Francisco Franco

V

El Caudillo

During the war Franco also set about constructing a new type of authoritarian state that he intended to rule after the war’s end. This system was later called the Nuevo Estado (New State). Franco based the political, economic, and social structures of his regime on fascism and corporatist ideas. Fascism required unquestioning loyalty to the state and, in particular, to Franco as Spain’s leader. Corporatism promoted a close collaboration between employers and workers under the direction of the state. Corporatist policies aimed to regulate the economy by controlling conditions of work, wages, prices, production, and exchange.

One of his first steps towards building the Nuevo Estado was to issue the Decree of Unification in 1937. This decree gave Franco supreme authority by abolishing right-wing political parties and merging all Nationalists into one party under his own control, the Falange Española Tradicionalista de las JONS (FET). His next step was to forcibly consolidate all working-class groups in Nationalist Spain into one large organization, the Organización Sindical Española (Spanish Trade Union Organization, OSE) that was completely subordinated to the FET. This was a corporatist policy Franco believed would help create the basis for a harmonious relationship between employers and employees. Then, to give his regime moral authority and to encourage social cohesion, Franco turned to the Roman Catholic Church. The Church’s support of the Nationalists gave the Nuevo Estado legitimacy in the eyes of many Spaniards.

After the war, Franco’s most urgent task was to impose unity and order. To accomplish this, he enforced a policy of repression against all those who, in Franco's opinion, represented a potential threat to the new regime. Thousands of former Republicans were summarily shot or sent to prison while countless others suffered various forms of political and economic punishments. Franco consolidated his control by establishing his authority over the diverse factions that supported him during the war. By shrewdly taking advantage of divisions between the various factions in his administration, he managed to keep any one group from becoming too powerful.

VI

World War II and the Cold War

The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 presented Franco with another set of challenges. The most pressing among them was whether Spain should enter the conflict on the side of the Axis Powers, which included Germany, Italy, and Japan. He openly sympathized with fascist principles and acknowledged the enormous debt owed to Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany for having supplied the Nationalists with financial and military assistance throughout Spain’s civil war. Franco, however, was equally aware of his own regime’s precarious state. In view of this, he decided to adopt a policy of neutrality.

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In June 1940 Franco announced his intention to draw closer to the Axis powers. During his so-called summit meeting with Hitler in October 1940, Franco expressed his hope that Spain could assist in an Axis victory. Hitler, however, found Franco's conditions for Spanish participation, which included both security needs and colonial acquisitions in French-held zones of North Africa, to be too costly. Consequently, Spain's future role in the war remained an open issue, but Franco remained on friendly terms with both Hitler and Mussolini.

Once the war shifted in favor of the Allied Powers in mid-1943, Franco became increasingly agreeable to Allied pressures to secure Spain's neutrality. Even so, Franco continued to export raw materials to Germany, and he did not abandon hope of a German victory until defeat was certain in 1944.

By avoiding direct involvement in World War II, Franco spared Spain the wide-scale death and destruction suffered by most of Europe. Yet Franco's relationship with the fascist regimes, as well as his regime’s antidemocratic nature, left Spain out of step with the rest of Western Europe in the postwar period. Branded as an outcast by the international community, Franco’s Spain became politically and economically isolated in the following years.

Undaunted by his government's international reputation, Franco followed his own blueprint for Spain’s reconstruction and development. He believed Spain could achieve complete economic self-sufficiency by means of a thorough state intervention program. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Franco created institutions and policies that sealed off Spain’s economy from the rest of Europe. The economy, already in a depression, suffered from the lack of foreign investments and from boycotts by nations opposed to Franco’s political agenda. The country sunk increasingly deeper in debt, and Spanish workers were among the most hard-pressed elements of society. The government suppressed wages to control costs, and workers had little recourse because they were represented by government-controlled labor organizations.

Franco resisted both foreign and domestic pressures to democratize Spain, mainly because he resolved to legitimatize his rule under the law. He legalized his rule through a constitutional process by passing a series of so-called Organic Laws of the State between 1938 and 1967. These laws further defined Franco’s powers to control every aspect of Spanish politics, economy, and society.

Of all the Organic Laws, the 1947 Law of Succession had the most far-reaching consequences for the future of Franco’s political system. The law formally declared the Spanish state a monarchy. This was not an effort to revive the liberal constitutional monarchy that had existed before 1931, but rather was meant to be a new monarchy that Franco would rule until his death or incapacity. The law also asserted Franco’s power to name his successor.

During the 1950s Spain entered a new era in its relations with Western democracies, as those nations began to view Franco's pro-Catholic and fiercely anti-Communist regime in a more positive way. This change was brought about by the Cold War, the ideological and military rivalry between Western democracies (particularly the United States) and Communist countries led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In 1953 Franco concluded a treaty with the United States, known as the Pacts of Madrid, that provided the United States access to several of Spain's military and naval bases in exchange for military and economic assistance. This agreement made Spain an important member of the anti-Communist bloc in Western Europe. In 1955 Spain acquired formal recognition as a member of the international community when it was officially admitted into the United Nations (UN).

Spain's gradual reintegration into the international community helped stabilize Franco's dictatorship. Throughout the 1950s, Franco worked to preserve the authoritarian system that he had presided over since the civil war, continuing to rely on the military, the Church, and politically influential right-wing families. Although his position as ruler was more secure than ever, Franco maintained control of Spanish society by suppressing all signs of regionalism, liberal politics, and left-wing trade unionism.

VII

Franco’s Last Years

By the end of the 1950s major cracks in Franco's authoritarian system began to appear. An expanding circle of opposition groups—including progressive elements in the Catholic Church, student organizations, and clandestine worker associations—challenged Franco’s rule. Deteriorating economic conditions prompted much of the opposition. After years of attempts at self-sufficiency, the Spanish economy was at the point of bankruptcy. Rising prices, falling wages, and a low standard of living relative to the rest of Western Europe signaled the failure of Franco’s policies. A 1959 Stabilization Plan was a response to these urgent problems. The plan aimed to limit government control of the economy and to open up Spain to market competition. In response, Spain’s economy became increasingly integrated into the European free-market system.

An economic turnaround in the mid-1960s, which brought increased prosperity to Franco's middle-class supporters, seemed to breathe new life into his rule. However, Franco was still under international and domestic pressure to lead Spain in a more democratic direction. In response, Franco issued an Organic Law in 1967 that limited the powers and functions of his position and that of his successor. However, he also retained absolute veto power, which meant he could overrule any reforms that threatened to undermine his authority. Therefore, the law resulted in only superficial changes designed to improve Spain’s image abroad and give the Spanish people the perception that Spain was moving toward democracy. His popularity, however, continued to decline because of his delays in modernizing the underlying political and social structures of his regime.

In July 1969, at age 76, Franco named Don Juan Carlos de Borbón, grandson of former king Alfonso XIII, as heir to the Spanish throne and his successor. About the same time, Franco essentially turned over authority to his steadfast supporter and deputy prime minister, Premier Luis Carrero Blanco. In December 1973 members of the ETA (Euzkadi Ta Askatasana, Basque for “Basque Homeland and Liberty”), a Basque separatist organization known for its terrorist tactics, assassinated Carrero in a car bombing. The government plunged into a crisis that lasted until Franco’s death two years later. Franco, who had suffered for years from Parkinson disease and other illnesses, died in November 1975. He left Spain’s future in the hands of the new head of state, King Juan Carlos I. Although he had been carefully groomed as Franco's successor, Juan Carlos began working with politicians and labor groups to bring about Spain's relatively smooth transition to democracy.

Franco left a mixed legacy. His leadership ended the political bickering and social turmoil that had troubled Spain throughout the early 20th century. He also helped to lay the foundations for Spain's economic modernization by moving the country toward partnership with other European nations. But Franco’s human rights record remains deeply disturbing. He not only exacted harsh retribution against his opponents, he also created a political system that denied individual rights and freedoms to most Spaniards. Whether Franco should be remembered as a hero or villain will no doubt continue to stir debate. What is not in dispute is the fact that he is one of the most intriguing political characters of the 20th century.

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