FRANCO HEADS SPAIN:
October 1, 1936
During the Spanish Civil War, General Francisco Franco is named head of the
rebel Nationalist government in Spain. It would take more than two years for
Franco to defeat the Republicans in the civil war and become ruler of all of
Spain. He subsequently served as dictator until his death in 1975.Francisco
Franco was born in El Ferrol, Spain, in 1892. The son of a naval officer, he
entered the Infantry Academy at age 14. He demonstrated himself to be a
disciplined soldier and talented commander in Spain's colonial campaigns in
Morocco. He rose in rank rapidly and was hailed as a national hero for his
defeat of the Moroccan rebels in 1926. Appointed brigadier general, his
promising career was temporarily halted when the Spanish monarchy fell in
1931.
The liberal leaders of the new Spanish Republic were suspicious of the
military,
and Franco was placed on the inactive list. Although an avowed monarchist,
he
accepted his demotion quietly.In 1933, national elections returned the
conservatives to power, and Franco was promoted to major general. In 1934,
Franco quelled a revolt by socialists in the mining districts of Asturias.
In
1935, he was appointed army chief of staff. In February 1936, new elections
returned a leftist coalition to power, and Franco was sent to an obscure
command
in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa.Fearing that the liberal
government would give way to Marxist revolution, army officers conspired to
seize power. After a period of hesitation, Franco agreed to join the
military
rebellion, which began in Morocco on July 17, 1936, and spread to the
Spanish
mainland the next day. With Nationalist army forces from Morocco, Franco
rapidly
overran much of the Republican-controlled areas in Spain and marched on
Madrid.
Believing victory was imminent, Franco was made leader of the new
Nationalist
regime on October 1, 1936. In fact, the bloody Spanish Civil War stretched
on
until the end of March 1939. In the conflict, Franco's Nationalists received
heavy support from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republicans
were
aided by the USSR and international volunteers.With the surrender of Madrid
on
March 28, 1939, Franco formally became dictator of all of Spain--El
Caudillo,
"The Leader" in Spanish. Although he sympathized with the fascist regimes of
Germany and Italy, Franco maintained Spanish neutrality during World War II.
After the war, he was ostracized as the "last surviving fascist dictator,"
but
international rehabilitation came with the rise of the Cold War and
recognition
of his anti-communist views by the United States and other Western
nations.Franco secured massive U.S. economic aid in return for military
bases in
Spain, and the Spanish economy steadily grew. In the 1950s and '60s,
Franco's
authoritarian regime gradually became more liberal, and there was little
organized opposition to his rule outside the Basque provinces, where
separatists
engaged in terrorism against the Spanish government. In 1969, Franco
recognized
Juan Carlos, the grandson of Spain's last king, as his successor as head of
state and heir to the Spanish throne. In November 1975, Franco died after a
long
illness, and Juan Carlos became leader and king of Spain. Despite having
pledged
loyalty to Franco's authoritarian regime, King Juan Carlos immediately began
a
transition to democracy.
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