History UsefulNotes / FranciscoFranco

* TeethClenchedTeamwork - To UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, while they did get along well during the SpanishCivilWar (That is, while they didn't even have ever met) by 1940 Franco was allegedly terrified of the man, wich he regarded a DangerouslyGenreSavvy MagnificentBastard and a threat and did everything he could to be irritating on the infamous Hendaya meeting, so he was furious enough he couldn't think through the negotiations -Thus, being weaker- and was up but not limited to arrive late to the conference (This was repeatedly denied by Franco himself, though). Hitler didn't appreciate this, by the end of the meeting he couldn't barely stand the guy and reportedly said he would rated "Get his teeth removed than ever meeting [Franco] again". [[AsYouKnow He didn't had the chance, though, as he survived Hitler thirty years]]

** On the other hand, the brutal attacks of the Nationalist side in the SpanishCivilWar horrified a certain bloke [[EarlyBirdCameo later known as HeinrichHimmler]]. EveryoneHasStandards indeed.

** And UsefulNotes/AntonioDeOliveiraSalazar, Franco regarded Portugal as a spearhead for the allies into Spain -As Portugal has an ancient alliance binding to the United Kingdom- and urged a meeting with the early dictator of Portugal to grant an "Iberian Alliance". Salazar feared spanish support for portuguese monarchists and agreed Portugal would not have any contribution against -Or even would protect- the current government of Spain as long as Spain formally rejected both Annexation of Portugal and support for the House of Braganza. This is why the Allies didn't went after Franco once Hitler was offed, the United Kingdom didn't wanted to endanger its alliance with Portugal.

** Also, Queipo de Llano, who helped keep Andalusia in his grasp during the SpanishCivilWar but was a loose cannon in the Nationalist's side and planned to replace Franco as ''Caudillo'' (As he controlled Seville and thus the largest region of Spain, he was able to be a pain in the ass to Franco. Franco was aware of this and [[KickedUpstairs tried to kick him upstairs]], as Minister of Agriculture, so he could have a closer look at him. He refused and was subsecuently [[ReassignedToAntarctica (and forcibly) appointed ambassador in Argentina and Italy]]. He later found he had forbidden to get back to Seville, thus, finishing his chances of an effective coup and ended his life in ostracism.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork - To UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, while they did get along well during the SpanishCivilWar (That is, while they didn't even have ever met) by 1940 Franco was allegedly terrified of the man, wich he regarded a DangerouslyGenreSavvy MagnificentBastard and a threat and did everything he could to be irritating on the infamous Hendaya meeting, so he was furious enough he couldn't think through the negotiations up to and not limited to arriving late to the conference (This was repeatedly denied by Franco himself, though). Hitler didn't appreciate this, by the end of the meeting he couldn't barely stand the guy and reportedly said he would rated "Get his teeth removed than ever meeting [Franco] again". [[AsYouKnow He didn't had the chance, though, as he survived Hitler thirty years]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards - He was allegedly ''horrified'' to Queipo de Llano raids on the towns neighbouring Seville, while this might be more of PragmaticVillainy than this.

* [[FunnyCharacterBoringActor Charismatic leader, boring person]] - As loathed as he was, and ''is'', he gathered a notorious cult of personality and his followers would speak highly of him while most current historians doesn't seem to agree on his personality further than "He was actually a bleak, shallow, boring person". One historian said that "[Franco] is a nightmare for anybody who tries to make history interesting, he was notoriously laconic, [[VillainsOutShopping loved mediocre films and watched football on the sofa]]. He didn't drink, he didn't smoke, he was an austere average spaniard who happened to be the dictator of the country". [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even]] [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon]] aknowledged that one.

* [[FunnyCharacterBoringActor Charismatic leader, boring person]] - As loathed as he was, and ''is'', he gathered a notorious cult of personality and his followers would speak highly of him while most current historians doesn't seem to agree on his personality further than "He was actually a bleak, shallow, boring person". One historian said that "[Franco] is a nightmare for anybody who tries to make history interesting, he was notoriously laconic, [[VillainsOutShopping loved mediocre films and watched football on the sofa]]. He didn't drink, he didn't smoke, he was an austere average spaniard who happened to be the dictator of the country"
* OddFriendship - With UsefulNotes/FidelCastro, of all people.

!! Tropes associated with Franco
* BatmanGambit: Franco was approached by Hitler and Mussolini to join their Axis in World War Two. 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.
* BornInTheWrongCentury: Franco longed to revive the days of the old Spanish Empire. So much, in fact, that it was the reason he asked Hitler to grant him territories in North Africa (Morocco and the Western Sahara) and the only things allowed in Spain were Baroque architecture/art in general (because it was born in Spain), Catholicism, [[SeriousBusiness Heterosexuality]] (gay poets like Creator/FedericoGarciaLorca were banned) and women had to actually go to school to get a degree as housekeepers.
* ChristianityIsCatholic: Was a very pious Catholic and received a lot of support from the Church.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Many of his opponents were sent to concentration camps, tortured, shot by firing squads or garrotted. Even in 1974, only a year before his death, he still ordered resistance leaders, among them Puig Antich, to be garrotted.
* EgomaniacHunter: Franco said that he developed a taste for hunting because of the war.
* TheGeneralissimo: A prime example.
* {{Irony}}: Was shocked when Spain got rid of the monarchy in 1931 and made the country a republic, then took over power in 1936 with him as president until his death.
* JabbaTableManners: Supposedly, his manner of eating so thoroughly disgusted Hitler in their first meeting that the man despised being in a room with him from that point on.
* TheNapoleon: Franco measured about 1.60 meters and was nicknamed "Paquito" (Little Paco - "Paco" or "Pancho" is short for Francisco in Spanish) behind his back. During his early years, he was also called "cerillita" (little matchstick) because of his small stature, thinness, big head and high-pitched voice.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: 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. It was a big mistake, because Juan Carlos wasn't the faithful puppet he supposed. After Franco died he restored Spain back into a constitutional monarchy.
* OverlyLongName: His full name was Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde, Salgado-Araujo y Pardo de Andrade.
* RegentForLife: He was since 1947 officially the regent of the Kingdom of Spain, but no Spanish monarch was designated until 1969.

!! Franco in fiction:

** Note that, like [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]], he only allowed films explicitly approved by himself. Underground, of course, was ''El Movimiento'' (eng: ''[[ShapedLikeItself The Movement]]'') led by PedroAlmodovar.
** In the AlternateHistory timeline Literature/FightAndBeRight, Franco becomes a famous director after a successful career in the Spanish Navy.

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* BornInTheWrongCentury: Franco longed to revive the days of the old Spanish Empire. So much, in fact, that it was the reason he asked Hitler to grant him territories in North Africa (Morocco and the Western Sahara) and the only things allowed in Spain were Baroque architecture/art in general (because it was born in Spain), Catholicism, [[SeriousBusiness Heterosexuality]] (gay poets like Creator/FedericoGarciaLorca were banned) and women had to actually go to school to get a degree as housekeepers. With so much going on, it's no wonder why many people half-jokingly say Spain did not come out of the Middle Ages until after 1975 (Franco's death).

* TheNapoleon: Franco measured about 1.60 meters and was nicknamed "Paquito" (Little Paco - "Paco" or "Pancho" is short for Francisco in Spanish) behind his back. During his early years, he was also called "cerillita" (little matchstick) because of his small stature and high-pitched voice.

** Note that, like {{Hitler}}, he only allowed films explicitly approved by himself. Underground, of course, was ''El Movimiento'' (eng: ''[[ShapedLikeItself The Movement]]'') led by PedroAlmodovar.

Generalissimo Francisco Franco (1892-1975) was dictator of Spain from 1939 until his death. He came to power during the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar and was a close ally of UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini.

* TheNapoleon: Franco measured about 1.60 meters and was nicknamed "Paquito" (Little Pacon- "Paco" or "Pancho" is short for Francisco in Spanish) behind his back. During his early years, he was also called "cerillita" (little wax) because of his small stature and high-pitched voice.

* French singer-songwriter and anarchist Music/LeoFerre wrote "Franco la muerte" (1964). In this highly confrontational song, he directly shouts at the dictator and lavishes him with contempt. Ferré refused to sing in Spain until Franco was dead.