Franco’s Spain: From Autarky to International Rehabilitation
Key Words
- Debugging officials: Franco’s repressive process against officers who were not considered loyal to the new regime.
- Masonry: Philosophical and philanthropic organization, severely persecuted by Franco, whose members uphold solidarity and mutual development.
- Succession Act: Law granting Franco the power to appoint his successor as head of state.
- Blue Division: Military unit of volunteers recruited to assist Germany’s offensive against the Soviet Union.
- Autarky: Economic doctrine under which a country prioritizes its own production and minimizes external economic contact.
Personalities
- Juan de Borbón y Battenberg (1913-1993): Son of King Alfonso XIII. In 1933, he inherited dynastic rights to the Spanish crown. He consented to his son Juan Carlos being educated under Franco’s supervision in Spain from 1948. In 1977, he resigned his dynastic rights in favor of Juan Carlos, who was crowned king in 1975.
- Josep Irla i Bosch (1874-1958): Mayor of Sant Feliu de Guíxols (1906-1910) and Member of Parliament of Catalonia from 1932. Elected president of the Catalan Parliament in 1938. Exiled to France in 1939.
- Ramón Serrano Súñer (1901-2003): Lawyer and politician. Deputy to the CEDA. Franco’s brother-in-law. Imprisoned in Madrid at the start of the military uprising in 1936. An important collaborator of Franco, he inspired the unification of the Falange.
Item 15
1. The International Rehabilitation of Franco
With the start of the Cold War, Spain began to be considered a valuable strategic ally in the Mediterranean. In 1951, talks began with the United States to establish a bilateral treaty, and the first shipments of American aid arrived. The 1953 agreement allowed the U.S. Army to establish military bases in Morón, Rota, Torrejón de Ardoz, and Zaragoza.
American sponsorship allowed Franco’s Spain to be admitted into various international forums: UNESCO (1952), the UN (1955), and the International Monetary Fund (1958). Franco refused to join the European Economic Community, established by the Treaty of Rome (1957). However, borders with Europe became increasingly permeable, allowing a growing flow of Spanish workers.
The 1953 Concordat with the Vatican provided the regime with moral legitimacy in the international community. Franco retained the state’s ability to intervene in the appointment of bishops, while making numerous concessions to the Church. He granted legal status to religious orders, provided significant financial support to the clergy, and gave the Church greater control in matrimonial matters.
2. Depletion of the Autarchic Model (1950-1959)
By 1950, the failure of the autarchic economic policies implemented since the end of the Civil War was evident. While rationing had ended, real wages continued to decline due to rising prices.
Given the low level of consumption, it became more profitable for European capital to invest elsewhere.
2.1. Initial Adjustments and the End of Rationing
In the early fifties, rationing and price increases significantly impacted the population. In February 1951, public transport fares increased following government orders.
In 1951, Franco reshuffled his government. While Falangists retained some power, Catholic organizations gained prominence, with figures like Joaquín Ruiz-Giménez as Minister of Education and Alberto Martín-Artajo as Minister of Foreign Affairs. This government also included Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, who would become a close confidant of Franco.
The arrival of the first aid from the United States coincided with the initial liberalization of the autarchic economic framework. In 1952, rationing was abolished, prices were partially liberalized, the movement of goods was expanded, and foreign markets were opened. This resulted in significant economic growth, and by 1954, income levels had recovered to those of 1935.
Around 1956, it became impossible to balance trade by exporting agricultural products and raw materials. The country needed to import capital goods (machinery) and energy sources (oil). The government also failed to control the public deficit, inflation, and the decline in real wages.
2.2. Crisis and Opposition in the Fifties
Economic problems were compounded by tensions arising from the decolonization of Morocco. In these circumstances, social protests increased, and from 1955, workers’ strikes intensified.
The Student Revolts
The academic crisis of 1956 revealed the limitations of the system’s timid liberalization. The Minister of Education, Joaquín Ruiz-Giménez, had attempted normalization by allowing exiled teachers to return.
In February, a group of Catholic, socialist, and communist students requested permission to hold a meeting outside the headquarters of the official, fascist student union. Two days of street fights ensued, ending with a harsh police intervention and the closure of the University. Ruiz-Giménez was forced to resign.
In Barcelona, February 1957 saw the first Assembly of students from the Free University of Barcelona, which was suppressed.
The Decolonization of Morocco
When France granted independence to its Moroccan protectorate in March 1956, unrest in the region led the Spanish government to make the same decision. Morocco then began to claim Ifni, the Sahara, Ceuta, and Melilla.
The clashes that occurred in 1957 in Ifni caused a crisis that led to a profound restructuring of the government. Franco appointed technocrats from Opus Dei to key ministerial positions. The new government drafted the Law on Principles of National Movement (1958), which codified the rules and principles of Franco’s regime.
The Opposition
Several factors influenced the opposition groups’ change in approach: the new image that the Cold War had given the dictatorship, the paralysis of the monarchist opposition after Franco’s interview with Juan de Borbón, the aging and dispersion of the leftist opposition in exile, and the emergence of new generations not directly linked to the Civil War.
Confrontation with the regime came mainly from three areas: the labor movement, university agitation, and political parties.
The labor opposition demonstrated its ability to mobilize through strikes, such as the tram strike in Barcelona in 1951, the strikes at the Fábrica del País Vasco in 1956, and the Asturian miners’ strikes of 1957-1958. Workers began to organize in defense of their rights with the union Workers’ Commissions.
University agitation led to the formation of independent student unions.
Within the main political parties of the opposition, the PSOE and the PCE, differences began to emerge between the leadership in exile and those within Spain. In the PCE, the rise of Santiago Carrillo, representing a younger sector, offered the alternative of promoting national reconciliation.
The decade ended with the radicalization of nationalist groups in the peripheries. In 1959, a youth group called ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) emerged from a split within the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). ETA soon began an armed struggle with the goal of independence and unification of the Spanish and French Basque provinces.
In Catalonia, the Council of Democratic Forces of Catalonia was formed in 1950 to coordinate groups opposed to the regime and maintain ties with the government of the Generalitat in exile. The Christian Catalan Movement (CC) also emerged, organizing protest campaigns.
3. Between Political Immobilism and “Apertura” (1959-1973)
Throughout the sixties, there was a renewal of Franco’s leadership, which led to some initial liberalization measures, favoring the…