Franco's regime

Lacking any strong ideology, Franco initially sought support from National syndicalism (nacionalsindicalismo) and the Roman Catholic Church (nacionalcatolicismo). The Falange soon transformed into the Movimiento Nacional and became so heterogeneous as to barely qualify as a party at all. It was certainly not an ideological monolith like the Fascio di Combattimento (Fascist Party) or the ruling block of Antonio Salazar.

Franco is often characterized as a fascist, and certainly had the consistent support of fascists in Spain and abroad. His regime has also been described as a conservative even traditionalist rightist regime. The emphasis was on order and stability, rather than a definite political vision like fascism.

In 1940, the Vertical Syndicate was created. Following the ideas of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, this syndicate would end class struggle, as it grouped together workers and owners according to corporative principles. It was the only legal syndicate, and was under government control.

Although a self-proclaimed monarchist himself, Franco had no particular desire for a king, due to his strained relation with the legitimate heir of the Crown, Don Juan de Borbón y Battemberg. Therefore, he left the throne vacant, with himself as de facto regent. In 1947 Franco proclaimed Spain a monarchy, through the Ley de Sucesión en la Jefatura del Estado act, but did not designate a monarch. Instead, he set the basis for his succession. This gesture was largely done to appease monarchist factions within the Movimiento. He wore the uniform of a captain general (a rank traditionally reserved for the King), resided in the Pardo Palace, appropriated the kingly privilege of walking beneath a canopy, and his portrait appeared on most Spanish coins. Indeed, although his formal titles were Jefe del Estado (Head of State) and Generalísimo de los Ejércitos Españoles (Highest General of the Spanish Armed Forces), he was referred to as Caudillo de España por la gracia de Dios, (by the grace of God, the Leader of Spain) (by the grace of God is a technical, legal phrase which indicates sovereign dignity in absolute monarchies, and is only used by monarchs).

All cultural activities were subject to censorship, and many were plainly forbidden on various, many times spurious, grounds (political or moral). This cultural policy was initially very strict, but relaxed with time, most notably after 1960.

World War II years (1939-1945)

In September 1939, World War II broke out in Europe, and although Adolf Hitler met Franco in Hendaye, France (October 23, 1940), to discuss Spanish entry on the side of the Axis, Franco's demands (food, military equipment, Gibraltar, French North Africa, etc.) proved too much and no agreement was reached. Contributing to the disagreement was an ongoing dispute over German mining rights in Spain. Some historians argue that Franco made demands that he knew Hitler would not accede to in order to stay out of the war. Other historians argue that he simply had nothing to offer the Germans. After the collapse of France in June 1940, Spain adopted a pro-Axis non-belligerency stance (for example, he offered Spanish naval facilities to German ships) until returning to complete neutrality in 1943 when the tide of the war had turned decisively against Germany. Franco sent troops (División Azul, or Blue Division, after the Falange's party colour, whose members were known as 'blueshirts') to fight on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union. They were all volunteers.

Isolation (1945-1953)

After the war, the Allies used Spain's sympathy for Mussolini and Hitler to keep it out of the United Nations. He was seen to be a remnant of the central European fascist regimes. Under the circumstances, a resolution condemning the Franco government was inevitable. It encouraged countries to remove their ambassadors in Spain, and established the basis for measures against Spain if the government remained authoritarian. Only a few Latin-American countries refused to comply with this advice.

The consequence of all of this was the establishment of an embargo against the Francoist regime in 1946 -including the closure of the French border- with very little success, as it boosted support for the regime. Ostracism was presented as a modern version of the Black Legend, a machination of masons against Spain, and helped to rally massive support for the regime like the massive demonstration in 1946.

In 1947, Juan Perón ignored the UN embargo and sent his wife Eva Duarte de Perón with much needed food supplies. The Spaniards, and Franco himself, heartily welcomed Evita.

After World War II, the Spanish economy was still in disarray. Rationing cards were still used as late as 1952. War and isolation forced the introduction a regime of autarchy, warmly welcomed by Falangists. The tenets of the economy were: reduction of imports, self-sufficiency, state-controlled production and commercialization first order goods, state-funded industry and construction of infrastructure -heavily damaged during the war- through the use of precarious means.

The End of Isolation (1953-1957)

The increased tensions between America and the USSR in the 1950s, forced the American government to search for new allies in Europe. Franco was a proclaimed anti-Communist, which made him a very reliable key ally in the Cold War.

Isolation was broken in 1953 when President Dwight Eisenhower visited Spain and the Spanish government signed the Concordato agreement with the Vatican. Several treaties allowing opening of military bases in Spain were signed in 1953. The American government in return gave Spain economic aid, part of it as donation, part of it to be returned. This series of agreements between the US and Spain were known as the Pact of Madrid.

In 1955 Spanish wealth approached the pre-war levels of 1935, leaving behind the disasters of the war and the struggle of isolation. Spain joined the UN in 1955.

The Desarrollo, the Spanish Miracle (1957-1973)

The Spanish Miracle (aka Desarrollo) was the name given to the Spanish economic boom between 1959 and 1973 and it is the most remarkable phenomenon and the most important legacy left by Francoist Spain, as Spain largely surpassed the per capita income that differentiates developed from underdeveloped countries and induced the development of a dominant middle class which was instrumental to the future establishment of democracy.

The boom was bolstered by economic reforms promoted by the so-called technocrats, appointed by Franco, who put in place neo-liberal development policies from the IMF. The technocrats were a new breed of economists linked to Opus Dei, who replaced the old Falangist guard.

The implementation of these policies took the form of development plans (planes de Desarrollo) and it was largely a success: Spain enjoyed the second highest growth rate in the world, just after Japan, and became the ninth largest economy in the world, just after Canada. Spain joined the industrialized world, leaving behind the poverty and endemic underdevelopment it had experienced since the loss of the Spanish Empire at the beginning of the 19th century.

Albeit the economic growth produced noticeable improvements in Spanish living standards and the development of a middle class, Spain remained less economically advanced relative to the rest of Western Europe (with the exception of Portugal, Greece and Ireland). At the heyday of the Miracle, 1974, Spanish income per capita peaked at 79% of the Western European average, only to be reached again 25 years later, in 1999.

The recovery led to an increase in (often unplanned) building on the periphery of the main Spanish cities to accommodate the new class of industrial workers brought by rural exodus, much similar to the French banlieue.

The icon of the Desarrollo was the SEAT 600, the first car for many Spanish working class families, produced by the Spanish SEAT under FIAT licence.

Franco's last years (1973-1975)

The 1973 oil shock severely affected oil-dependent Spain, and brought the economic growth to a halt in 1975. This caused a new sprawl of strikes (nominally illegal at the time).

Franco's declining health gave more power to Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, but he was assassinated by ETA in 1973. Carlos Arias Navarro took over as President of the Spanish Government, and tried to introduced some reforms to the decaying regime, but he struggled between the two factions of the regime, the bunker (far-right) and the aperturists who promoted transition to Democracy.

But there was no way back to the old regime: Spain was not the same as post war times and the model for the now wealthy Spaniards was the prosperous Western Europe, not the impoverished post-war Falangist Spain. The size of the army and police was significantly smaller than pre-war times and Roman Catholic clergy was deeply transformed by reforms from the Vatican Council II.

In 1974 Franco fell ill, and Juan Carlos took over as Head of State. Franco soon recovered, but one year later fell ill once again, and after a long agony, Franco died on November 20, 1975, at the age of 82—the same date as José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange. It is suspected that the doctors were ordered to keep him barely alive by artificial means until that symbolic date. The historian, Ricardo de la Cierva, says that on the 19th around 6 pm he was told that Franco had already died.

After Franco's death, the interim government took decision to bury him at Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos, a colossal memorial to all casualties during Spanish Civil War, although it was conceived by Franco and has a distinctly nationalist tone.