Francisco Franco he was a Spanish general who became internationally known for having led a military coup that brought him to power in Spain. He was the country's dictator for nearly four decades, and his regime became known as the Francoism. Franco's dictatorship was branded for being conservative and for having, during its early years, characteristics of the fascism.
Francisco Franco assumed power in Spain through the Spanish Civil War, which took place between 1936 and 1939. In this conflict, the military and conservatives rebelled against the Spanish Republic and began taking power via the armed forces. On the other side were various groups that defended the republic, such as socialists and anarchists.
During the war, Francisco Franco and his group of allies, called National Movement, had the support of Nazi germany and from fascist Italy. In addition to ideological support, these countries provided weapons and soldiers to help in the fight against the republicans.
In 1939, Francisco Franco secured his victory in the war. With that, the Second Spanish Republic ended, and the monarchy was restored in Spain. Once in power, Franco maintained a dictatorshipconservative and nationalist until his death in 1975.
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Biography
Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde was born on December 4, 1892, in the city of Ferrol, located in Galicia, northwestern Spain. Franco's family had a great tradition in the Spanish Navy, so Franco's intention was to follow the same career. However, his application to the Naval Navy School was denied in 1907.
With that, that same year, Franco entered the Infantry Academy. Five years later, in 1912, Franco was sent to Africa to act in the Melilla War. His stay on this continent lasted years and was extremely beneficial to his military career: within ten years, he became one of the youngest generals in all of Europe.
During his ascension, Franco held important positions: in 1923, he assumed command of the Spanish Legion; in 1928 he became director of the Escola Militar, located in Zaragoza. Franco's career ascent took place mainly during the Primo Rivera dictatorship, implemented in Spain in 1923 through a coup.
Rivera's conservative dictatorship extended until 1930, when the then dictator relinquished power in Spain. Despite being ideologically aligned with the Rivera dictatorship, General Franco had no part in the 1923 coup.
After Rivera's departure, the Second Spanish Republic. While Spain was ruled by a center-right coalition, Franco remained indifferent to the Spanish republic. However, from the moment the left took power in Spain in 1936, Franco started a conspiracy against the government.
At that time, Franco was a military commander in the Canaries, islands located in the Mediterranean Sea, where he kept in touch with other names in the Spanish armed forces. In this way he organized a rebellion against the republican government.
The coup against President Manuel Azaña Diaz began on July 18, 1936. While the coup was being carried out in Spain, Franco moved from the Canaries to Morocco and then to mainland Spain. In the course of events, Franco was chosen as head of state of Spain, consolidating the coup.
Then followed a reaction from the Popular Front against the nationalists, defenders of the Second Republic and Franco, respectively.
outspoken as dictator
In 1936, Francisco Franco already governed a part of Spanish territory. The rest of Spain was gradually conquered by nationalist troops throughout the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936 and ended in 1939.
After winning the war, Franco consolidated his position as sovereign of Spain, ruling the country in a dictatorial way. It is important to mention that Franco's victory in the war was only possible thanks to the support offered. by Germans and Italians, who ceded weapons and soldiers to fight for the nationalists Spanish people.
At that moment, we realized that the ideological support of the Franco regime was anchored in the Nazi-fascist regimes. For this reason, Francoism is characterized by many historians as a fascist government. This facet of the Franco regime extended until the end of the Second World War. After the defeat of the Axis, Franco was forced to make changes in his regime in order to mask any influence of fascism on his government.
Even after World War II, Francoism continued as a dictatorial government, promoting the persecution of its opponents and defending conservative ideals. During the four decades that he was in the Spanish government, Franco concentrated all the power in himself, promoted extreme nationalism and persecuted the country's ethnic minorities, such as Galicians, Basques and Catalans.
Franco's dictatorship was an anti-democratic and anti-liberal regime marked by the existence of a single party (the government). Francoism also had a strong ideological alignment with the Catholic Church.
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How did Francisco Franco die?
In the 1970s, the Spanish dictator's health problems were already too serious. With this, Spain began to organize the transition of power in order to bring about the political opening of the country, resuming democracy. During this transition, Juan Carlos Borbón was chosen by Franco as his successor.
In November 1975, Franco suffered a heart attack and underwent several surgeries, which led to a coma. Franco survived with the help of devices until 1975, when his family and the medical board that served him decided to turn off the equipment that kept him alive. Francisco Franco's death occurred on November 20, 1975, marking the end of the Franco dictatorship.
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