and 19 against, the MPs approved this decision and granted the chosen one the title “Prince of Spain” .

The appointment of Juan Carlos as his successor, however, opened a new conflict within the government between the “technocrats” and the open sections of the regime, the final consequence of which was the Matesa scandal that broke out in mid-1969 and revealed that there were attempts at overthrow within the government came. Franco then saw the arbitrating Carrero as a guarantor of stability and set him up as Vice President.

Later years

Franco and his designated successor Juan Carlos de Borbón holding a military parade of the Spanish Army , June 5, 1969

In the early 1970s, the regime was faced with new challenges and Franco, along with a few advisors and confidants, tried to reverse the reforms granted in the 1960s. One measure was the deposition of Juan Carlos de Borbón as Franco's successor and the installation of his cousin Alfons Jaime de Borbón . Alfons Jaime de Borbón had promised Franco the marriage of his granddaughter María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco and married her in 1972. Franco's regime, which was in the process of dissolution, was called the bunker in Spain . At that time, measures had already been taken for the time after Franco's death.

In September 1970 Franco was visited by United States President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger - a visit that symbolized the image of the dictator and the limit of cooperation between Western democracies and the regime.

At the same time, the government decided to publicly convict 16 people (including two priests) for alleged membership in the ETA, but the effect was exactly the opposite of what it was intended to be. The announcement of the fast-track procedure in Burgos in December was followed by a wave of solidarity in the Basque Country and Navarre .

In addition, the Burgos study sparked an international campaign of solidarity with the Basque people and the restoration of democratic freedoms in Spain.

The Burgos Study also sparked initial tension between Franco and the Catholic Church, which began to criticize Franco more openly and to break away from the regime.

Franco at an audience in the El Pardo Palace, April 1972

Two months after the Burgos trial in December 1971, six of the 15 ETA members were sentenced to death by the military tribunal. This process triggered a union of the democratic and separatist opposition forces, which had previously operated separately and in some cases against each other, and thereby increased their sphere of influence.

By mid-1973, the political failure of the immutable continuity of Carrero and the technocrats was clearly visible. This was shown by the resignation of Interior Minister Tomás Garicano in May 1973. However, Carrero Blanco emerged stronger from the crisis and was appointed Prime Minister by Franco, a position that Franco had held for 37 years. However, Carrero's new government was only in office for six months.

In the 1970s, new workers and student demonstrations began. The Christian Democrats, who were previously close to Franco, parts of the Falangist movement and their own opposition groups in the army began to distance themselves from Franco for various reasons. In terms of foreign policy, the Vatican , which had long approved and supported the Franco regime, had also shown signs of disapproval; internally, Cardinal Vicente Enrique y Tarancón was one of the regime's leading critics. In addition, the ETA and other terrorist groups had gained steadily growing military and political strength. The assassination of Prime Minister Blanco on December 20, 1973 by the ETA, demonstrated the impotence of the regime. The rapid takeover of power by Vice President Torcuato Fernández-Miranda was able to calm the situation down again.

The attack took place shortly before the start of legal proceedings (known as “Proceso 1001”) against ten detained activists from the underground Comisiones Obreras union . Franco, who had increasingly disappeared from the political stage from the end of the 1960s, took back complete control of the military that was still loyal to him and from then on ruled de facto as a military dictator over all ideologies. As early as October 1, 1971, on the anniversary of his appointment as head of state in 1936, he made it clear at the Plaza de Oriente that he would serve as head of state until his death and not retire. Franco, who was then the oldest and longest-serving head of state in Europe and one of the world, showed clear signs of senility at the end of 1974 .

When the United States-sponsored coup in Chile on September 11, 1973 , in which the military under General Augusto Pinochet took power, Spain ideologically supported the putschists. Pinochet, a great admirer of Franco, established a dictatorship based on the Francoist model, and from then on Franco's Spain became an important partner of the United States in Latin America.

Under the influence of his family, Franco appointed Carlos Arias Navarro as the new Prime Minister in January 1974 , which meant that the technocrats of Opus Dei were excluded from the government. Instead, Arias turned to the influential families of the regime and tried to keep the balance between the various forces in government.

Carlos Arias Navarro was one of the more liberal politicians and promised more openness in his speech on the introduction of the new government on February 12, 1974. This new spirit of February 12th , as it was called in the media, lasted only a few weeks until the end of the month when the reformist Archbishop of Bilbao, Monsignor Antonio Añoveros, was told to leave Spain. A few days later, on March 2nd, the Catalan anarchist Salvador Puig was convicted of the murder of a police officer and executed. The protests were harshly suppressed by the police.

On April 25, 1974, the Estado Novo regime under Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano was overthrown in Portugal. After the Carnation Revolution , Spain stood alone as the last right-wing dictatorship in Europe. In September, a brutal attack by ETA in the Rolando Café on Calle del Correo caused the deaths of 13 people.

When the 1973 oil crisis occurred as a result of the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Egypt and Syria and the Arab nations triggered a global energy crisis, Franco tried to bridge the extremely precarious economic situation with his good relations with the Arab world . The economic crisis started in 1974. In 1975 the rise in inflation and unemployment led to a wave of strikes. In addition, terrorist activities by ETA resulted in 18 deaths in 1974 and 14 in 1975. In addition, three attacks by the Frente Revolucionario Antifascista y Patriota (FRAP) resulted in the deaths of several civilians. Franco then had to enact an anti-terror law.

In the summer of 1975 the feeling of collapse of the regime was pervasive. The last executions ratified by Franco took place on September 27, 1975. A total of five people (three FRAP militants and two ETA fighters) were sentenced to death by shooting. Six other people were sentenced to death but were later pardoned and sentenced to almost 30 years in prison.

On October 1st, the bunker called for a demonstration in the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid. Franco was reluctant and hesitant to deliver his speech in which he rejected foreign interference in the internal affairs of Spain. At that time he was already suffering from Parkinson's . In his last speech he said:

“Everything that happens in Spain and Europe comes from a fundamentalist-Masonic conspiracy in the political class! Likewise, the communist subversion that honors us and humiliates us! Long live Spain!"

The latest executions sparked a wave of protests and condemnations from the Spanish government, both inside and outside the country. Fifteen European countries withdrew their ambassadors from Spain and the Spanish embassies were attacked in most European countries.

Spanish empire and decolonization

Franco was a staunch supporter of imperialism . He had adopted this attitude from his family. Under Franco's rule, Spain tried to keep control of its colonial empire in Africa and could only play an important international role through its large colonial possessions.

During the Second World War, the Hendaye Franco conference of Hitler promised Gibraltar and territorial gains at the expense of France. In addition to French Morocco, Franco had called for the Mauritanian area between the Spanish Sahara and the 20th parallel, the Algerian Department of Oran (67,262 km²) and an expansion of the coastal area of Spanish Guinea . However, the Vichy regime refused to cede Morocco. After the end of the war, Spain controlled the colonies of Ifni , Spanish Sahara (summarized in Spanish West Africa ), Spanish Guinea and the protectorates of Spanish Morocco and Cape Juby . However, the collapse of the colonial empire soon became apparent. Immediately after independence from France in 1956, the Kingdom of Morocco began to lay claim to Spanish territories on the grounds that these territories were historically and geographically part of Morocco. The Moroccan Sultan Mohammed V supported these efforts and separatists in the Spanish territories. In the Ifni War from October 23, 1957 to June 3, 1958, Spain was able to hold its Infi colony, but had to cede the city of Tarfaya and its surroundings to Morocco in the Angra de Cintra Agreement . Previously, on April 7, 1956, the country had to hand over Spanish Morocco to Morocco and only kept the exclave Plaza de soberanía with the areas of Ceuta , Melilla , Islas Chafarinas , Alhucemas Islands , and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera .

During the Algerian War (1954–1962) the Organization de l'armée secrète (OAS ) was founded on January 20, 1961 by Jean-Jacques Susini , General Raoul Salan and Pierre Lagaillarde to protect French Algeria. Spain developed together with Portugal to a bulwark for the end of the decolonization of Africa . In 1966 the General Assembly of the United Nations spoke out in favor of the independence of the Spanish overseas territory of Equatorial Guinea. The first free elections had already taken place there in 1960, and the colony achieved internal autonomy in 1963. On October 12, 1968, despite his negative attitude, Franco released the colony into independence.

At the request of Morocco and Mauritania, Franco was asked by the UN General Assembly with resolution 2072 of December 16, 1965 to decolonize the Spanish Sahara province and to grant the population the right to self-determination . However, Spain expanded the administration of the colony and began to exploit the phosphate deposits there in 1962 . In 1967 the Franco regime agreed to hold a referendum on the future status of the area. In 1973 the Western Saharan liberation movement POLISARIO was founded , which took up an armed struggle against the Spanish colonial power. In the same year Franco offered the area a statute of autonomy. Shortly before his death, Morocco occupied the Western Sahara in the Green March and administered the area. After Franco's death, the colonial empire collapsed in 1976. On February 26, 1976 the last Spanish troops left the Spanish Sahara.

Culture and building policy

Madrid at night. The lighting in the city center dates back to the Franco era, but it became a symbol of the Movida madrileña youth movement

The very traditionalist and conservative cultural policy of the Franco regime still shapes Spain today. Above all, the classicist-traditionalist architecture , which was mainly based on eclecticism , left its mark on the Spanish urban landscape. Examples of this are the Palacio Insular de Tenerife (built in 1940), the Edificio de Correos y Telégrafos (1957) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife or the town hall of Huelva (1949). The role models included the Recreo de las Cadenas in Jerez de la Frontera and the Gabinete Literario in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria . The most famous Francoist architect was José Enrique Marrero Regalado with his works in the Canary Islands.

Until the early 2000s, many streets were named Francos or El Caudillo and Generalísimo . Today some smaller towns and villages in Spain still bear Franco's names or those of his companions (for example José Antonio Primo de Rivera, General Mola or General Sanjurjo). These had a large share in Franco's personality cult .

The strict cultural policy and state-motivated repression measures prevented the politically left-wing civil rights movement of the 1968 movement from spreading to Spain and the neoliberal customs such as the miniskirt , long hair among men and the massive drug use that began in Western Europe and the United States in the 1970s States remained largely absent in Spain until Franco's death. Cultural policy went hand in hand with strict internal censorship and strict controls on foreign goods.

In 1975 the French musician Renaud Séchan released his first album. One song was called Monsieur Franco and was not published due to its obscene content and was banned by the French government. It was part of the protest against the regime among the younger generation and was published under a different title after Franco's death.

The remnants of Franco's cultural policy are still the subject of political discussions both inside and outside Spain. When the socialist government elected in 2004 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero began to remove Francoist symbols and buildings, it met resistance from the Spanish right led by the Partido Popular and the political center. Although the majority of Spaniards are critical of the dictatorial regime, at that time only about 20% of them advocated the active removal of monuments, street names or other things of Franquism. Today there are still monuments in honor of Franco or the glorification of Franquism in the former protectorate of Spanish Morocco (especially in the big cities) and Western Sahara .

Relations with the Soviet Union and the United States

Relations between Franco Spain and the two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, were tense throughout the life of the Franco regime. Franco pursued the strategy of keeping Spain out of the East-West conflict and rather finding supporters for the preservation of the Spanish colonial empire in Africa.

The Soviet Union took an active part in the Spanish Civil War, dispatching military advisers, volunteers and weapons to assist the Republican government in exchange for the transfer of the Bank's gold reserves from Spain to Moscow . With the fall of the Second Spanish Republic in 1939, the Franco regime broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union that had existed since 1933 and leaned against the fascist Kingdom of Italy and the National Socialist German Reich . During the Second World War , the Blue Division , consisting of Spanish volunteers, fought against the Red Army on the Eastern Front , but Franco avoided involvement in the war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht and Schutzstaffel (SS) and withdrew the Blue Division in 1943.

After the Second World War, Spain, which was faced with forced foreign policy isolation, refused to establish relations with the Soviets. Franco described the situation as "the worst, albeit one of the most problematic". In 1948, Franco criticized the doctors' conspiracy staged by Stalin , which was directed against mainly Jewish doctors. 1956 Spain boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics because of the Soviet suppression of the uprising in Hungary and made Israel and its allies Britain and France in the Suez crisis in 1954 against the Arab-socialist embossed Egypt ideological support. The climax of the political ice age was marked by Nikita Khrushchev's speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations on October 1, 1960, in which he criticized the Franco regime for its numerous human rights violations , and Franco's ban on the Spanish national soccer team from a qualifying match against the USSR for the European football championship 1960 . Soon, however, in the course of the thaw in April 1963 , Franco began an intensive correspondence with Khrushchev on topics such as disarmament, because Franco-Spain was trying to manufacture its own nuclear weapons at times , and the fate of the condemned communist Julian Grimau . In January 1964, Franco appealed to Khrushchev again and after a Soviet declaration it was decided to exchange ambassadors for an indefinite period. France was chosen as a provisional solution. Until 1969, relations ran informally through the Soviet and Spanish embassies in Paris . In 1967 Spanish and Soviet representatives agreed to open their seaports to ships from the other country. In 1969, the state-owned Soviet Black Sea Ship Company opened an office in Madrid, which was the first Soviet establishment in Spain since the end of the civil war. This office was the de facto consulate of the USSR. Relations, however, faced another acid test after the Prague Spring in 1968 with the occupation of Czechoslovakia (ČSSR) .

In 1972 an agreement on foreign trade sealed the exchange of ambassadors for 1973. However, full diplomatic statements could only be established after Franco's death in 1977.

Relations between Spain and the United States under Franco were much more relaxed than with the Soviet Union. During the Spanish Civil War, the US remained officially neutral on the instructions of Secretary of State Cordell Hull . Unofficially, the nationalists were supported by some elements of the American economy. The American company Vacuum Oil Company in Tangier refused to sell ships to the Republicans and the Texas Oil Company diverted its oil tankers to the nationalist-controlled seaport of Tenerife . She supported Franco's troops with several tons of gasoline until the end of the civil war. The American automakers Ford , Studebaker and General Motors delivered a total of 12,000 trucks to the nationalists. After the war, José María Doussinague , Deputy Secretary of State of the Spanish Foreign Ministry, thanked the country with the sentence “Without American oil and American trucks and American credit, we would not have won the civil war”. Nevertheless, the majority of US citizens were critical of the Franco regime. The writer Ernest Hemingway, for example, saw a hideous association between Adolf Hitler and Franco. Although the Republic was not officially supported, many American volunteers, such as the Lincoln Battalion , and anarchists fought for the Republicans. This had Franco sentenced to long imprisonment, which led to initial irritation with the United States.

Spain's neutrality in World War II was initially welcomed by the administration of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt . The Spanish deliveries of raw materials (especially tungsten and iron) to the Axis powers in exchange for weapons, however, prompted the USA to take military action against Spain from 1941 onwards. The sudden change of sides of the Franco regime as a result of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, and when the National Socialist crimes against European Jews in the Nazi concentration camps in the country became known in 1944, prevented US intervention in favor of the tens of thousands of left republicans living in exile.

After the end of World War II, the United States was a key player in the enforced foreign policy isolation of Spain. The Francoist state was denied participation in the Marshall Plan or any other economic assistance. The February coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948, the establishment of the People's Republic of Hungary and the defeat of Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 led to a rethink in Washington. After the US embassy in Madrid reopened, Franco symbolically sent Spanish soldiers to the frontline of the Korean War . In 1955, on the initiative of the USA and France, Spain became a member of the United Nations, and in 1953, the Madrid Pact was a loose military alliance and trade agreement. Franco kept a certain distance from the USA and NATO, which was founded in 1949 . He refused to allow Spain to join. The dictator had not forgotten the Spanish-American War and he was also said to have a personal antipathy towards the United States, which he blamed for the instability of his country for decades.

In 1959, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first President of the USA to make a state visit to Madrid. The poet James Wright wrote of the Eisenhower visit:

“Franco stands in a glowing circle of policemen. His arms are open and welcoming. He promises that all dark things will be hunted. "

From 1942 to 1945, the American historian Carlton JH Hayes served as the American ambassador to Spain. He was criticized by American leftists during World War II for being overly Franco-friendly, but he played an important role in averting Franco's plans to join the war in 1939/1940. Historian Andrew N. Buchanan argues that Hayes was able to integrate Spain into Washington’s alliance system. At Harry S. Truman's urging , the Joint Distribution Committee was able to operate an open office in Barcelona during the war and in the post-war period .

In the 1960s, Spain's relations with the United States continued to deteriorate. During the presidency of John F. Kennedy (1960–1963) the USA called for a democratic opening of Spain. Under his successors Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon , the relationship improved again and an intensive collaboration developed in support of the South American military dictatorships of the early 1970s. After his state visit in 1971, Nixon said of Franco after his death:

"General Franco was a loyal friend and ally of the United States."

United States military facilities in Spain were limited in the Franco era. The installation of nuclear weapons was not tolerated until the early 1980s.

death

former tomb of Francisco Franco

Franco's death was slow and painful, with numerous surgeries worsening his condition. On October 15, 1975, Franco suffered a heart attack and, against the advice of his doctor Vicente Escudero Pozuelo, attended a government meeting on October 17. On October 22nd, he suffered his third heart attack and there were a total of 24 other health problems. After that he lay in agony for weeks ; the electroencephalogram had long since stopped showing any brain activity. Since then, those around him have made every effort to prolong his life, trying to keep him alive until November 26th so that he could extend Alejandro Rodriguez Valcarcel's mandate as President of the Secret Council and the Courts.

On October 25th, Franco was operated on in a makeshift operating room in the El Pardo Palace. In early November, he suffered a major bleeding in his stomach caused by a stomach ulcer. Franco was then admitted to the La Paz Hospital in Madrid and his stomach was removed.

On November 6, 1975, while Franco was in intensive care, the King of Morocco Hassan II took advantage of the political uncertainty in Spain and ordered the invasion of the Spanish Sahara colony on the Green March . Without formally declaring war on Spain, some 25,000 soldiers and more than 350,000 civilians crossed the border of the colony. The aim of the campaign was to incorporate the area. Due to the unstable situation around their commander in chief, the army refused to offer military resistance to the Moroccans. With the Madrid Agreement of November 14, Morocco and Mauritania were given administration, but not sovereignty, of Western Sahara . The agreement was concluded without the recognition of the United Nations and despite Algeria's concerns.

On November 15th, Franco was operated on for the third and final time. The doctor Manuel Hidalgo Huerta announced the death of the dictator on November 20 at 4:20 a.m. Franco died two weeks before his 83rd birthday. The next day, at 10 o'clock , Prime Minister Carlos Arias Navarro made the news public on the radio with his now famous report “Españoles, Franco ha muerto” (“Spaniards, Franco is dead”).

During the state funeral in the dome of the underground basilica Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos in the Sierra de Guadarrama, about 300,000 to 500,000 people paid their last respects to Franco over a period of 50 hours. Almost all the greats of the regime and Prince Rainier III attended the funeral . of Monaco , King Hussein of Jordan , General Augusto Pinochet of Chile, General Hugo Banzer Suárez of Bolivia and US Vice President Nelson Rockefeller . 30 days of national mourning were declared after death.

On November 22nd, Juan Carlos I was proclaimed King of Spain and thus Franco's successor. He had been the provisional head of state of Spain until September 2, because Franco was in poor health from July 19, 1974.

Francoism did not end with Franco's death. The relevant positions of the Francoist state, the National Council, the Royal Council and the Parliament, were occupied by his supporters. Juan Carlos I's leeway was correspondingly small. When the then 37-year-old ascended the throne, which had been orphaned for over four decades, the Spaniards had no great expectations of him. He was perceived as "Franco's foster son". Prime Minister Carlos Arias Navarro, most of the Spanish armed forces and the paramilitary police force Guardia Civil wanted to continue the Francoist dictatorship.

On July 1, 1976, Arias Navarro was deposed by Juan Carlos I in the course of the transition and replaced by Adolfo Suárez . In the course of a criminal law reform in the same year, the formation of parties was legalized again and the freedom of the press reintroduced. On June 15, 1977, Spain elected a parliament in free general elections for the first time since 1936. On October 31, 1978, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Spain was passed by the Spanish House of Representatives and the Senate and ratified by the Spanish people in a referendum on December 6, 1978. It was signed by Juan Carlos I on December 27th. It sealed the end of Franco's dictatorship and made Spain a parliamentary monarchy .

The last revival came on February 23, 1981, when members of the army under General Milans del Bosch and the Guardia Civil under Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero attempted a coup . Tejero stormed parliament, where Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo was about to be elected head of government. Members of Parliament were held hostage. With the determined appearance of the king as commander-in-chief of the army, who clearly spoke out in favor of democracy in a national television address and pulled the military on his side, the coup was thwarted the following night.

Afterlife

Although the peaceful transition to democracy was achieved after Franco's death, there was no fundamental reappraisal of the Franco era for almost 30 years.

The seven-meter-high Franco statue on the Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz in Madrid was only removed on the night of March 17, 2005 . During the night and during the day the police had to intervene against some angry opponents of the action. Representatives of the opposition Partido Popular of ex-Prime Minister José María Aznar criticized this policy. The elimination of "historical symbols on the streets" would only "open wounds".

Last remaining statue of Franco in Melilla

On February 9, 2005, the lower house of the Spanish Parliament, the Congreso , decided to dismantle the remaining equestrian statue of Franco in the Zaragoza Military Academy . Partido Popular and Coalición Canaria abstained from voting. Most of the Franco symbols have now disappeared from the cityscapes of Spain and some streets named after Franco have been renamed. The last Franco equestrian statue on European soil was removed from the town hall square of Santander ( Cantabria ) in December 2008 . The last statues of Franco are in the Melilla exclave on African soil and - with a halo - in front of the cathedral of the Palmarian church that canonized him, in Palmar de Troya .

The Zapatero government announced in March 2005 that it would rehabilitate Franco victims, investigate human rights crimes and ban symbols of Franquism from the public eye. A corresponding draft law was passed by a working group of the Spanish parliament on October 10, 2007. On June 29, 2009, Madrid stripped the Spanish dictator of all honorary titles. 14 cities (including Franco's birthplace Ferrol ) had already done this before.

In 2017 the Madrid City Council decided to rename those 52 names of streets and squares related to Franco. Names like Caudillo (leader) or names that recall the fallen of his troops or representatives of his dictatorship should be exchanged for the names of writers, philosophers and conductors.

The "Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco" (German: National Foundation Francisco Franco) aims to preserve Franco's reputation. She owns extensive archive material from Franco's official residence El Pardo, which after the dictator's death were not handed over to public archives, but became the property of the private foundation. Unpleasant historians have been refused entry time and again. The Fundación Francisco Franco received considerable sums of money from the right-wing conservative Aznar government through the Ministry of Culture (2001 alone in the amount of 150,000 euros; that was the second largest subsidy in the ministry's budget).

For years, the reburial of Franco's bones was and is the subject of political discussions. A corresponding law was passed by parliament on September 13, 2018. In September 2019, the Spanish Supreme Court unanimously approved the transfer of the remains to the El Pardo-Mingorrubio cemetery in a suburb of Madrid. The lawsuit brought against the reburial by family members of Franco was dismissed. During the reburial, which took place on October 24, 2019, the Francos family was not allowed to drape the coffin with the national flag from the time of the dictatorship that had been used at the 1975 burial. Instead, the family used a flag with the family crest.

Private

There is little known from Francisco Franco's private life, which was also official and was made public.

Franco was married to Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés and had a daughter named Maria del Carmen Franco Polo . His granddaughter is María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco , married to Alfons Jaime de Borbón from 1972 . She and her family are thereby with the Spanish royal house Bourbon-Anjou under Felipe VI. related. From 1940 the Franco family resided officially in the Palacio Real in Madrid and unofficially in the El Pardo Palace . During the summer, the family resided in the Pazo de Meirás Castle in the Galician province of A Coruña .

Rulership sign

title

Franco held the titles Generalísimo ( Generalissimo ) and Jefe del Estado ( Head of State ) from October 1936 . He later took on the official title of Su Excelencia el Jefe de Estado ("His Excellency, the Head of State [of Spain]"). In official documents and letters, the title Caudillo de España (“Spain's Leader”) and sometimes El Caudillo de la Ultima Cruzada y de la Hispanidad (“The Leader of the Last Crusade and Hispanic Heritage”) and El Caudillo de was also found la Guerra de Liberación contra el Comunismo y sus Cómplices (“The leader of the liberation war against communism and its accomplices”).

Emblem, standard, monogram

As head of state, Franco used the Latin word Victor ("winner") as an emblem as a symbol from the time of the Roman Empire (later it was wrongly claimed that it was designed by Corintio Haza). He picked up the symbol at the Victory Parade on July 18, 1939, after which it was used throughout the Franco dictatorship.

The Christ monogram also became a symbol of the Francoist era. After the Edict of Milan by Emperor Constantine in 313 AD, the monogram appeared on coins, flags and finally on legionnaires' shields.

The Franco standard and the personal flag were introduced in 1940 and then used until the dictator's death. The strip between the two dragons separated the two pillars of Heracles . The two silvery columns had golden Corinthian capitals and each had a crown. The crown is an imperial crown with a central support rod. The Banda de Castilla , which was a personal badge of the Castilian monarchs and was later used by the House of Habsburg , was used as the basis for creating the rosette. The standard and the flag were hoisted on official occasions, barracks and on ships of the Spanish Navy. The coat of arms of Franco also contained the Ferdinand order in the center and was surrounded by a wreath.

  • Personal standard

  • Personal coat of arms

  • Victor symbol

Awards and honors

Spanish awards

ESP Gran Cruz Merito Militar (Distintivo Rojo) pasador.svg Grand Cross of the Orden del Mérito Militar , received from King Alfonso XIII. on October 12, 1913
ESP Order Militar de María Cristina pasador.svg Order militar de María Cristina , received from King Alfonso XIII. 1916
CroceLaureada.PNG Ferdinand order
ESP Alfonso X Order GC.svg Grand Cross of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise
Medalla de Oro de la provincia de Segovia of the Province of Segovia , received in 1939
ESP Gran Cruz Merito Aeronautico (Distintivo Rojo) pasador.svg Grand Cross of the Air Force Merit Cross
ESP Order Militar de María Cristina pasador.svg Real y Military Order of María Cristina

Foreign awards

DEU German Eagle Order 1 BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the German Eagle from the German Reich , received on July 18, 1940
PRT Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword - Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Swords of the Portuguese Republic , received on June 30, 1939
PRT Three Orders BAR.png Ribbon of the Three Orders of the Portuguese Republic, received on February 14, 1962
Order of the Most Holy Annunciation BAR.svg Order of Announcements from the Kingdom of Italy , awarded by King of Italy Victor Emanuel III. 1940
Cavaliere di gran Croce Regno SSML BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Knightly Order of St. Mauritius and Lazarus from the Kingdom of Italy, awarded by the King of Italy Victor Emanuel III. 1940
Ordine Supremo del Cristo Rib.png Order of Christ , awarded by Pope John XXIII. 1953
Cavaliere di Gran Croce OCI Kingdom BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy from the Kingdom of Italy, awarded by King of Italy Victor Emanuel III. 1940
Order of St. Giovanni of Gerusalem-Rhodes-Malta BAR.svg Knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta (3rd class)
PHL Legion of Honor - Legionnaire BAR.png Lehiyong Pandangal ng Pilipinas of the Republic of the Philippines , awarded by President Elpidio Quirino on October 7, 1951
ARG Order of the Liberator San Martin - Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator of San Martin of the Republic of Argentina , awarded by Juan Perón
GRE Order Redeemer 1Class.png Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer of the Kingdom of Greece
Legion Honor GO ribbon.svg Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic
PRT Order of Christ - Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ , received in 1962
PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of St. James of the Sword of the Portuguese Republic
PRT Military Order of Aviz - Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of Avis of the Portuguese Republic
FFundBeob.JPG Pilot and observer badge of the Luftwaffe , awarded by Hermann Göring in 1937

literature

Documentation

  • The truth about Franco . ZDF, November 2017, four-part documentary (177 mins in total)
  • Assassinations on Franco . ZDF, March 2017 (44 min.)

Web links

Commons : Francisco Franco  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richards, Michael (1998) A Time of Silence: Civil War and the Culture of Repression in Franco's Spain, 1936–1945 , Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-59401-4 . P. 11.
  2. ↑ Jackson, Gabriel (2005) La república española y la guerra civil RBA , Barcelona. ISBN 84-7423-006-3 . P. 466.
  3. ↑ Sinova, J. (2006) La censura de prensa durante el franquismo [The Media Censorship During Franco Regime]. Random House Mondadori. ISBN 84-8346-134-X .
  4. ^ A. Lázaro: James Joyce's Encounters with Spanish Censorship, 1939-1966 . In: Joyce Studies Annual . 12, 2001, p. 38. doi : 10.1353 / joy.2001.0008 .
  5. ↑ Rodrigo, J. (2005) Cautivos: Campos de concentración en la España franquista, 1936–1947 , Editorial Crítica. ISBN 84-8432-632-2 .
  6. ↑ Gastón Aguas, JM & Mendiola Gonzalo, F. (eds.) Los trabajos forzados en la dictadura franquista: Bortxazko lanak diktadura frankistan. ISBN 978-84-611-8354-8 .
  7. ↑ Duva, J. (9 November 1998) "Octavio Alberola, jefe de los libertarios ajusticiados en 1963 regresa a España para su defender inocencia" ( Memento of 26 December 2001, Internet Archive ). Diario El País .
  8. ↑ November 22, 2005 - 30 years ago: King Juan Carlos sworn in: Dictator's foster son becomes king of democracy on WDR.de.
  9. ↑ Laura Desfor Edles: Symbol and Ritual in the New Spain: The Transition to Democracy after Franco . Cambridge University Press, May 28, 1998, ISBN 0-521-62885-7 , p. 32.
  10. ↑ ALLIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM. Retrieved September 24, 2011 .
  11. ↑ "Francisco Franco Biography"
  12. ↑ Only people take on the mantle of history on welt.de. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  13. ↑ Five remnants of Francisco Franco's Rule Still Visible in Spain Today ( Memento from September 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on goabroad.com (English).
  14. ^ Vidal y de Barnola, Luis Alfonso . Ortegal genealogy , accessed August 13, 2012.
  15. ^ Image of the coat of arms of the Franco Bahamonde family . Franco . Ed. Ariel, ISBN 978-84-344-6781-1 . Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  16. ^ Paul Preston: ¡Comrades! Portraits from the Spanish Civil War . HarperCollins, London 1999, ISBN 0-00-255635-9 , p. 19.
  17. ^ Stanley G. Payne : The Franco Regime, 1936-1975. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison 1987, ISBN 0-299-11070-2 , p. 68.
  18. ^ Rafael González Duro: Franco. Una biografía psicológica . 2008, ISBN 978-84-86115-62-3 , p. 22.
  19. ^ Rafael González Duro :: Franco. Una biografía psicológica. 2008, pp. 22-25.
  20. ↑ Fernández Santander, Carlos (2005): El general Franco: un dictador en un tiempo de infamia , p. 9.
  21. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King . London. ISBN 978-0-00-255632-3 , p. 33.
  22. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 15.
  23. ^ Franco: Caudillo de España. Teresa Camprodón Alberca, Diana Falcón Zás Revisión, Eva Rodríguez Halffter. Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-9759-477-6 . P. 80.
  24. ↑ Bachoud, Andrée (2000): Franco . Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-306-0444-9 , p. 39.
  25. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , p. 44.
  26. ↑ Franco's first love (Spanish) at www.hoy.es, accessed on January 27, 2013.
  27. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 82.
  28. ^ Ashford Hodges, Gabrielle (2001): Franco: retrato psicológico de un dictador . ISBN 978-84-306-0444-9 , p. 55.
  29. ^ González Duro, Rafael (2008): Franco. Una biografía psicológica , p. 73.
  30. ↑ Spain's dictator Franco lost testicles in the war - Die Welt . Retrieved May 27, 2007.
  31. ↑ Rodríguez Jimenez, Jose (2005): Franco: Historia de un conspirado. ISBN 84-96511-04-9 , pp. 219, 220.
  32. ↑ Bachoud, Andree (2000) Franco , S. 42nd
  33. ↑ Bachoud, Andrée (2000): Franco , S. 53rd
  34. ↑ Ed. Losada, BS As, 1951, p. 315. En Preston, 2010, p. 73.
  35. ↑ Biography of José Millán y Terreros (Spanish) on xtec.es (accessed on March 21, 2011).
  36. ^ A b Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , p. 56.
  37. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 84.
  38. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , pp. 42, 62.
  39. ↑ Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duquesa de Franco on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.
  40. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography. London. ISBN 978-0-00-686210-9 , p. 99.
  41. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares . Barcelona, ISBN 978-84-8432-878-0 . P. 7.
  42. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 88.
  43. ^ Discurso de Franco a los cadetes de la academia militar de Zaragoza. June 14, 1931, Retrieved July 21, 2006 (Spanish).
  44. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones . Madrid. ISBN 84-7679-319-7 , p. 45.
  45. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 88.
  46. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 60.
  47. ↑ a b Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 87-88.
  48. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 116.
  49. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 88-89.
  50. ↑ Jackson, Gabriel (1976) [1965]. Princeton, ed. The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931-1939 . Barcelona. ISBN 84-7423-006-3 , p. 84.
  51. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 89.
  52. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 121.
  53. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 62-63.
  54. ↑ Gil Pecharromán (1997), p. 64.
  55. ^ Juliá, Santos (1999). Un siglo de España. Política y sociedad. Madrid: Marcial Pons. ISBN 84-95379-03-1 , pp. 96-97.
  56. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 107.
  57. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 45.
  58. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 132.
  59. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 122-123.
  60. ^ Preston, Paul (2010) "The Theorists of Extermination," in Unearthing Franco's Legacy , pp. 42, 45. University of Notre Dame, ISBN 0-268-03268-8 .
  61. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares. Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-8432-878-0 , pp. 114-116.
  62. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares. Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-8432-878-0 , pp. 127-128.
  63. ↑ Juliá, Santos (1999): Un siglo de España. Política y sociedad , p. 104.
  64. ↑ Juliá, Santos (1999): Un siglo de España. Política y sociedad , pp. 104-105.
  65. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 119.
  66. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 93-94.
  67. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 94.
  68. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 128.
  69. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 92.
  70. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 129.
  71. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 130.
  72. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 95-96.
  73. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 131.
  74. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 133.
  75. ↑ Calero, Antonio Mª (1985). Octubre visto por la derecha . ISBN 84-323-0515-4 , p. 168.
  76. ↑ Calero (1985), p. 169.
  77. ↑ Calero (1985), pp. 174-176.
  78. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 96.
  79. ↑ Juliá, Santos (1990). Manuel Azaña, a biografía política. Palacio Nacional, Madrid. ISBN 84-206-9606-4 , pp. 351-373.
  80. ↑ Juliá, Santos (1990). Manuel Azaña, una biografía política , pp. 372–374.
  81. ↑ Casanova (2007), p. 136.
  82. ↑ Juliá, Santos (1999): Un siglo de España. Política y sociedad , p. 106.
  83. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 116.
  84. ↑ Juliá, Santos (1999): Un siglo de España. Política y sociedad , p. 110.
  85. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 116-117.
  86. ^ "Riots Sweep Spain on Left's Victory; Jails Are Stormed, ” The New York Times , February 18, 1936.
  87. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 154-155.
  88. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 148.
  89. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 150.
  90. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 152.
  91. ^ Muggeridge, Malcolm: Ciano's Diplomatic Papers , Odhams, London, 1948, pp. 17-18.
  92. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 118.
  93. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 156.
  94. ^ Preston, p. 120.
  95. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 122-123.
  96. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 120.
  97. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 157.
  98. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 120-121.
  99. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 160.
  100. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 121.
  101. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 122.
  102. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 130.
  103. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 123.
  104. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 162-163.
  105. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 126-127.
  106. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 127-128.
  107. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , p. 128.
  108. ↑ Luis Jímenez de Asúa (1889–1970) was President of the Spanish government in exile from 1962 until his death.
  109. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 16.
  110. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 164.
  111. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (1997): La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones , pp. 129-130.
  112. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 171.
  113. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 119, p. 173.
  114. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 173.
  115. ^ Las raíces insulares de Franco. (No longer available online.) Www.elpais.com , archived from the original on May 23, 2013 ; Retrieved April 15, 2013 (Spanish).
  116. ↑ El monumento a Franco en Las Raíces será retirado. www.laopinion.es , September 29, 2008, accessed April 15, 2013 (Spanish).
  117. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 160.
  118. ^ Payne (1992), p. 30.
  119. ^ A b Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 168.
  120. ^ A b Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 169.
  121. ↑ Bachoud, Andrée; Pons Irazazábal, María (2000). Franco . Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-306-0444-9 , p. 113.
  122. ↑ Bachoud (2000), p. 131.
  123. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 171.
  124. ^ Robert H. Whealey Hitler And Spain p. 12.
  125. ^ Preston (2006). P. 98.
  126. ↑ a b c d e Preston (2006). p. 99
  127. ↑ Thomas (1987). P. 8.
  128. ^ Thomas (2001). Pp. 196-198, 309.
  129. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 175-176.
  130. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . Pp. 234-235.
  131. ^ Aróstegui, Julio (1997): La Guerra Civil. La ruptura democrática. Madrid. ISBN 84-7679-320-0 , p. 32.
  132. ^ A b c Hugh Thomas (1976), p. 239.
  133. ↑ a b c d e Hugh Thomas (1976), p. 240.
  134. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-303765-1 , pp. 55/57.
  135. ↑ El alzamiento del 18 de julio de las capitales
  136. ↑ Luis Suárez Fernández, Franco , p. 39.
  137. ↑ Acabamos de fusilar al capitán
  138. ^ Preston (1994), p. 180.
  139. ↑ a b c d Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War , p. 241.
  140. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War , p. 248.
  141. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War , p. 249.
  142. ^ Aróstegui, Julio (2006): Por qué el 18 de julio… Y después. Barcelona. ISBN 84-96495-13-2 , pp. 44-45.
  143. ↑ Aróstegui, Julio (2006): Por qué el 18 de julio… Y después , pp. 42–44.
  144. ↑ Alpert, Michael (1987): La guerra civil española en el mar. Madrid. ISBN 84-323-0609-6 , pp. 123-124.
  145. ^ Solé i Sabaté, Josep María; Villarroya, Joan (2003): España en llamas. La guerra civil desde el aire. Madrid. ISBN 84-8460-302-4 , p. 25.
  146. ^ Salas, Nicolás (1992): Sevilla fue la clave: república, alzamiento, Guerra Civil (1931–1939). Castillejos. ISBN 84-8058-000-3 , pp. 290-296.
  147. ↑ Ortiz Villalba, Juan (2006): Del golpe militar a la Guerra Civil: Sevilla 1936. ISBN 84-934741-8-5 , p. 122.
  148. ^ Ortiz Villalba, Juan (2006): Del golpe militar a la Guerra Civil: Sevilla 1936 , pp. 136-139.
  149. ↑ Gil Honduvilla, Joaquín (2010): Desde la proclamación de la República al 18 de julio de 1936: el cambio de rumbo político en la II División Orgánica , pp. 478–479.
  150. ↑ Ortiz Villalba, Juan (2006): Del golpe militar a la Guerra Civil: Sevilla 1936 , p. 183.
  151. ^ Espinosa Maestre, Francisco (2006): La justicia de Queipo. Barcelona. ISBN 84-8432-691-8 , p. 37.
  152. ^ Solé i Sabaté, Josep María; Villarroya, Joan (2003): España en llamas. La guerra civil desde el aire , p. 26.
  153. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 188-189.
  154. ↑ Suárez, Luis (1999): Franco, crónica de un tiempo. Tomo I. El general de la Monarquía, la República y la Guerra Civil. SBN [ [1] ], p. 326.
  155. ^ Hills, George (1975): Franco, el hombre y su nación. Madrid. ISBN 84-7140-025-1 , pp. 231-258.
  156. ^ Stanley G. Payne : The Franco Regime, 1936-1975 , p. 115.
  157. ↑ Suárez, Luis (1999): Franco, crónica de un tiempo. Tomo I. El general de la Monarquía, la República y la Guerra Civil , p. 324.
  158. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 192.
  159. ^ Stanley G. Payne : The Franco Regime, 1936-1975 , p. 119.
  160. ↑ Suárez, Luis (1999): Franco, crónica de un tiempo. Tomo I. El general de la Monarquía, la República y la Guerra Civil , p. 316.
  161. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 189.
  162. ^ Hills, George (1975): Franco, el hombre y su nación . P. 237.
  163. ↑ Suárez, Luis (1999): Franco, crónica de un tiempo. Tomo I. El general de la Monarquía, la República y la Guerra Civil . P. 319.
  164. ^ Stanley G. Payne : The Franco Regime, 1936-1975 . P. 117.
  165. ^ Stanley G. Payne : The Franco Regime, 1936-1975 , pp. 117-118.
  166. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 , p. 361.
  167. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares . Pp. 215-216.
  168. ↑ Suárez, Luis (1999): Franco, crónica de un tiempo. Tomo I. El general de la Monarquía, la República y la Guerra Civil . P. 328.
  169. ↑ Suárez, Luis (1999): Franco, crónica de un tiempo. Tomo I. El general de la Monarquía, la República y la Guerra Civil . P. 372.
  170. ↑ Santos, Juliá (1999): Víctimas de la guerra civil , Madrid, ISBN 84-8460-333-4 .
  171. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: La Memoria de los Nuestros (Spanish), accessed on July 21, 2006 )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.memoriahistocheeserica.org
  172. ^ Alpert, Michael (1996): A New International History of the Spanish Civil War , p. 127.
  173. ^ Solé i Sabaté, Josep María; Villarroya, Joan (2003): España en llamas. La guerra civil desde el aire. Madrid. ISBN 84-8460-302-4 , pp. 16-17.
  174. ^ Solé i Sabaté, Josep María; Villarroya, Joan (2003): España en llamas. La guerra civil desde el aire. Madrid. ISBN 84-8460-302-4 , p. 39.
  175. ↑ Hugh, Thomas: The Spanish Civil War , Ullstein, Berlin 1962, p. 194. See also The German-Spanish Relations 1933–39
  176. ↑ Hills, George (1975): Franco, el hombre y su nación , p. 250.
  177. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 207-209.
  178. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 195-197.
  179. ↑ a b Hills, George (1975): Franco, el hombre y su nación , p. 258.
  180. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . P. 409.
  181. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . P. 444.
  182. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 217-218.
  183. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 161.
  184. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 174.
  185. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 180.
  186. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 204.
  187. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 417, 425.
  188. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 194, 198, 223.
  189. ↑ Martínez Reverte, Jorge (2007): La batalla de Madrid. Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-8432-871-1 , p. 24.
  190. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 207.
  191. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 210, 213.
  192. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 215.
  193. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (1984): Francisco Franco y su tiempo. Tomo II Generalísimo de la Guerra Civil. Madrid. ISBN 84-85993-05-5 , p. 92.
  194. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 212-213.
  195. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 210.
  196. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 214.
  197. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 221.
  198. ^ Juliá, Santos (1999). Un siglo de España. Política y sociedad , 120.
  199. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 222-223, 226.
  200. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (1984): Francisco Franco y su tiempo. Tomo II. Generalísimo de la Guerra Civil , pp. 95-97.
  201. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 227-228.
  202. ↑ Aróstegui, Julio (2006): Por qué el 18 de julio… Y después , pp. 417-418.
  203. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 223-224.
  204. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 199-200.
  205. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . P. 456.
  206. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (1984): Francisco Franco y su tiempo. Tomo II. Generalísimo de la Guerra Civil , p. 100.
  207. ↑ Aróstegui, Julio (2006): Por qué el 18 de julio… Y después , p. 418.
  208. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 222-223.
  209. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 127.
  210. ↑ Juliá, Santos (1997): España entre dos gobiernos (septiembre-noviembre 1936) . ISBN 84-413-0437-8 , p. 22.
  211. ↑ Hills, George (1975): Franco, el hombre y su nación , p. 257.
  212. ^ Aróstegui, Julio (1997): La Guerra Civil. La ruptura democrática. Madrid. ISBN 84-7679-320-0 , p. 72.
  213. ^ Santos, Juliá (1999). Víctimas de la guerra civil , p. 120.
  214. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 128.
  215. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 341.
  216. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 228.
  217. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 228-229.
  218. ^ Tusell, Javier (2006): La evolución política de la zona sublevada. Madrid. ISBN 84-670-2026-1 , pp. 376-377.
  219. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . Pp. 998-999.
  220. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 344.
  221. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . P. 458.
  222. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 230.
  223. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , p. 339.
  224. ^ Tusell, Javier (2006): La evolución política de la zona sublevada , p. 379.
  225. ^ Santos, Juliá (1999). Víctimas de la guerra civil , p. 119.
  226. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 230-232.
  227. ^ Tusell, Javier (2006): La evolución política de la zona sublevada , p. 175.
  228. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 234.
  229. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . P. 999.
  230. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . Pp. 338-339.
  231. ^ Casanova, Julián (2007): República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares , pp. 313-317.
  232. ^ Cover of TIME magazine , October 18, 1943.
  233. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 123.
  234. ^ Aróstegui, Julio (1997): La Guerra Civil. La ruptura democrática , pp. 405-406.
  235. ^ A b Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 237.
  236. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . Pp. 460-461.
  237. ↑ Jackson, Gabriel (1967) The Spanish Republic and the civil was 1931-1939 .
  238. ^ Payne, Stanley G. (1987). The Franco regime. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-11070-2 . Pp. 627, 628.
  239. ↑ Eric Hobsbawm: The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 . S. 156 f .
  240. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 57.
  241. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 172.
  242. ↑ Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 234.
  243. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 238.
  244. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 239.
  245. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London. ISBN 0-297-84832-1 , p. 150.
  246. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 , p. 177.
  247. ↑ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 , p. 171.
  248. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 255.
  249. ↑ Comín Colomer, Eduardo (1973): El 5º Regimiento de Milicias Populares. Madrid.
  250. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 , pp. 177–183.
  251. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 , pp. 191–192.
  252. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , pp. 208-215.
  253. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , p. 222.
  254. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , pp. 223-226.
  255. ↑ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 , p. 228.
  256. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , p. 229.
  257. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , pp. 263-273.
  258. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , p. 277.
  259. ↑ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 , pp. 277–284.
  260. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , pp. 296-299.
  261. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , p. 237.
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  263. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , p. 302.
  264. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 , pp. 315–322.
  265. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977): The Spanish Civil War. ISBN 0-06-014278-2 . Pp. 820-821.
  266. ^ Stanley Payne: The Spanish Civil War . Cambridge University Press, New York 2012, ISBN 0-521-17470-8 , p. 110.
  267. ^ Tremlett, Giles: Spain torn on tribute to victims of Franco . In: The Guardian , December 1, 2003. Retrieved March 2, 2010. 
  268. ↑ Fosas Comunes - Los desaparecidos de Franco. La Guerra Civil no ha terminado , El Mundo , 7 July 2002.
  269. ↑ Jackson, Gabriel. The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931-1939. Princeton University Press. 1967. Princeton. P. 539.
  270. ↑ Nick Caistor: Spanish Civil War fighters look back , BBC News. February 28, 2003. Retrieved March 2, 2010. 
  271. ↑ 'Camp Vernet' website. Cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr, accessed on February 21, 2017 (French).
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  275. ↑ Moradiellos, Enrique (2000): La España de Franco (1939-1975). Política y sociedad. Madrid. ISBN 84-7738-740-0 , p. 63.
  276. ^ Stanley G. Payne (1997): El primer franquismo. Los años de la autarquía. Madrid. ISBN 84-7679-325-1 , p. 24.
  277. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio (2008): Con permiso de la autoridad. La España de Franco (1939-1975). Madrid. ISBN 978-84-8460-693-2 , pp. 45-46.
  278. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (1984): Francisco Franco y su tiempo. Tomo II Generalísimo de la Guerra Civil. Pp. 334-335.
  279. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography. P. 412.
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  281. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (1984): Francisco Franco y su tiempo. Tomo II. Generalísimo de la Guerra Civil , p. 414.
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  285. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945. Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-344-1332-0 , p. 131.
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  294. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945 , pp. 164-165.
  295. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 444, 450.
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  297. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945 , p. 157.
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  299. ^ Chronicle for November 4, 1940 chroniknet.de, Wissenmedia GmbH (accessed July 23, 2008).
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  303. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 456-457.
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  306. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945 , pp. 172-173.
  307. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 470.
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  310. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945 , p. 177.
  311. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 473.
  312. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 475.
  313. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 482-484.
  314. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945 , p. 176.
  315. ↑ The Goebbels Diaries, ed. Louis P. Lochner (London, 1948), October 25, 1940, p. 153.
  316. ↑ Reagan, Geoffrey (1992) Military Anecdotes . ISBN 0-85112-519-0 . p. 51.
  317. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 505.
  318. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945 , p. 186.
  319. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 508.
  320. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945 , p. 188.
  321. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 514.
  322. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 515.
  323. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , pp. 523, 525.
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  326. ^ Richard Bassett: Hitler's Spy Chief: The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery . Cassell, 2005, ISBN 978-0-304-36718-4 , p. 200: "Franco's position at Hendaye was totally influenced by Canaris"
  327. ↑ Moradiellos, Enrique (2000): La España de Franco (1939-1975). Política y sociedad , p. 67.
  328. ^ Preston, Paul (1995): Franco: A biography , p. 33.
  329. ^ Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011): Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931-1945 , pp. 201-202.
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  331. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 74; 76.
  332. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 77-78.
  333. ↑ Barciela, Carlos (2002). Guerra civil y primer franquismo (1936-1959) . ISBN 84-8432-366-8 . Pp. 339-340.
  334. ↑ Barciela (2002), pp. 342-343.
  335. ↑ Quotation in: Michael Grüttner : Fascism, Franquism and Antisemitism in Spain, in: Prejudice and Rassenhaß. Anti-Semitism in the fascist movements in Europe. Festschrift for Wolfgang Benz . Edited by Hermann Graml a . a., Berlin 2001, p. 111.
  336. ^ Franco provided the Nazis with lists of Jews on 20min.ch.
  337. ↑ Alpert, Michael: Spain and the Jews in World War II . In: Jewish Historical Society . tape 42 , 2009, p. 201-210 , JSTOR : 29780130 .
  338. ↑ Documents prove: Franco knew about Auschwitz. March 31, 2010, accessed November 16, 2012 .
  339. ↑ Heine, Hartmut Heine (1983). La oposición política al franquismo. De 1939 a 1952. Barcelona. ISBN 84-7423-198-1 , pp. 237-251.
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  342. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 107.
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  344. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 106.
  345. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 97.
  346. ↑ Roosevelt al embajador en España Armor Norman (1985), pp 96th
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  354. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 98-99.
  355. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 109.
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  359. ↑ 4862 - 17 July 1954 - BO del E. - Núm. 198 . Boletín Oficial del Estado. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008.
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  361. ↑ Moradiellos, Enrique (2000). La España de Franco (1939-1975). Política y sociedad . Madrid: Síntesis. ISBN 84-7738-740-0 . P. 101.
  362. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 118.
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  365. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 100-101.
  366. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 102.
  367. ↑ Moradiellos (2003), p. 137.
  368. ↑ Barciela, López, Melgarejo y Miranda (2001), p. 157.
  369. ↑ Barciela, López, Melgarejo y Miranda (2001), pp. 271-272.
  370. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 138.
  371. ↑ Moradiellos (2003), p. 138.
  372. ↑ Barciela, López, Melgarejo y Miranda (2001), p. 146.
  373. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 147.
  374. ↑ Moradiellos (2003), pp. 147-148.
  375. ↑ Barciela, López, Melgarejo y Miranda (2001), pp. 340-345.
  376. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 157.
  377. ↑ Mateos, Abdón; Soto, Álvaro (1997). El final del franquismo, 1959-1975. La transformación de la sociedad española . Madrid: Historia 16-Temas de Hoy. ISBN 84-7679-326-X . P. 81.
  378. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 158-159.
  379. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 158.
  380. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 164-165.
  381. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 165.
  382. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 165-167.
  383. ↑ Barciela, López, Melgarejo y Miranda (2001), p. 338.
  384. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), p. 167.
  385. ↑ Moradiellos (2003) pp. 161–162.
  386. ^ Preston (2004), p. 789.
  387. ↑ Walther L. Bernecker: Spain's history since the civil war. ISBN 978-3-406-42684-1 , pp 193. .
  388. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 159-160.
  389. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , p. 808.
  390. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 174-175.
  391. ^ A b Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , p. 810.
  392. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , p. 812.
  393. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 179-180.
  394. ↑ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , Chapter: 28. El largo adiós: 1969-1975 .
  395. ↑ Bachoud, Andrée (2000): Franco , Chapter 14. Agonía del franquismo y muerte de Franco .
  396. ↑ Bachoud, Andree (2000) Franco , S. 459th
  397. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , p. 832.
  398. ^ A putschist with a democratic exit: Pinochet - mass murderer or Chile's savior? on nzz.ch.
  399. ↑ Moradiellos (2000), pp. 183-184.
  400. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , p. 836.
  401. ↑ Bachoud, Andrée (2000): Franco , S. 474th
  402. ^ Martin Evans: Algeria: France's undeclared War , Oxford, 2012, p. 291.
  403. ↑ Le Rouge et le noir (French documentation on Renaud Séchan), 2014.
  404. ↑ Pamyatnik sovetskim dobrovoltsam. Russian Foreign Ministry (official site), archived from the original on July 10, 2009 ; Retrieved September 28, 2015 (Russian).
  405. ^ A b c Stanley G. Payne (1987): The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. P. 531.
  406. ^ Hoffman, Paul: Spanish press curbs indicated in delays , The New York Times , April 29, 1963. April 29, 1963. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 
  407. ^ Hoffmann, Paul: Franco defends execution of Red , The New York Times, April 20, 1963. April 21, 1963. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 
  408. ^ Paul Hofmann: Franco Sends Message On Peace to Khrushchev , The New York Times, January 28, 1964. April 29, 1963. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 
  409. ↑ a b c Posol Sovetskogo Soyuza ( Russian ) Ediciones Rusas Mediana, SL, "Комсомольская правда в Испании". 2007. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011.
  410. ↑ a b Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain. Penguin Books. P. 138.
  411. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006): The Battle for Spain. P. 126.
  412. ^ Cary Nelson (2002): The Wound and the Dream: Sixty Years of American Poems about the Spanish Civil War . Chicago.
  413. ^ A b c d Cary Nelson (2002): The Wound and the Dream: Sixty Years of American Poems about the Spanish Civil War , p. 112.
  414. ^ Emmet Kennedy: Diplomatic History (published 2012), pp. 237–260.
  415. ↑ David S. Brown (2008): Richard Hofstadter: An Intellectual Biography , pp. 42–43.
  416. ↑ Andrew N. Buchanan (2009): Washington's 'silent ally' in World War II? United States policy towards Spain, 1939-1945 . Journal of Transatlantic Studies, pp. 93-117.
  417. ↑ Trudy Alexy (1993): The Mezuzah in the Madonna's Foot , pp. 154-155.
  418. ↑ John P. Willson, Carlton JH Hayes (1972): Spain, and the Refugee Crisis, 1942-1945. American Jewish Historical Quarterly, pp. 99-110.
  419. ^ New York Times: Nixon Asserts Franco Won Respect for Spain , Nov. 21, 1975, p. 16.
  420. ↑ A morte de Franco (Spanish)
  421. ↑ Un error médico provocó la muerte de Franco on 20minutos.es (Spanish)
  422. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , pp. 807-839.
  423. ^ Preston, Paul (2004): Juan Carlos: A People's King , p. 842.
  424. ^ Ex-dictator cast out: Franco no longer an honorary citizen. June 29, 2009, accessed on July 5, 2011 : "The last equestrian statue of the general in the country was dismantled in Santander in northern Spain in December, a statue of Franco without a horse can only be seen in the Spanish exclave of Melilla in Morocco."
  425. ^ Antonio Pineda: La secta que santificó a Franco (The sect that Franco canonized), in Vice España of November 12, 2014 [2] , accessed on March 2, 2018
  426. ^ Ex-dictator cast out: Franco no longer an honorary citizen. June 29, 2009, accessed on July 5, 2011 : "The Spanish capital Madrid has posthumously revoked all honorary titles from the former dictator Francisco Franco."
  427. ↑ Spain: Ex-dictator Franco loses Madrid honorary title. June 29, 2009, accessed on July 5, 2011 : "Before Madrid, 14 other cities had stripped the ex-dictator of their honorary titles."
  428. ↑ Madrid exchanges 52 street names related to Franco's time April 29, 2017, accessed on May 1, 2017
  429. ^ Spain approves Franco's reburial . , ZDF today , from September 13, 2018, accessed on November 9, 2018.
  430. ↑ Spanish court authorizes the exhumation of dictator Francisco Franco , ZEIT ONLINE September 24, 2019.
  431. ↑ La familia acude a la exhumación con una bandera preconstitucional y grita “¡Viva Franco!” In: El País . October 25, 2019, ISSN  1134-6582 (Spanish, elpais.com [accessed October 30, 2019]).
  432. ^ Natalia Junquera, Carlos E. Cué: España levanta la losa de Franco . In: El País . October 25, 2019, ISSN  1134-6582 ( elpais.com [accessed October 28, 2019]).
  433. ↑ Andrée Bachoud: "Franco". Barcelona, ​​2000.
  434. ↑ Morales, Juan; Alegría, José Carlos Flags of the World . Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  435. ^ Super-libris of Franco, Francisco (1892–1975). In: Ex-libris Database. Royal Library (Madrid), accessed May 6, 2013 (Spanish).
  436. ^ Briefer on the Philippine Legion of Honor. In: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Gov.ph, accessed April 13, 2013 .
  437. ↑ Review by Antonio Cazorla Sánchez.
  438. ↑ And yet he was a dictator. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . June 23, 2015, p. 6.

Remarks

  1. ↑ The dictatorship of Franco began de jure only in 1939, but de facto already with the recognition of his government in November 1936 by the National Socialist German Reich and the fascist Kingdom of Italy.
  2. ^ Franco was dictator of the Spanish state from 1936 to 1947. Since the Second Spanish Republic de facto ended in 1936, this period is historically considered to be part of the Kingdom of Spain, which was re-established in 1947.
  3. ↑ Its full title was: por la gracia de Dios, Caudillo de España y de la Cruzada .
  4. ↑ Although very little evidence points to an alleged Jewish origin of Franco (see History of the Jews in Spain, section Jewish Life in Spain from 1492 to the Present ), there is no clear evidence that could refute this so far.
  5. ^ In the years 1932, 1933 and February 1936 Franco was not promoted, but demoted.
  6. ↑ According to another source, there were around 14,000 Foreign Legionnaires and 500 tons of material.
predecessor Office successor
President Manuel Azaña y Díaz
( Spanish Civil War )		 Head of State of Spain
1936 / 39–1975 		King Juan Carlos I.
Juan Negrín
(Spanish Civil War)		 Prime Minister of Spain
1938–1973 		Luis Carrero Blanco
personal data
SURNAME Franco, Francisco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Franco y Bahamonde Salgado Pardo, Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo (full name); Caudillo, El
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish general and dictator
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Ferrol , Galicia
DATE OF DEATH 20th November 1975
Place of death Madrid