Francoist Spain: Regime, Policies, and Impacts
Groups Supporting the Franco Regime
Several key groups supported the Franco regime, ensuring its stability and longevity:
The Army
The army played a crucial role in guaranteeing the regime’s continuity. Its commanders held significant political and business positions, solidifying their influence.
The Falange
As the single party, the Falange maintained social control. Its members occupied various government positions, further strengthening the regime’s grip on power.
The Catholic Church
The Catholic Church regained its prominence and significantly influenced the new state’s social ideology, known as National Catholicism. The Concordat of 1953 restored privileges for the clergy, including the abolition of divorce and the reintroduction of religious education.
Landowning and Industrial Bourgeoisie
The landowning and industrial bourgeoisie wielded considerable economic power. All Republican land and labor reforms were overturned, solidifying their economic dominance.
Francoist Laws and Women’s Inequality
Francoist laws reflected the inequality of women in several ways:
- Married women lost their legal capacity, with husbands becoming their legal representatives and property administrators. This meant women couldn’t buy or sell property without their husband’s permission.
- The right to divorce was repealed.
- The use of contraceptives and abortion were strictly prohibited.
Demographic and Economic Effects of the Civil War
Demographic Effects
- High Casualties: Estimated between 500,000 to 1 million.
- Mass Displacement and Emigration: Particularly of Republicans fleeing Franco’s regime.
- Repression and Internment: Political opponents faced repression and internment, leading to further emigration and internal displacement.
Economic Effects
- Infrastructure Damage: Destruction of roads, railways, and cities due to bombardment.
- Economic Disruption: Decline in industrial production, trade, and agriculture.
- Financial Strain: Significant costs incurred in prosecuting the war by both sides.
- Long-Term Consequences: Spain’s weakened economy and implementation of autarkic economic policies under Franco’s regime.
Postwar Period vs. 1960s: Political and Economic Orientations
Political Orientation
- Postwar: Governments were dominated by members of the army and the Falange.
- 1960s: A new generation of technocrats, more focused on technical expertise than ideology, joined the government.
Economic Orientation
- Postwar: Autarky, based on self-sufficiency, limited imports, and prioritized domestic production.
- 1960s: The Stabilization Plan aimed to replace the closed, state-controlled economy with one engaged in international capitalism and increased private sector involvement.
Economic Outcomes
- Postwar: Autarkic policies failed, leading to hunger and widespread poverty.
- 1960s: Benefiting from Europe’s economic recovery, Spain experienced rapid economic growth.
Migration in the 1960s
Two types of migration characterized the 1960s:
External Migration
Two million people emigrated, primarily to Germany, Switzerland, and France.
Internal Migration
Four million Spaniards moved from rural areas in Andalusia, Galicia, and Extremadura to industrial centers in Madrid, Catalonia, and the Basque Country.
Characteristics of the Franco Dictatorship
- Authoritarianism: Franco held absolute power, controlling both executive and legislative branches, making his rule totalitarian.
- Anti-Communism: The regime ruthlessly suppressed socialist and communist movements, viewing them as threats.
- One-Party System: The National Movement, later FET of the JONS, became the sole legal party, banning all others.
- Militarism: The military wielded significant power, with many of Franco’s allies coming from its ranks, influencing key state institutions.
- Repression: Suspected Republican sympathizers faced persecution, forcing many into exile. Left-wing militants and Catalan and Basque nationalists were also targeted.
- Ultra-Catholicism: Catholicism was reinstated as the official religion, governing public and private life. Franco presented himself as Spain’s divine savior, gaining support from the Catholic hierarchy and the Pope.
- Ultranationalism: The regime promoted exaggerated patriotism, glorifying Spain and denying autonomy to regional identities like Basque and Catalan. Castilian Spanish was emphasized as the sole language.
- Censorship: The regime tightly controlled media, suppressing dissent and regulating public opinion to maintain its authority.
- Propaganda: Government propaganda emphasized religious and nationalist values, promoting unity and greatness under slogans like “España: Una, Grande y Libre” (Spain: One, Great, and Free).