Franco's parents married in 1890 in the Church of San Francisco in El Ferrol.
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (, ; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 1939 to 1975 as a dictator, assuming the title Caudillo.
His dictatorial style proved highly adaptable, which enabled wide-sweeping social and economic reform, while consistent pursuits during his reign centered on highly centralised government, authoritarianism, nationalism, national Catholicism, anti-freemasonry and anti-Communism. == Early life == Francisco Franco Bahamonde was born on 4 December 1892 in the Calle Frutos Saavedra in El Ferrol, Galicia.
In 1923, by now a lieutenant colonel, he was made commander of the Legion. On 22 October 1923, Franco married María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdès (11 June 1900 – 6 February 1988).
Not needing any more officers, the Naval Academy admitted no new entrants from 1906 to 1913.
This period in Spanish history, from the Nationalist victory to Franco's death, is commonly known as Francoist Spain or the Francoist dictatorship. Born in Ferrol, Galicia, into an upper-class military family, Franco served in the Spanish Army as a cadet in the Toledo Infantry Academy from 1907 to 1910.
In 1907, he entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo.
Spanish efforts to occupy their new African protectorate provoked the Second Melillan campaign in 1909 with native Moroccans, the first of a period of Riffian rebellions.
This period in Spanish history, from the Nationalist victory to Franco's death, is commonly known as Francoist Spain or the Francoist dictatorship. Born in Ferrol, Galicia, into an upper-class military family, Franco served in the Spanish Army as a cadet in the Toledo Infantry Academy from 1907 to 1910.
He would graduate in July 1910 as second lieutenant, coming in at position 251 out of 312, though this may have been less to do with his grades than his small size, young age and reduced physical presence; Stanley Payne observes that by the time Civil War began, Franco had already become a major general and would soon be a generalissimo, while none of his higher-ranking fellow cadets had managed to get beyond the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
At 19, Franco was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in June 1912.
Not needing any more officers, the Naval Academy admitted no new entrants from 1906 to 1913.
In 1913, Franco transferred into the newly formed regulares: Moroccan colonial troops with Spanish officers, who acted as shock troops.
The letters between the two were found and she was questioned by journalists. In 1916, aged 23 as a captain, he was shot by enemy machine gun fire.
Instead Franco received the Cross of Maria Cristina, First Class. With that he was promoted to major at the end of February 1917 at age 24.
From 1917 to 1920, he served in Spain.
From 1917 to 1920, he served in Spain.
In 1920, Lieutenant Colonel José Millán Astray, a histrionic but charismatic officer, founded the Spanish Foreign Legion, on similar lines as the French Foreign Legion.
In the Rif War, on 24 July 1921, the poorly commanded and overextended Spanish Army suffered a crushing defeat at Annual from the Republic of the Rif led by the Abd el-Krim brothers.
In 1923, by now a lieutenant colonel, he was made commander of the Legion. On 22 October 1923, Franco married María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdès (11 June 1900 – 6 February 1988).
This and other occasions of royal attention would mark him during the Republic as a monarchical officer. Disappointed with the plans for a strategic retreat from the interior to the African coastline by Primo de Rivera, Franco wrote in April 1924 for Revista de Tropas Coloniales that he would disobey orders of retreat from a superior.
He also held a tense meeting with Primo de Rivera in July 1924.
According to fellow africanista, Gonzalo Queipo de Llano, Franco visited him on 21 September 1924 to propose him to lead a coup d'état against Primo.
Yet, at the end, Franco orderly complied, taking part in the in late 1924, and thus he earned a promotion to Colonel. Franco led the first wave of troops ashore at Al Hoceima (Spanish: Alhucemas) in 1925.
Yet, at the end, Franco orderly complied, taking part in the in late 1924, and thus he earned a promotion to Colonel. Franco led the first wave of troops ashore at Al Hoceima (Spanish: Alhucemas) in 1925.
While serving in Morocco, he rose through the ranks to become brigadier general in 1926, aged 33, becoming the youngest general in Spain.
Franco's recognition eventually caught up with him, and he was promoted to brigadier general on 3 February 1926.
On 14 September 1926, Franco and Polo had a daughter, María del Carmen.
In 1928 Franco was appointed director of the newly created General Military Academy of Zaragoza, a new college for all army cadets, replacing the former separate institutions for young men seeking to become officers in infantry, cavalry, artillery, and other branches of the army.
As a conservative and monarchist, Franco regretted the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Second Republic in 1931.
Franco was removed as Director of the Zaragoza Military Academy in 1931; about 95% of his former Zaragoza cadets later came to side with him in the Civil War. === During the Second Spanish Republic === The municipal elections of 12 April 1931 were largely seen as plebiscite on the monarchy.
Azaña entered an official reprimand into Franco's personnel file and for six months Franco was without a post and under surveillance. In December 1931, a new reformist, liberal, and democratic constitution was declared.
While under the leadership of Francisco Franco, the Spanish government explicitly endorsed the Catholic Church as the religion of the nation state and did not endorse liberal ideas such as religious pluralism or separation of Church and State found in the Republican Constitution of 1931.
The conspiracy suggested that Jews, Freemasons, Communists, and other leftists alike sought the destruction of Christian Europe, with Spain the principal target. On 5 February 1932, Franco was given a command in A Coruña.
It was quite common for conservative officers to be moved or demoted. In 1932 the Jesuits, who were in charge of many schools throughout the country, were banned and had all their property confiscated.
His career redoubled after the right-wing CEDA and PRR won the 1933 election empowering him to lead the suppression of the 1934 uprising in Asturias.
As a result of Azaña's military reform, in January 1933 Franco was relegated from first to 24th in the list of brigadiers.
In June 1933 Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Dilectissima Nobis, "On Oppression of the Church of Spain", in which he criticized the anti-clericalism of the Republican government. The elections held in October 1933 resulted in a centre-right majority.
When Mola was killed in another air accident a year later on 2 June 1937 (which some believe was an assassination), no military leader was left from those who organized the conspiracy against the Republic between 1933 and 1935. === Military command === Franco personally guided military operations from this time until the end of the war.
His career redoubled after the right-wing CEDA and PRR won the 1933 election empowering him to lead the suppression of the 1934 uprising in Asturias.
The Spanish historian Salvador de Madariaga, an Azaña supporter, and an exiled vocal opponent of Francisco Franco is the author of a sharp critical reflection against the participation of the left in the revolt: “The uprising of 1934 is unforgivable.
With the rebellion of 1934, the Spanish left lost even the shadow of moral authority to condemn the rebellion of 1936.” At the start of the Civil War, López Ochoa was assassinated.
Unlike some other fascist movements, the Falangists had developed an official program in 1934, the "Twenty-Seven Points".
Some time after these events, Franco was briefly commander-in-chief of the Army of Africa (from 15 February onwards), and from 19 May 1935, on, Chief of the General Staff. ==== 1936 general election ==== In the end of 1935 President Alcalá-Zamora manipulated a petty-corruption issue into a major scandal in parliament, and eliminated Alejandro Lerroux, the head of the Radical Republican Party, from premiership.
When Mola was killed in another air accident a year later on 2 June 1937 (which some believe was an assassination), no military leader was left from those who organized the conspiracy against the Republic between 1933 and 1935. === Military command === Franco personally guided military operations from this time until the end of the war.
Franco was briefly elevated to Chief of Army Staff before the 1936 election moved the leftist Popular Front into power, relegating him to the Canary Islands.
After initial reluctance, he joined the July 1936 military coup, which, after failing to take Spain, sparked the Spanish Civil War. During the war, he commanded Spain's colonial army in Africa and after the death of much of the rebel leadership became his faction's only leader, appointed Generalissimo and Head of State in 1936.
With the rebellion of 1934, the Spanish left lost even the shadow of moral authority to condemn the rebellion of 1936.” At the start of the Civil War, López Ochoa was assassinated.
Some time after these events, Franco was briefly commander-in-chief of the Army of Africa (from 15 February onwards), and from 19 May 1935, on, Chief of the General Staff. ==== 1936 general election ==== In the end of 1935 President Alcalá-Zamora manipulated a petty-corruption issue into a major scandal in parliament, and eliminated Alejandro Lerroux, the head of the Radical Republican Party, from premiership.
On 16 February 1936 the elections ended in a virtual draw, but in the evening leftist mobs started to interfere in the balloting and in the registration of votes distorting the results.
Even the staunch socialist Indalecio Prieto, at a party rally in Cuenca in May 1936, complained: "we have never seen so tragic a panorama or so great a collapse as in Spain at this moment.
Meanwhile, a conspiracy led by General Mola was taking shape. Interested in the parliamentary immunity granted by a seat at the Cortes, Franco intended to stand as candidate of the Right Bloc alongside José Antonio Primo de Rivera for the by-election in the province of Cuenca programmed for 3 May 1936, after the results of the February 1936 election were annulled in the constituency.
On 23 June 1936, he wrote to the head of the government, Casares Quiroga, offering to quell the discontent in the Spanish Republican Army, but received no reply.
Franco himself certainly detested communism, but had no commitment to any ideology: his stand was motivated not by foreign fascism but by Spanish tradition and patriotism. == From the Spanish Civil War to World War II == The Spanish Civil War began in July 1936 and officially ended with Franco's victory in April 1939, leaving 190,000 to 500,000 dead.
Despite the Non-Intervention Agreement of August 1936, the war was marked by foreign intervention on behalf of both sides, leading to international repercussions.
Stanley Payne thinks that the Spanish Civil war had more characteristics of a post–World War I revolutionary crisis than of a domestic crisis of the era of World War II. === The first months === Following 18 July 1936 pronunciamiento, Franco assumed the leadership of the 30,000 soldiers of the Spanish Army of Africa.
Franco's previous aloofness from politics meant that he had few active enemies in any of the factions that needed to be placated, and he had also cooperated in recent months with both Germany and Italy. On 1 October 1936, in Burgos, Franco was publicly proclaimed as Generalísimo of the National army and Jefe del Estado (Head of State).
After the failed assault on Madrid in November 1936, Franco settled on a piecemeal approach to winning the war, rather than bold maneuvering.
On 28 March 1939, with the help of pro-Franco forces inside the city (the "fifth column" General Mola had mentioned in propaganda broadcasts in 1936), Madrid fell to the Nationalists.
Already proclaimed Generalísimo of the Nationalists and Jefe del Estado (Head of State) in October 1936, he thereafter assumed the official title of "Su Excelencia el Jefe de Estado" ("His Excellency the Head of State").
Officially, he died a few minutes after midnight on 20 November 1975 from heart failure, at the age of 82 – on the same date as the death of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the Falange, in 1936.
"Political Ascent and Military Commander: General Franco in the Early Months of the Spanish Civil War, July–October 1936," American Revolutionary war with the PVMJournal of Military History 75#4 (October 2011): 1125–57. Lines, Lisa.
When Mola was killed in another air accident a year later on 2 June 1937 (which some believe was an assassination), no military leader was left from those who organized the conspiracy against the Republic between 1933 and 1935. === Military command === Franco personally guided military operations from this time until the end of the war.
In 1937, Franco assumed as the tentative doctrine of his regime 26 out of the original 27 points.
He was also the second sibling to die, killed in an air accident on a military mission in 1938. Franco's father was a naval officer who reached the rank of vice admiral (intendente general).
As with his decision to relieve the garrison at Toledo, this approach has been subject of some debate: some of his decisions, such as in June 1938 when he preferred to head for Valencia instead of Catalonia, remain particularly controversial from a military viewpoint.
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (, ; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 1939 to 1975 as a dictator, assuming the title Caudillo.
Franco himself certainly detested communism, but had no commitment to any ideology: his stand was motivated not by foreign fascism but by Spanish tradition and patriotism. == From the Spanish Civil War to World War II == The Spanish Civil War began in July 1936 and officially ended with Franco's victory in April 1939, leaving 190,000 to 500,000 dead.
In 1939 the personalist style heavily predominated, with ritualistic invocations of "Franco, Franco, Franco." The Falangists' hymn, Cara al Sol, became the semi-national anthem of Franco's not-yet-established regime. This new political formation appeased the pro-German Falangists while tempering them with the anti-German Carlists.
While the Republican forces presented the war as a struggle to defend the Republic against fascism, Franco depicted himself as the defender of "Catholic Spain" against "atheist communism". === The end of the Civil War === By early 1939 only Madrid (see History of Madrid) and a few other areas remained under control of the government forces.
On 28 March 1939, with the help of pro-Franco forces inside the city (the "fifth column" General Mola had mentioned in propaganda broadcasts in 1936), Madrid fell to the Nationalists.
Victory was proclaimed on 1 April 1939, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered.
According to Helen Graham, the Spanish working classes became to the Francoist project what the Jews were to the German Volksgemeinschaft. According to Gabriel Jackson and Antony Beevor, the number of victims of the "White Terror" (executions and hunger or illness in prisons) only between 1939 and 1943 was 200,000.
The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who had been named by the Chilean President Pedro Aguirre Cerda special consul for immigration in Paris, was given responsibility for what he called "the noblest mission I have ever undertaken": shipping more than 2,000 Spanish refugees, who had been housed by the French in squalid camps, to Chile on an old cargo ship, the Winnipeg. === World War II === In September 1939 World War II began.
The overthrow of Catholicism as the explicit state religion of Spain and the establishment of state-sponsored religious pluralism would be completely established in Spain in 1978, with the new Constitution of Spain, three years after Franco's death. == Spain under Franco == Franco was recognized as the Spanish head of state by the United Kingdom, France and Argentina in February 1939.
The "Law of the Head of State," passed in August 1939, "permanently confided" all governing power to Franco; he was not required to even consult the cabinet for most legislation or decrees.
American military facilities in Spain built since then include Naval Station Rota, Morón Air Base, and Torrejón Air Base. === Political repression === The first decade of Franco's rule following the end of the Civil War in 1939 saw continued repression and the killing of an undetermined number of political opponents.
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) were banned in 1939, while the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) went underground.
Attempts to give the national anthem new lyrics have failed due to lack of consensus. In March 2006, the Permanent Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe unanimously adopted a resolution "firmly" condemning the "multiple and serious violations" of human rights committed in Spain under the Francoist regime from 1939 to 1975.
On 23 October 1940, Hitler and Franco met in Hendaye in France to discuss the possibility of Spain's entry on the side of the Axis.
Franco was initially keen to join the war before the UK was defeated. In the winter of 1940–41 Franco toyed with the idea of a "Latin Bloc" formed by Spain, Portugal, Vichy France, the Vatican and Italy, without much consequence.
Franco had cautiously decided to enter the war on the Axis side in June 1940, and to prepare his people for war, an anti-British and anti-French campaign was launched in the Spanish media that demanded French Morocco, Cameroon and Gibraltar.
On 19 June 1940, Franco pressed along a message to Hitler saying he wanted to enter the war, but Hitler was annoyed at Franco's demand for the French colony of Cameroon, which had been German before World War I, and which Hitler was planning on taking back for Plan Z.
The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) trade unions were outlawed, and replaced in 1940 by the corporatist Sindicato Vertical.
This was the situation throughout the 1940s and to a lesser extent during the 1950s, but after 1960 the non-Castilian Spanish languages were freely spoken and written, and they reached bookshops and stages, although they never received official status. The Catholic Church was upheld as the established church of the Spanish State, and it regained many of the traditional privileges which it had lost under the Republic.
Franco and Serrano Suñer held a meeting with Mussolini and Ciano in Bordighera, Italy on 12 February 1941.
When the invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941, Franco's foreign minister Ramón Serrano Suñer immediately suggested the formation of a unit of military volunteers to join the invasion.
Volunteer Spanish troops (the División Azul, or "Blue Division") fought on the Eastern Front under German command from 1941 to 1944.
By 1941 Vichy French forces were proving their effectiveness in North Africa, reducing the need for Spanish help, and Hitler was wary about opening up a new front on the western coast of Europe as he struggled to reinforce the Italians in Greece and Yugoslavia.
Franco signed a revised Anti-Comintern Pact on 25 November 1941.
In 2010 documents were discovered showing that on 13 May 1941, Franco ordered his provincial governors to compile a list of Jews while he negotiated an alliance with the Axis powers.
In 2010, documents were discovered showing that on 13 May 1941, Franco ordered his provincial governors to compile a list of Jews while he negotiated an alliance with the Axis powers.
He noted that while Hitler and Stalin maintained rubber-stamp parliaments, this was not the case in Spain in the early years after the war – a situation that nominally made Franco's regime "the most purely arbitrary in the world". This changed in 1942, when Franco convened a parliament known as the Cortes Españolas.
According to Helen Graham, the Spanish working classes became to the Francoist project what the Jews were to the German Volksgemeinschaft. According to Gabriel Jackson and Antony Beevor, the number of victims of the "White Terror" (executions and hunger or illness in prisons) only between 1939 and 1943 was 200,000.
In January 1943, after the German embassy in Spain told the Spanish government that it had two months to remove its Jewish citizens from Western Europe, Spain severely limited visas, and only 800 Jews were allowed to enter the country.
In 1944, a group of republican veterans from the French resistance invaded the Val d'Aran in northwest Catalonia, but were quickly defeated.
Volunteer Spanish troops (the División Azul, or "Blue Division") fought on the Eastern Front under German command from 1941 to 1944.
Spain continued to import war materials and trade wolfram with Germany until August 1944 when the Germans withdrew from the Spanish frontier. Spanish neutrality during World War II was appreciated and publicly acknowledged by leading Allied statesmen.
Notably, it had no control over government spending, and the government was not responsible to it; ministers were appointed and dismissed by Franco alone. On 26 July 1947 Franco proclaimed Spain a monarchy, but did not designate a monarch.
The activities of the Maquis continued well into the 1950s. The end of the war led to hundreds of thousands of exiles, mostly to France, but also to Mexico, Chile, Cuba, and the United States.
This was the situation throughout the 1940s and to a lesser extent during the 1950s, but after 1960 the non-Castilian Spanish languages were freely spoken and written, and they reached bookshops and stages, although they never received official status. The Catholic Church was upheld as the established church of the Spanish State, and it regained many of the traditional privileges which it had lost under the Republic.
But the growth proved too much for the economy, with shortages and inflation breaking out towards the end of the 1950s. When Franco replaced his ideological ministers with the apolitical technocrats, the regime implemented several development policies that included deep economic reforms.
This historic alliance commenced with the visit of US President Dwight Eisenhower to Spain in 1953, which resulted in the Pact of Madrid.
Through this law, homosexuality and prostitution were made criminal offenses in 1954. === Women in Francoist Spain === Francoism professed a devotion to the traditional role of a woman in society; that is, being a loving daughter and sister to her parents and brothers, being a faithful wife to her husband, and residing with her family.
Spain was then admitted to the United Nations in 1955.
When French Morocco became independent in 1956, he surrendered Spanish Morocco to Morocco, retaining only a few enclaves (the Plazas de soberanía).
The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) went into exile, and in 1959 the ETA armed group was created to wage a low-intensity war against Franco. Franco's Spanish nationalism promoted a unitary national identity by repressing Spain's cultural diversity.
After a recession, growth took off from 1959, creating an economic boom that lasted until 1974, and became known as the "Spanish miracle". Concurrent with the absence of social reforms, and the economic power shift, a tide of mass emigration commenced to other European countries, and to a lesser extent, to South America.
Spain became the second-fastest growing economy in the world between 1959 and 1973, just behind Japan.
Carrero Blanco's role expanded after Franco started struggling with Parkinson's disease in the 1960s.
This cultural policy was relaxed over time, most notably during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Franco also used language politics in an attempt to establish national homogeneity.
This was the situation throughout the 1940s and to a lesser extent during the 1950s, but after 1960 the non-Castilian Spanish languages were freely spoken and written, and they reached bookshops and stages, although they never received official status. The Catholic Church was upheld as the established church of the Spanish State, and it regained many of the traditional privileges which it had lost under the Republic.
Larger cities and capitals were mostly under the jurisdiction of the Policia Armada, or the grises ("greys", due to the colour of their uniforms) as they were called. Student revolts at universities in the late 1960s and early 1970s were violently repressed by the heavily armed Policía Armada (Armed Police).
In the 1960s and 1970s these restrictions were somewhat relaxed. === The Spanish colonies and decolonisation === Spain attempted to retain control of its colonies throughout Franco's rule.
The country got rid of populations it would not have been able to keep in employment, and the emigrants supplied the country with much needed monetary remittances. During the 1960s, the wealthy classes of Francoist Spain experienced further increases in wealth, particularly those who remained politically faithful, while a burgeoning middle class became visible as the "economic miracle" progressed.
Franco is portrayed by actor Pep Mirás. Franco is often referenced in the Spanish TV series Cuéntame cómo pasó. === Music === French singer-songwriter and anarchist Léo Ferré wrote "Franco la muerte", a song he recorded for his 1964 album Ferré 64.
In 1973 Franco resigned as prime minister – separated from the head of state office since 1967 – due to advanced age and illness, but remained in power as the latter and commander-in-chief.
In the aftermath of the Six Day War in 1967, Franco's Spain were able to utilise their positive relationship with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Arab world (due to not having recognised the Israeli state) to allow 800 Egyptian Jews; many of Sephardic ancestry; safe passage out of Egypt on Spanish passports.
With the pivot of Spain's foreign policy towards the United States during the Cold War, the situation changed with the 1967 Law on Religious Freedom, which granted full public religious rights to non-Catholics.
On 16 December 1968, the Spanish government formally revoked the 1492 Edict of Expulsion against Spain's Jewish population. Franco personally and many in the government openly stated that they believed there was an international conspiracy of Freemasons, and Communists against Spain, sometimes including Jews or "Judeo-Masonry" as part of this.
Only in 1975, with the Green March, did Morocco take control of all of the former Spanish territories in the Sahara. In 1968, under pressure from the United Nations, Spain granted Equatorial Guinea its independence, and the following year it ceded Ifni to Morocco.
Franco left the throne vacant until 1969, proclaiming himself as a de facto regent for life.
Under Franco, Spain also pursued a campaign to force a negotiation on the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, and closed its border with that territory in 1969.
In 1969 Franco nominated as his heir-apparent Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón, who had been educated by him in Spain, with the new title of Prince of Spain.
This cultural policy was relaxed over time, most notably during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Franco also used language politics in an attempt to establish national homogeneity.
Larger cities and capitals were mostly under the jurisdiction of the Policia Armada, or the grises ("greys", due to the colour of their uniforms) as they were called. Student revolts at universities in the late 1960s and early 1970s were violently repressed by the heavily armed Policía Armada (Armed Police).
Until the 1970s women could not open a bank account without having it co-signed by her father or husband.
In the 1960s and 1970s these restrictions were somewhat relaxed. === The Spanish colonies and decolonisation === Spain attempted to retain control of its colonies throughout Franco's rule.
In 1973 Franco resigned as prime minister – separated from the head of state office since 1967 – due to advanced age and illness, but remained in power as the latter and commander-in-chief.
Spain became the second-fastest growing economy in the world between 1959 and 1973, just behind Japan.
After a recession, growth took off from 1959, creating an economic boom that lasted until 1974, and became known as the "Spanish miracle". Concurrent with the absence of social reforms, and the economic power shift, a tide of mass emigration commenced to other European countries, and to a lesser extent, to South America.
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (, ; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 1939 to 1975 as a dictator, assuming the title Caudillo.
Franco died in 1975, aged 82, and was entombed in the Valle de los Caídos.
Only in 1975, with the Green March, did Morocco take control of all of the former Spanish territories in the Sahara. In 1968, under pressure from the United Nations, Spain granted Equatorial Guinea its independence, and the following year it ceded Ifni to Morocco.
By the time of Franco's death in 1975, Spain still lagged behind most of Western Europe but the gap between its per capita GDP and that of the leading Western European countries had narrowed greatly, and the country had developed a large industrialised economy. == Succession == Franco decided to name a monarch to succeed his regency, but the simmering tensions between the Carlists and the Alfonsoists continued.
Franco's last public appearance was on 1 October 1975 when, despite his gaunt and frail appearance, he gave a speech to crowds from the balcony at the Royal Palace of El Pardo in Madrid.
On 30 October 1975 he fell into a coma and was put on life support.
Officially, he died a few minutes after midnight on 20 November 1975 from heart failure, at the age of 82 – on the same date as the death of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the Falange, in 1936.
Attempts to give the national anthem new lyrics have failed due to lack of consensus. In March 2006, the Permanent Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe unanimously adopted a resolution "firmly" condemning the "multiple and serious violations" of human rights committed in Spain under the Francoist regime from 1939 to 1975.
The overthrow of Catholicism as the explicit state religion of Spain and the establishment of state-sponsored religious pluralism would be completely established in Spain in 1978, with the new Constitution of Spain, three years after Franco's death. == Spain under Franco == Franco was recognized as the Spanish head of state by the United Kingdom, France and Argentina in February 1939.
Since 1978, the national anthem of Spain, the Marcha Real, does not include lyrics introduced by Franco.
The border would not be fully reopened until 1985. === Economic policy === The Civil War ravaged the Spanish economy.
In 1923, by now a lieutenant colonel, he was made commander of the Legion. On 22 October 1923, Franco married María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdès (11 June 1900 – 6 February 1988).
The agreement effectively lapsed after 2000, the year the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory was founded and the public debate started.
In 2006, a poll indicated that almost two-thirds of Spaniards favored a "fresh investigation into the war". The Oxford Living Dictionary uses Franco's regime as an example of fascism.
Similarly, as recently as 2006, Franco supporters in Spain have honored Pinochet. In 2006, the BBC reported that Maciej Giertych, an MEP of the clerical-nationalist League of Polish Families, had expressed admiration for Franco, stating that the Spanish leader "guaranteed the maintenance of traditional values in Europe". Spaniards who suffered under Franco's rule have sought to remove memorials of his regime.
Attempts to give the national anthem new lyrics have failed due to lack of consensus. In March 2006, the Permanent Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe unanimously adopted a resolution "firmly" condemning the "multiple and serious violations" of human rights committed in Spain under the Francoist regime from 1939 to 1975.
The resolution also urged that historians (professional and amateur) be given access to the various archives of the Francoist regime, including those of the private Francisco Franco National Foundation (FNFF) which, along with other Francoist archives, remain inaccessible to the public as of 2006.
A Ley de la memoria histórica de España (Law on the Historical Memory of Spain) was approved on 28 July 2006, by the Council of Ministers, but it took until 31 October 2007, for the Congress of Deputies to approve an amended version as "The Bill to recognise and extend rights and to establish measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the Civil War and the Dictatorship" (in common parlance still known as Law of Historical Memory).
Owing to Franco's human-rights record, the Spanish government in 2007 banned all official public references to the Franco regime and began the removal of all statues, street names and memorials associated with the regime, with the last statue reportedly being removed in 2008 in the city of Santander.
A Ley de la memoria histórica de España (Law on the Historical Memory of Spain) was approved on 28 July 2006, by the Council of Ministers, but it took until 31 October 2007, for the Congress of Deputies to approve an amended version as "The Bill to recognise and extend rights and to establish measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the Civil War and the Dictatorship" (in common parlance still known as Law of Historical Memory).
In 2008, it was alleged by historian José María Zavala that this injury had left Franco with only one testicle.
Owing to Franco's human-rights record, the Spanish government in 2007 banned all official public references to the Franco regime and began the removal of all statues, street names and memorials associated with the regime, with the last statue reportedly being removed in 2008 in the city of Santander.
In 2010 documents were discovered showing that on 13 May 1941, Franco ordered his provincial governors to compile a list of Jews while he negotiated an alliance with the Axis powers.
In 2010, documents were discovered showing that on 13 May 1941, Franco ordered his provincial governors to compile a list of Jews while he negotiated an alliance with the Axis powers.
"Political Ascent and Military Commander: General Franco in the Early Months of the Spanish Civil War, July–October 1936," American Revolutionary war with the PVMJournal of Military History 75#4 (October 2011): 1125–57. Lines, Lisa.
The government gave Franco's family a 15-day deadline to decide Franco's final resting place, or else a "dignified place" will be chosen by the government. On 13 September 2018, the Congress of Deputies voted 176–2, with 165 abstentions, to approve the government's plan to remove Franco's body from the monument. Franco's family opposed the exhumation, and attempted to prevent it by making appeals to the Ombudsman's Office.
His body was to be exhumed from the Valle de los Caídos on 10 June 2019, but the Supreme Court of Spain ruled that the exhumation would be delayed until the family had exhausted all possible appeals.
On 24 September 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the exhumation could proceed, and the Sánchez government announced that it would move Franco's remains to the Mingorrubio cemetery as soon as possible.
On 24 October 2019 his remains were moved to his wife's mausoleum which is located in the Mingorrubio Cemetery, and buried in a private ceremony.
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