Franco Regime: Political, Economic, and Social Development (1939-1959)
The Franco Regime: Political, Economic, and Social Development to 1959
Ideological Foundations, Social and Political
The new system introduced in 1939 had very clear ideological foundations from the outset:
- Concentration of political power in Franco. The “unwavering commitment” to the Leader was the key element of the whole political edifice of Franco.
- Anticommunism. This factor was critical from the onset of the Civil War. The Cold War between the U.S. and the USSR since 1945 further strengthened this aspect of the Franco regime to be accepted in the Western world.
- Antiparliamentarism and anti-liberalism. The Franco regime was always opposed to political freedoms.
- National Catholicism. The Church was the great legitimizer of the Franco dictatorship. In exchange, it dominated social life and education. A strict Catholic morality in public and in private was imposed on the country.
- Defense of the “unity of the homeland.” Refusal of any political autonomy for the regions and recognition of Castilian Spanish as the sole language. The prohibition of other Iberian languages was strict at first, subsequently evolving into a certain tolerance.
- Traditionalism. The idea of Spain defended by the dictatorship was based on historical roots, often adulterated (La Reconquista, the Empire, Defender of Catholicism).
- Militarism. Social dominance of the military (parades, uniforms, anthems, flag, etc.).
- Fascist traits: symbols and uniforms, exaltation of the Caudillo, violence as a political means. The more embarrassing external aspects (fascist salute) were attenuated after the defeat of Hitler and Mussolini in 1945.
The Social Bases of the Dictatorship
Most of the urban middle classes and working classes just backed the dictatorship. In the early years of the dictatorship, systematic repression, poverty, and demoralization after the defeat prevented the lack of support from manifesting as opposition to the regime.
The situation changed in the 1960s. Economic development brought the regime greater social consensus among the middle classes and workers, but at the same time, the timid liberalization of the country led to the development of the opposition.
The Political Foundations of the Regime
The dictatorship based its political system on a strict ban on political parties, coupled with a brutal crackdown on those who had supported the Republic. In 1937, a single party was established, the FET de las JONS, which came to be called the National Movement.
Political Families:
Phalangists
The Falange had nothing to do with the small fascist group created by José Antonio. Now, Falangists were integrated into a single party under the absolute leadership of Franco.
Its main function was to control the social and economic life of the country through various institutions of the regime: the Youth Front, the Women’s Section, and the Trade Union Organization.
The Falange played an important role in the early days of the dictatorship. After the defeat of the fascist Axis powers in 1945, it went on to have a more secondary role.
Military
The military had prestige and political power but were completely subordinate to Franco. Some of the dictator’s most important collaborators, such as Carrero Blanco, were military.
Catholics
Many cadres and leaders of the dictatorship came from religious institutions such as Opus Dei.
After Vatican II, a distance grew between the dictatorship and the Church.
Monarchists
After the end of the war, the Carlists played a secondary role, disappearing as a politically relevant force.
Although Franco refused to relinquish the head of state to Don Juan de Borbón, son of Alfonso XIII and father of Juan Carlos I, many monarchists collaborated with the dictatorship, especially in the early years of the regime.
Franco always prevented anyone from becoming too powerful and sought a balance to ensure his absolute power.
Political and International Situation (1939-1959)
The Institutionalization of the Regime: The Organic Laws
The dictator, who concentrated all power, assumed the role of the constituent. Gradually, the regime approved various organizational laws, which made up what came to be called the Fundamental Laws of the Movement:
- Labor Law, 1938
Prohibition of free trade unions. Following the fascist model, the trade union was set up as the only union controlled by the Falange.
- Constitutive Act of the Parliament, 1942
Cortes elected by indirect suffrage based on various corporations: the family, the municipality, and the union. In practice, they were totally rigged elections, and elected representatives were those who wanted the procedure.
- Jurisdiction of Spanish, 1945
Theoretical bill of rights and duties steeped in traditional attitudes and Catholicism. It presented no real recognition of political or social rights.
- National Referendum Act, 1945
This law allowed the head of state to call referendums for the people, in a framework of a lack of freedoms, to endorse a law.
- Law of Succession to the Head of State, 1946
Spain was declared a “kingdom,” and Franco reserved the power to propose his successor. This law was a major disappointment for monarchists who dreamed that Franco would favor a return to the throne of the Bourbons.
Hunger and Postwar Repression
The 1940s and well into the 1950s were “years of hunger”:
- Rationing of food.
- Extension of the black market for all types of products. The “estraperlo” became for many the only means to acquire necessary goods and for a few, the way to get rich quickly.
- Corruption. Social life was based on the “recommendation,” on having contacts with the bureaucrats of the system to ease the hard life of the time.
Repression
The Political Responsibility Act of 1939 was the legal tool used for the harsh repression that came at the end of the war. The number of political prisoners was so large that concentration camps had to be set up throughout the country. The executions were counted by the tens of thousands.
The postwar repression fostered a climate of widespread terror among much of the population, especially in cities, industrial areas, and the south. This fear explains the weakness of the opposition for years.
Foreign Policy
The Alliance with the Fascist Powers in World War II
On April 7, just after the war, Franco announced his adherence to the Anti-Comintern Pact, an anti-Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Japan agreement.
In October 1940, after the Nazi invasion of France, a meeting between Franco and Hitler took place that nearly put our country in the global conflict. Finally, it did not. Hitler did not accept Franco’s claims on French Morocco, and the incorporation of a war-weary country was not of great interest to the Axis. However, to show support for the fascist powers, Spain sent the Blue Division to fight alongside Nazi troops on the Russian front.
The defeats of the Axis made Franco begin a cautious shift in his foreign policy, starting in 1942, seeking conciliation with the Allied countries. The dismissal of his overly Germanophile brother-in-law, Serrano Suñer, shows this change in attitude for new times.
The International Isolation and Changes Within the Regime
In 1946, the General Assembly of the United Nations voted against the admission of Spain. The Franco dictatorship was considered an ally of the newly defeated fascist powers.
This international condemnation was followed by years of economic and political isolation. Although the U.S. was trying not to break completely with a regime that could be its ally in the Cold War that had just started. Despite this, Spain did not receive any help from the Marshall Plan and was not admitted into NATO. While the dictatorship sought to clean up its international image, reducing the role of the Falange and of all symbols (fascist salute, etc.) that recalled the Axis powers. In parallel, Catholics obtained a greater presence in the dictatorship. The support of the Holy See was essential to break the international isolation.
The End of Isolation: The Agreement with the U.S.
Arguably, the beginning of the Cold War saved the Franco regime. The hostility toward the USSR caused a shift in the U.S. international position. Inside, it was a time of anticommunist hysteria prompted by Senator McCarthy. In 1950, the UN, at the behest of the USA, recommended an end to the diplomatic isolation of Spain. In 1953, bilateral agreements were signed with the United States, which allowed the installation of American military bases in Spain at Torrejón de Ardoz, Zaragoza, Morón, and Rota. In return, Spain received U.S. economic aid, not comparable to other European countries receiving the Marshall Plan. In 1953, the Concordat between Spain and the Holy See was also signed.
The Internal Political Conflicts in the 1950s
After the terror and paralysis of the country during the 1940s, the 1950s saw the first protests of the opposition:
In 1956, several incidents took place at the University of Madrid between Francoist and student members of the SEU, and the boycott of trams in Barcelona in 1951 showed the first workers’ protests.
However, this revival of the opposition had a very slight impact. The most important political event of the period was the access to the government of several ministers of Opus Dei in 1957. This incorporation was the prelude to the 1959 economic reform that would bring economic liberalization and the development of the 1960s.
The political paralysis was enshrined in 1958 with the adoption of the Law on the Principles of the Movement, which simply summarized the old ideological principles of the regime. The end of international isolation was clearly outlined by the visit of U.S. President Eisenhower to Spain in 1959. The embrace between the general who had played a key role in defeating Hitler and the dictator who had been an ally of Hitler showed how the Cold War had changed international politics.
Economic and Social Developments (1939-1959)
Postwar Autarky
In 1939, Spain was a country in ruins. Demographically decimated, hunger and extreme need were a daily reality for a large proportion of the population.
The solution given by the Franco regime to the economic hardship was marked by the model created in Mussolini’s Italy and consolidated in Hitler’s Germany: autarky, an economic policy based on the pursuit of economic self-sufficiency and state intervention.
State intervention lasted for much of the national economy. The state set agricultural prices and forced farmers to surrender their surplus crops. It created the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI) in 1941 to better control the anemic Spanish industry and established tight control of foreign trade.
A Major Economic Failure
The postwar years marked a tremendous decline in the economic field. The collapse of agricultural and industrial production was accompanied by a historical turning back: the primary sector again exceeded 50 percent of the national income.
In a context of scarcity and government intervention, the black market, estraperlo, and widespread corruption (import and export licenses, supplies to the State, etc.) took over the economy.
This situation was greatly aggravated by the international situation. The Second World War (1939-1945) was succeeded by a period of isolation due to the international condemnation of the Franco regime as an ally of the Axis.
The 1950s: The End of Autarky
The apparent failure of the autarkic model led to a shift in economic policy from the early 1950s.
A partial liberalization of prices and trade was applied, and the movement of goods in 1952 ended food rationing.
These measures brought some economic expansion. Finally, in 1954, per capita income exceeded that of 1935. This put an end to twenty years lost in Spanish economic development.
The Cold War and the consequent change in American foreign policy since 1951 led to the start of U.S. economic aid. Although less than that received by the beneficiary countries under the Marshall Plan, this assistance allowed imports of essential equipment for industrial development.
The incipient development brought, however, high inflation, which underpinned strong social unrest. The need for structural reforms in the economy was evident. Finally, Franco, after twenty years of harmful economic policies, allowed a group of technocrats from Opus Dei into the government in 1957. These new ministers designed the final turn in economic policy: the Stabilization Plan of 1959.