GENERAL FRANCO
G'day folks,
I guess most of you have heard about this man. Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde, more
commonly known as Francisco Franco, was a Spanish general and the
Caudillo of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975.
Francisco
Franco led a successful military rebellion to overthrow the Spanish democratic
republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936—1939), subsequently establishing his
lasting dictatorship.
Born in
El Ferrol, Spain, in 1892, Francisco Franco was a career soldier who rose
through the ranks until the mid-1930s. When the social and economic structure
of Spain, in the governing hands of the left, began to crumble, Franco joined
the growing right-leaning rebel movement. He soon led an uprising against the
Republican government and took control of Spain following the Spanish Civil War
(1936–39). From then until his 1975 death, he presided over a repressive
military dictatorship.
Francisco
Franco was born on December 4, 1892, in El Ferrol, Spain, a north western port
city with a long history of shipbuilding. The men in his family had served in
the navy for generations, and the young Franco expected to follow in their
footsteps. However, the economic and territorial aftermath of the
Spanish-American War led to a reduction in the navy, and after completing his
primary education at a Catholic school, Franco was forced to enlist at the
Infantry Academy at Toledo instead. He graduated three years later with
below-average marks.
After an
initial posting to El Ferrol, Franco volunteered to serve in Spain’s recently
acquired protectorate Morocco, where the country’s native population was
staging a resistance to Spain’s occupation. Stationed there from 1912 to 1926,
Franco distinguished himself with his fearlessness, professionalism and
ruthlessness and was frequently promoted. By 1920 he had been named second in
command of the Spanish Foreign Legion, and three years later took full command.
He also married during this period, to Carmen Polo y Martínez Valdéz, with whom
he had one daughter.
In 1926,
Franco’s role in suppressing the Moroccan rebellion earned him an appointment
as general, which, at age 33, made him the youngest man to hold that post in
all of Europe. Two years later he was also named director of the General
Military Academy in Zaragoza, a position he would hold until three years later,
when political changes in Spain would temporarily halt Franco’s steady rise.
Unrest
In April
1931, general elections led to the ousting of King Alfonso XIII, whose military
dictatorship had been in place since the early 1920s. The moderate government
of the Second Republic that replaced it led to a reduction in the power of the
military, which resulted in the closing of Franco’s military academy. However,
it also led to a deepening, often violent, social and political unrest in
Spain, and when new elections were held in 1933, the Second Republic was
replaced by a more right-leaning government and Franco returned to a position
of power, which he wielded the following year in a ruthless suppression of a
leftist revolt in north western Spain.
But like
the Second Republic before it, the new government could do little to quell the
growing divide between left- and right-leaning factions in the country, and
when elections held in February 1936 led to a shift in power to the left, the
country slipped further into chaos. For his part, Franco was once again
marginalized, with a new posting to the Canary Islands. Though Franco accepted
what amounted to banishment with the professionalism for which he was known,
other high-ranking members of the military began to discuss a coup.
The Spanish Civil War
Though he
initially kept his distance from the plot, on July 18, 1936, Franco announced
the Nationalist manifesto in a broadcast from the Canary Islands as the
uprising began in the northwest of Spain. The next day, he flew to Morocco to
take control of the troops, and shortly thereafter gained the support of both
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, whose planes were used to shuttle Franco and
his forces to Spain. Establishing his base of operations in Seville the
following month, Franco began his military campaign, advancing north toward the
seat of the Republican government in Madrid. Anticipating a swift victory, on
October 1, 1936, the Nationalist forces declared Franco head of the government
and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. However, when their initial assault
on Madrid was repelled, the military coup evolved into the protracted conflict
known as the Spanish Civil War.
By the
end of 1937, Franco had conquered the Basque lands and the Asturias and had
also combined the fascist and monarchist political parties to form his Falange
Española Tradicionalista while dissolving all others. In January 1939, the Republican
stronghold of Barcelona fell to the Nationalists, followed two months later by
Madrid, and on April 1, 1939, after receiving an unconditional surrender,
Francisco Franco announced the end of the Spanish Civil War. Sources vary, but
many estimate the number of casualties resulting from the war as high as
500,000, with perhaps as many as 200,000 the result of executions perpetrated
by Franco and his forces.
El Caudillo
For
nearly four decades following the conflict, Franco—who became known as El Cedillo
(the Leader)— would rule Spain through a repressive dictatorship. Immediately
following the war, military tribunals were held that led to tens of thousands
more being executed or imprisoned. Franco also outlawed unions and all
religions except for Catholicism, as well as banning the Catalan and Basque
languages. To enforce his power over Spain, he established a vast network of
secret police.
However,
five months after taking control of the country, Franco’s rule and Spain’s
position in the international community were further complicated by the start
of World War II. Initially declaring Spain’s neutrality, Franco was
ideologically sympathetic to the Axis powers and met with Adolf Hitler to discuss the possibility of
Spain joining them. Though Hitler ultimately rejected Franco’s conditions—which
he deemed far too high—Franco would later send some 50,000 volunteers to fight
alongside the Germans against the Soviets on the Eastern Front as well as
opening Spain’s ports to German ships and submarines.
When the
tide of the war turned began to turn against the Axis powers in 1943, Franco
once more declared Spain’s neutrality, but in the aftermath of the conflict his
former allegiances were not forgotten and Spain was ostracized by the United
Nations, placing significant economic strain on the country. However,
circumstances changed with the advent of the Cold War, when Franco’s status as
a staunch anti-communist led to economic and military assistance from the
United States in exchange for the establishment of several military bases in
Spain.
Valley of the Fallen
Over
time, Franco began to relax his control of Spain, removing some of the
restraints of censorship, instituting economic reforms and promoting
international tourism while at the same time maintaining his position as its
head of states. In 1969, amidst a period of declining health, he also named his
successor, Prince Juan Carlos, whom he believed would maintain
the political structure that Franco had established and rule as a king.
However, two days after Franco’s death on November 20, 1975, Juan Carlos I set
about dismantling Spain’s authoritarian apparatus and reintroduced political
parties in the country. In June 1977, the first elections were held since 1936.
Spain has remained a democracy ever since.
Francisco
Franco was buried in a massive mausoleum at the Valley of the Fallen,
constructed by Franco—with the use of forced labor—as a monument to the dead of
the Spanish Civil War. In the decades since Franco’s rule, it has been the
subject of frequent controversy, with many advocating for the removal of his
remains. But amidst the often-fractured political environment in post-Franco
Spain, the site remains more or less unchanged.
Clancy's comment: Another powerful figure in history.
I'm ...
No comments:
Post a Comment