Stages of Francoism - Summary

It is known for Francoism to the authoritarian and undemocratic regime that was established in Spain after the Civil War and the victory of the rebel side during a period of 36 years, from 1939 to 1975, in which Francisco Franco takes totalitarian control of political power. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a little summary of the stages of the Franco regime So that, thus, you know the different moments that were lived during the years of dictatorship.

The Franco's first stage is known as the period of the autarky and isolation. It was characterized by a totalitarian regime after the end of the Civil War and the victory of the rebellious side. vis-à-vis the Republic, the rapport with the axis powers and the isolation after the Second War World; All these things caused the following aspects to be determined:

• The consolidation of an absolute dictatorship, personal and totalitarian with the continued maintenance of a harsh repression against the republicans, in which death sentences continued to be given and the jails were filled with prisoners.
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• By exalting themselves with victory, they gave themselves a series of distinctive values ​​in many aspects of public life, passing some laws such as that of the jurisdiction of the Spanish, the succession law…
• The identification with shaft powers until 1942. Although it is true that at first it did not want to be part of the war, World War II, and the affinity that it had with the fascist forces ended up sending a series of volunteers to the Russian front, known as the Blue Division, helped Germany and allowed Gibraltar to be bombed. At the end of 42, the Franco government declared itself neutral before the oppression of the allies.
• An economy of autarkic appearance, that is, there was no foreign trade, she shut herself up, consuming what she produced what The presence of ration cards that limited consumption, in turn also led to the birth of a black market.
• The punishment imposed by the United Nations By allying itself in favor of the axis powers and maintaining its postulates, it caused Spain to remain economically and diplomatically blocked. The objective of this when making this decision was none other than to reestablish a democracy.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the main characteristics of the Franco regime.

We continue with this summary of the stages of Franco, now talking about the second stage. Here the cold war caused that isolation of which we spoke previously was gradually disappearing and in turn favored the alignment with the United States, now let's see why other things were characterized, and they are:

• The signing an agreement with the Vatican, as well as the aid received from the United States allowed Spain to be part of progressively from other international organizations and thus re-establish relationships with other countries.
• In 1959 a strong economic crisis shakes Spain and makes Franco have to rethink his policy, which is why the signing of the so-called Madrid Pacts, which were three agreements between Spain and the United States, by which Spain allowed the installation of bases military in Spanish territory in exchange for economic credits, which is what is known as the Plan of Stabilization (Marshall plan) whose primary objectives were to encourage savings, combat speculation and initiate an opening of the Spanish market, which would favor the economic development of Spain.
• The arrival of ministers further removed from Falangist doctrines in government, they also allowed the improvement of the productive system and the opening of markets.
• During these years the theme of the African decolonization, for which both Spain and France had to renounce the protectorate exercised by Morocco causing some confrontations in Ifni.

The third Franco period was characterized mainly by the great development and modernization of the economic system, but also because of the crisis of the Franco state that ended with its disappearance. Among other things we will see that this period will be determined by:

The biggest economic boom

That came accompanied by sun and beach tourism along the Spanish coasts especially those of the Mediterranean; the income of all those emigrants who left Spain in years of famine and poverty and who in the 1960s contributed to improving consumption and the balance of payments; the growth of large investments by foreigners.

Likewise, the emigration that took place in the past to the countryside is now going to cause little by little a slow but progressive modernization in the field of agricultural structures and machinery... All this allowed a consumer society and a rise in the middle class.

Press law

While Carrero Blanco replaced Francisco Franco's job due to his health, a press law was approved in which he allowed freedom of expression since it was previously subject to the control of the dictatorship.

Opposition to Franco

The opposition to Franco it was increasing due to the multiple intellectual supports from exile, the intervention of members of the Catholic Church to disassociate themselves from the regime; the strengthening of the Spanish communist party that was in favor of carrying out a national reconciliation; the demonstrations of both students and workers against the system, the origin of terrorist organizations such as ETA that ended the lives of many people, including that of Luis Carrero Blanco ...

This last event was the culmination because the Franco regime is going to react with repressive measures, however, despite its efforts.

On November 20, 1975 he passed away Francisco Franco ending the years of the Franco dictatorship, beginning the period known as the Spanish transition.