Franco’s Regime: Isolation, US Agreements, and Fundamental Laws
International Isolation of Franco’s Regime (1945-1950)
International isolation truly lasted until 1953, following the signing of agreements with the United States and the Concordat with the Holy See. In any case, the Franco regime was hardly appreciated by the European environment, which was forced to live turned in on itself. At the 1945 Potsdam Conference, it was agreed to isolate Franco, and then the UN took the agreement to exclude the regime in 1946.
Revitalizing International Life: US and Holy See Agreements
Agreements with the United States marked the end of a discreet negotiation process, including trade relations and military technical visits. In a way, Franco opened an unusual policy for Spain with regard to the United States, which had been an enemy since the previous century and was reviled by the nationalist and anti-capitalist ideology of the Falange, much like the USSR. Through the agreement, Spain and the United States established a policy of defense and economic aid. The most profitable aspect of the agreements for Franco was the evidence of international recognition of his regime, without the need for surrendering his particular political or religious union.
As a living and functioning concordat regime, the Spanish Church received a new impetus when, in 1953, a month before the agreements, Spain and the Vatican signed a concordat. The regime made numerous concessions to the Church and, in turn, received the final backing of the Catholic world. By the Concordat, the State favored the Holy See with the confirmation of the Catholic confessional regime and ecclesiastical courts. Following the signing of the Concordat, bishops and rulers exchanged praise, and Franco was awarded exaggerated descriptions that reinforced his vocation as a savior.
Political and Institutional Fundamentals of Franco’s Regime
Fundamental Laws of the Regime:
- Labor Law 1968
- Establishment Act of 1942 Cuts
- Jurisdiction of the Spanish from 1945
- National Referendum Act 1945
- Succession Act in 1947 Head of State
- Act of Fundamental Principles of the Movement of 1958
- Organic Law of the State of 1967, which was to be considered as final. It came to be a kind of constitution of the regime.
Ideological Sources of the New Regime
a) Fascism: Discarded by the idea of the French Republic and the restoration of the monarchy, and given its poor ideological formation, which would have to try a new path, as Salazar in Portugal, they were inclined towards fascism. He did it more out of opportunism than conviction. Mussolini was at the height of his power, and the Fascist Party dominated everything in Italy. The Fascist bombast and his desire to imitate the ancient Roman Empire were pleasing to him.
If Mussolini was only a head of government, but less than a head of state, and therefore called himself a new title: Duce, or Hitler, who was more than both, had chosen a name, Führer, not contained in any constitution, Franco, who also ruled without a constitution and without a president or king, was everything politically, also called himself a new title in constitutional law: Caudillo.
The system of fascism failed because it was Franco’s fascism. All totalitarian dictatorship carries within itself the germ of the impossible because Franco had no personal conditions (mass fascination, charisma we would say today) of his models, and especially since the army in Spain had a more prominent role than the party (unlike what happened in fascist systems that he wanted to imitate).
b) Anti-Communism: It was at the end of the Civil War one of the reasons that the Franco regime justified its own existence: the war had been made to prevent the triumph of the communist revolution that the rebels were preparing.
c) Catholicism: Third on the ideological axis that forged the new regime was Catholicism. Since the beginning of the Civil War, it was described as a crusade.
Spain’s Attitude Before World War II
Always vacillating approach depending on the progress of the war.
International Isolation (1945-1950)
International isolation truly lasted until 1953, following the signing of agreements with the United States and the Concordat with the Holy See. In any case, the Franco regime was hardly appreciated by the European environment, which was forced to live turned in on itself. At the 1945 Potsdam Conference, it was agreed to isolate Franco, and then the UN took the agreement to exclude the regime in 1946.