History UsefulNotes / TheFrancoRegime

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation ([[WorldWarII/TheNeutralNations Spain was neutral]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against a pretty anti-clerical Republic (infamously including an alleged execution of a ''statue'' of the sacred heart - [[http://www.executedtoday.com/2010/08/07/1936-the-sacred-heart-by-spanish-leftists/ this blog post]] gives the picture and reasons to doubt its authenticity) during the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. Franco's regime had several phases from more openly fascist until the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Maquis Spanish Maquis]] TheRemnant of Civil War era anti-Franco fighters was not fully crushed until the 1960s - largely because Franco refused to hand out an "amnesty for surrender" deal and many fought on out of sheer desperation) to autarkist authoritarian immediately after the war (Spain after 1945 had basically no friends outside the Iberian Peninsula and almost no foreign trade) to anti-communist authoritarian consrvative-technocratic afterwards. Spain's tourism boom started in the last years of Franco's reign when he had surrounded himself with a cadre of Opus Dei sycophants as well as more hardline factions known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunker_(Francoism) "El Búnker"]]. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism, with more in common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than with UsefulNotes/FascistItaly and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

* ''Literature/LosSantosInocentes''

* ''Series/FortyFiveRPM''

Although the transition to democracy was successful, the regime left deep scars in the Spanish society that can still be felt up to this day. Especially since most of the people in power today were raised during Franco's rule. In many ways, Spain as a whole is StillFightingTheCivilWar as none of the issues that led to the whole sordid affair from 1936 to 1939 was talked about for ''forty years'' afterwards and only ''very gradually'' even after that. ETA also started their violent campaigns with an attack on Franco's Prime Minister and heir apparent, which won them some sympathies among non-Basque Spaniards which they subsequently thoroughly lost after Franco's death. Franco's regime also suppressed virtually all expressions of non-Castillian culture, particularly Catalan and Basque, giving the independence movement in this regions a claim to being heirs to the anti-Franco movement. While the Zapatero government (2004-2011) dug up some Franco era mass graves and tried to at least get a somewhat accurate historical assessment of Spain's recent history, no such thing happened during the subsequent Rajoy (2011-2018) government. Rajoy's successor Pedro Sánchez tried to move Franco's remains from Valle de los Caídos, a rather pompous monument dedicated to "all (catholic) victims of the Civil War" (and Franco, and Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera) but had to call a snap election before he could put the already passed law to that effect into action. The corpse was eventually moved in October 2019, between two snap elections that saw Sánchez being reelected as Prime Minister, and now rests in a small private gravesite, property of the Franco family. There is an old joke regarding the continuity of Francoist elites where Franco (somehow awakening from death) asks who is running what in Spain and hearing a familiar (last) name only to be told "no no, his son" or "no no, his nephew" until [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Fraga Manuel Fraga]] is mentioned who indeed started his political career in Francoist Spain and remained influential on the political right until his death in 2015.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation ([[WorldWarII/TheNeutralNations Spain was neutral]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against a pretty anti-clerical Republic (infamously including an alleged execution of a ''statue'' of the sacred heart - [[http://www.executedtoday.com/2010/08/07/1936-the-sacred-heart-by-spanish-leftists/ this blog post]] gives the picture and reasons to doubt its authenticity) during the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. Franco's regime had several phases from more openly fascist until the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Maquis Spanish Maquis]] TheRemnant of Civil War era anti-Franco fighters was not fully crushed until the 1960s - largely because Franco refused to hand out an "amnesty for surrender" deal and many fought on out of sheer desperation) to autarkist authoritarian immediately after the war (Spain after 1945 had basically no friends outside the Iberian Peninsula and almost no foreign trade) to anti-communist authoritarian consrvative-technocratic afterwards. Spain's tourism boom started in the last years of Franco's reign when he had surrounded himself with a cadre of Opus Dei sycophants as well as more hardline factions known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BAnker "El Búnker"]]. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism, with more in common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than with UsefulNotes/FascistItaly and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation ([[WorldWarII/TheNeutralNations Spain was neutral]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against a pretty anti-clerical Republic (infamously including an alleged execution of a ''statue'' of the sacred heart - [[http://www.executedtoday.com/2010/08/07/1936-the-sacred-heart-by-spanish-leftists/ this blog post]] gives the picture and reasons to doubt its authenticity) during the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism, with more in common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than with UsefulNotes/FascistItaly and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

Although the transition to democracy was successful, the regime left deep scars in the Spanish society that can still be felt up to this day. Especially since most of the people in power today were raised during Franco's rule. In many ways, Spain as a whole is StillFightingTheCivilWar as none of the issues that led to the whole sordid affair from 1936 to 1939 was talked about for ''forty years'' afterwards and only ''very gradually'' even after that. ETA also started their violent campaigns with an attack on Franco's Prime Minister and heir apparent, which won them some sympathies among non-Basque Spaniards which they subsequently thoroughly lost after Franco's death. Franco's regime also suppressed virtually all expressions of non-Castillian culture, particularly Catalan and Basque, giving the independence movement in this regions a claim to being heirs to the anti-Franco movement. While the Zapatero government (2004-2011) dug up some Franco era mass graves and tried to at least get a somewhat accurate historical assessment of Spain's recent history, no such thing happened during the subsequent Rajoy (2011-2018) government. Rajoy's successor Pedro Sánchez tried to move Franco's remains from Valle de los Caídos, a rather pompous monument dedicated to "all (catholic) victims of the Civil War" (and Franco, and Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera) but had to call a snap election before he could put the already passed law to that effect into action. The corpse was eventually moved in October 2019, between two snap elections that saw Sánchez being reelected as Prime Minister, and now rests in a small private gravesite, property of the Franco family.

Towards the end of his rule, Franco sought to restore the Spanish royal family, then in exile. The rightful king[[labelnote:complications]]Although the war had in part been fought over [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlism Carlism]], an ideology that argued the descendants of Isabella II (all Spanish Kings after the Bourbon Restoration had laid their claim to the throne thru their descent from her) were not legitimate claimants to the throne - conveniently the last undisputed Carlist claimant died in 1936 And Franco spent the remainder of his life playing various Carlist factions against each other, thus marginalizing the movement. Furthermore, the last King of Spain prior to the Second Republic, Alfonso XIII had three legitimate sons alive by the outbreak of the civil war - Infante Juan was the ''youngest'' of them, but the two older brothers [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso,_Prince_of_Asturias_(1907%E2%80%931938) Alfonso]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infante_Jaime,_Duke_of_Segovia Jaime]] renounced their claim to the throne in 1933 - whether those renunciations should be respected is a question for royalism-nerds to debate. Interestingly Jaime's son Alfonso (Alfonso XIII's son Alfonso died without legitimate descendants) was married to Franco's daughter and thus the pretender through that line - the seniormost direct male line from Alfonso XIII disregarding abdications - [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Alphonse_de_Bourbon]] is both a grandson of Alfonso XIII and Franco - but he was only an infant when Franco died.[[/labelnote]], the Infante Juan, was too liberal to be trusted and Franco instead picked Juan's son Juan Carlos who was still young enough to be groomed into a Francoist mentality.

Towards the end of his rule, Franco sought to restore the Spanish royal family, then in exile. The rightful king, the Infante Juan, was too liberal to be trusted and Franco instead picked Juan's son Juan Carlos who was still young enough to be groomed into a Francoist mentality.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation ([[WorldWarII/TheNeutralNations Spain was neutral]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against a pretty anti-clerical Republic (infamously including an alleged execution of a ''statue'' of the sacred heart [[http://www.executedtoday.com/2010/08/07/1936-the-sacred-heart-by-spanish-leftists/ this blog post]] gives the picture and reasons to doubt its authenticity) during the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism, with more in common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than with UsefulNotes/FascistItaly and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation ([[WorldWarII/TheNeutralNations Spain was neutral]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against Communists during the Spanish Civil War. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism, with more in common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than with UsefulNotes/FascistItaly and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

Although the transition to democracy was successful, the regime left deep scars in the Spanish society that can still be felt up to this day. Especially since most of the people in power today were raised during Franco's rule. In many ways, Spain as a whole is StillFightingTheCivilWar as none of the issues that led to the whole sordid affair from 1936 to 1939 was talked about for ''forty years'' afterwards and only ''very gradually'' even after that. ETA also started their violent campaigns with an attack on Franco's Prime Minister and heir apparent, which won them some sympathies among non-Basque Spaniards which they subsequently thoroughly lost after Franco's death. Franco's regime also suppressed virtually all expressions of non-Castillian culture, particularly Catalan and Basque, giving the independence movement in this regions a claim to being heirs to the anti-Franco movement. While the Zapatero government (2004-2011) dug up some Franco era mass graves and tried to at least get a somewhat accurate historical assessment of Spain's recent history, no such thing happened during the subsequent Rajoy (2011-2018) government. Rajoy's successor Sanchez tried to move Franco's remains from Valle de los Caídos, a rather pompous monument dedicated to "all (catholic) victims of the Civil War" (and Franco, and Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera) but had to call a snap election before he could put the already passed law to that effect into action.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation ([[WorldWarII/TheNeutralNations Spain was neutral]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against Communists during the Spanish Civil War. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism more common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than UsefulNotes/FascistItaly and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

* ''FIlm/TheSpiritOfTheBeehive''

Although the transition to democracy was successful, the regime left deep scars in the Spanish society that can still be felt up to this day. Especially since most of the people in power today were raised during Franco's rule.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation ([[WorldWarII/TheNeutralNations Spain was neutral]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against Communists during the Spanish Civil War. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism more common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than the Fascists and Nazis.

Unhappily for Franco (but happily for everyone else), Juan Carlos was not the [[ObfuscatingStupidity dutiful puppet]] the dictator supposed; the prince was secretly in contact with democrats and foreign political leaders. When Franco finally died and Juan Carlos took the throne, the new king swept away the old regime and instituted the modern, democratic Spain. Not before [[EngineeredHeroism publicly standing up to a suspiciously well-timed putsch attempt]] when he was in the nadir of his popularity, attempted by [[MisaimedFandom some hard-lined Francoists]]. The consensus was that there was no conspiracy involved on the part of the king; the theory is very much the minority opinion. Regardless, King Carlos went public reminding everyone he was the King, he wanted a proper constitutional monarchy beholden to the people and have the fascists crushed. He got those things in short order and by the end, even the head of the national Communist party was cheering, "God save the King!"

Although the transition to democracy was successful, the regime left deep scars in the Spanish society that can still be felt up to this day. Specially since most of the people in power today were raised during Franco's rule.

-->'''Sam Tyler:''' This place is like Guantanamo Bay.
-->'''Gene Hunt:''' Give over, it's nothing like Spain.
--->--''Series/{{Life on Mars|2006}}''

Unhappily for Franco (but happily for everyone else), Juan Carlos was not the [[ObfuscatingStupidity dutiful puppet]] the dictator supposed; the prince was secretly in contact with democrats and foreign political leaders. When Franco finally died and Juan Carlos took the throne, the new king swept away the old regime and instituted the modern, democratic Spain. Not before [[EngineeredHeroism publicly standing up to a suspiciously well-timed putsch attempt]] when he was in the nadir of his popularity, attempted by [[MisaimedFandom some hard-lined Francoists]]. Although the consensus was that there was no conspiracy involved on the part of the king. The theory is very much the minority opinion. Regardless, King Carlos went public reminding everyone he was the King, he wanted a proper constitutional monarchy beholden to the people and have the fascists crushed. He got those things in short order and by the end, even the head of the national Communist party was cheering, "God save the King!"

Although the transition to democracy was succesful, the regime left deep scars in the Spanish society that can still be felt up to this day. Specially since most of the people in power today were raised during Franco's rule.

Unhappily for Franco (but happily for everyone else), Juan Carlos was not the [[ObfuscatingStupidity dutiful puppet]] the dictator supposed; the prince was secretly in contact with democrats and foreign political leaders. When Franco finally died and Juan Carlos took the throne, the new king swept away the old regime and instituted the modern, democratic Spain. Not before [[BatmanGambit dodging a suspiciously well-timed putsch attempt when he was in the nadir of his popularity]], attempted by [[MisaimedFandom some hard-lined Francoists]]. Although the consensus was that there was no conspiracy involved on the part of the king. The theory is very much the minority opinion. Regardless, King Carlos went public reminding everyone he was the King, he wanted a proper constitutional monarchy beholden to the people and have the fascists crushed. He got those things in short order and by the end, even the head of the national Communist party was cheering, "God save the King!"

---->--''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}''

'''In fiction'''
* ''Film/PansLabyrinth''
* ''FIlm/TheSpiritOfTheBeehive''

!! Tropes for The Franco Regime include:

* BatmanGambit: Near the beginning of Word War II, Hitler and Mussolini attempted to convince Franco to join their Axis. Franco agreed, on the condition that, after the war, Spain received basically all of North Africa that didn't already belong to Italy, as well as the Philippines, then conquered by Japan. This condition was too much for Mussolini and Hirohito, so Spain remained neutral (if Axis-leaning). On one hand, this can be seen as an example of Franco's ego. On the other hand, it is very possible that Franco deliberately overreached during negotiations in order to stay out of the war, while remaining on better terms with the Axis than he would have if he had outright declined an alliance.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Franco and Hitler didn't get on, but while Franco merely feared Hitler, Hitler ''loathed'' Franco. Franco and Hitler met at Hendaye in 1940, when Hitler had been used to bullying and humiliating foreign potentate after foreign potentate. Hitler entered Franco's train carriage thinking he could chivvy Franco into an alliance; unfortunately for him he had met someone as tenacious and stubborn as he was. He never got over the imagined humiliation, telling Mussolini he'd rather have his teeth pulled than negotiate with Spain again.

Spain under the rule of Francisco Franco, from 1939 to 1975, following the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation (Spain was neutral in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against Communists during the Spanish Civil War. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism more common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than the Fascists and Nazis.

* PansLabyrinth

Spain under the rule of Francisco Franco, from 1939 to 1975, following the SpanishCivilWar.

An era of cultural restrictions, human rights violations and for a time, international isolation (Spain was neutral in WorldWarTwo, but was pro-Axis for much of it). To his supporters, however, he was seen as a strongman and "Defender of Christendom," if only because he fought against Communists during the Spanish Civil War. Most historians generally regard his regime and ideology as an ultraconservative authoritarianism more common with the dictatorships/juntas of South America than the Fascists and Nazis.

----
<<|UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}|>>