Spanish Civil War: Franco’s Regime and Sociopolitical Impact
The Spanish Civil War and the Franco Regime
Poster Board Delegate: A Source of Political Propaganda
A. The Poster Board Delegate served as a source of political propaganda, particularly for the Republican faction. It denounced the presence of Italian troops supporting the enemies of the Republic in Madrid. B. This poster’s context lies within the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the intervention of foreign powers alongside Franco, notably Fascist Italy. C. While appealing to the people of peninsular Republican Spain to participate in the war against Franco, it also framed the fight as resistance against a foreign invader, represented by Italy.
Example 2.a
The two sides received external support. Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Salazar’s Portugal aided the rebel camp with diplomatic recognition, troops, and arms sales. The USSR and Mexico supported the Republic with arms sales, technical assistance, and the creation of the International Brigades following a call from the Communist International. The policy of non-intervention backed by England and France, with the establishment of an International Committee of Non-Intervention, should also be mentioned. Their underlying reasons included the desire to avoid a new European war and the protection of their economic interests in Spain.
Example 2.b
Students should summarize the main stages of the civil war from a military perspective, placing them chronologically:
- Initial phase (Strait of Gibraltar, Andalusia, Extremadura, Toledo) (July-October 1936)
- Madrid and the battles around it (November 1936-March 1937)
- Conquest of the North (March-October 1937)
- Battle of Teruel, cutting the Republican zone in two parts to attack Valencia (December 1937-June 1938)
- Battle of the Ebro and the final conquest of Catalonia (July 1938-February 1939)
- Occupation of the central zone (March 1939)
Josep Benet’s Source on the Franco Regime in Catalonia
A. Josep Benet’s source is a primary document (contemporary to the facts). It is a public document of a political nature: an order from the Civil Governor of Tarragona in 1939 regarding the public use of Spanish and the ban of Catalan. B. The source’s context is the early establishment of the Franco regime in Catalonia, shortly after the end of the Civil War. C. The order commanded that all types of signs, including street names, be written in Spanish. This implies that existing signs in Catalan were removed. The Governor held the mayors responsible for the fulfillment of this order.
Example 2
This example refers to the Francoist repression of the vanquished, including war councils, the Disclaimer Policy Act, and the Suppression of Masonry and Communism. The scope and forms of repression should be addressed. The repression of the Catalan language and culture must be mentioned, including the prohibition of its public use and the publication of any text in Catalan until the second stage of the regime. B. The growing political influence of technocrats in the second half of the 1950s, their relationship with Opus Dei, and their influence on economic policy changes should be noted. This includes the abandonment of autarkic policies and the establishment of economic liberalization, beginning with the Stabilization Plan (1959). The leap forward in industrial development, urbanization, internal and external migration, and the political evolution of the regime until 1973 should be considered, highlighting the growing confrontation between technocrats and the areas affected by the Movement. Carrero Blanco’s crucial role should be noted, as well as the laws on the Principles of the National Movement (1958), the Press Law (1966), the Organic Law of the State (1966), and the appointment of Juan Carlos as Prince of Spain (1969).
PSUC Poster
This is a political propaganda poster from the PSUC in 1938. It presents an allegory of *l’Onze de Setembre* (September 11th), the National Day of Catalonia. The slogan affirms the will to resist and overcome for the freedoms of men and peoples. It features a representation of Rafael Casanova’s statue and the Catalan, Soviet, and Spanish flags. B. The poster dates to the second part of the war, during the Battle of the Ebro, a month that also saw the Munich Conference. The conference’s outcome frustrated hopes of a European conflict that could alleviate the Republican’s situation regarding weapons. C. The PSUC poster’s message includes a slogan that seeks to highlight the character of the Civil War as a fight for the preservation of people’s liberties—in this case, Catalan—and freedoms in general. It is essentially a message of defense and resistance, emphasizing the friendship and support that the Soviet Union is giving to the Republicans.
Example 2.a
This example addresses the underlying causes of the war, such as the existence of masses of landless peasants in southern and southwestern Spain, the worsening economic crisis, and rising social tensions. It also considers more cyclical factors, such as the non-acceptance of the February 1936 election defeat by the Spanish right and their economic oligarchies, the growing political and social tension in the spring of 1936, and the failure of the uprising, which led to the Civil War. B. The response should explain the failure of the military uprising, the constitution of the Committee of Antifascist Militias and its assumption of power, the loss of power by the government, repression (its character, actors, and effects), the process of collectivization, the creation of the Commission of War Industries, the sending of columns to the fronts, as well as the gradual recovery of power by the government with the Tarradellas government, the promulgation of the Decree of Collectivization, and the conformation of a dual power situation between the government and the forces that supported it (including the PSUC) and forces such as the CNT-FAI and the POUM. This situation would eventually lead to the events of May 1937, whose basic features should be explained.
Circular No. 8: Detentions
This is a political or political-administrative text, an order reproduced in a history book. It contains instructions that the Department of Control Patrols gives to various members of the patrols regarding how to proceed with detainees once they are arrested. B. Students must identify the data source (September 4, 1936) as the first period of the Civil War when effective power in Catalonia remained in the hands of the Committee of Antifascist Militias, on which the public order and the Department of Control Patrols depended. Students must place this power within the context of the revolution and particularly the repression in the early months of the war, as well as the role played by political parties and trade unions, stressing, among others, that of the CNT-FAI. C. Students should explain the instructions contained in the order. These instructions refer to distinguishing between a product that is to be collected from a crowd and therefore written to record the performance of the patrol, and a product delivered to the prisoners of their patrols. They call for the performance of the patrol to meet justified criteria and be controlled from the direction. They also emphasize the need to handle complaints received against allegedly fascist elements to verify their accuracy through confrontations. In general, the text reflects a desire to control and destroy any sign of abuse of control by patrolling from the same direction.
Example 2.a
This example addresses the failure of the military uprising, the constitution of the Committee of Antifascist Militias and its assumption of power, the loss of power by the government, repression (its character, actors, and effects), the process of collectivization, the creation of the Commission of War Industries, the sending of columns to the fronts, as well as the progressive recovery of power by the government with the Tarradellas government, the promulgation of the Decree of Collectivization, and the conformation of a dual power situation between the government and the forces that supported it (including the PSUC) and forces such as the CNT-FAI and the POUM. This situation would eventually lead to the events of May 1937. B. Students should chronologically place the Battle of the Ebro in the war and explain its causes, development, and outcome. They should also be able to relate the Republican defeat at the Battle of the Ebro to the subsequent weakness of the Republican People’s Army to face Franco’s final offensive (which should also be placed in chronological order) against the Principality. The passage of hundreds of thousands of combatants and civilians across the French border and their vicissitudes should also be studied.
EPS in Ultra
These are two statistical tables drawn from information published in the English newspaper *The Manchester Guardian* on July 27, 1939. They reflect the number of war councils, convictions, and executions held in Barcelona for a week (May 1-6, 1939). B. This represents the repression in Barcelona as part of the work carried out by Franco’s repressive authorities, particularly the military authorities. These authorities were responsible for repression through war councils and, when appropriate, the implementation of death sentences. C. The large proportion of death sentences in relation to the number of people tried in court martial and the low proportion of other types of penalties imposed should be noted. The high number of death sentences carried out daily in Barcelona should also be highlighted.
Example 2
Students should explain the state during Franco’s dictatorship: an extreme concentration of power in the hands of Franco, including the power to dictate laws; a character inspired by fascism, a centralized and uniform nature; and repression. They should elaborate on the different types of repression imposed by the Franco regime on the defeated, emphasizing the military-led repression by judicial authorities through war councils, with an expression of their results; economic repression through the Law of Political Responsibilities; literary and ideological suppression through censorship; the climate of fear established through the system of suppression; the actions of police forces and the single party; and the collaboration in the repression of the population through allegations. B. This example addresses the dictatorial government, the single party, the vertical unions in Congress, civil governments, provincial councils, and the autarkic and highly interventionist economic policy implemented from the beginning. Rationing and its correlation with *estraperlo* (black market) and the disastrous effects that this policy had on the economy and most of the people should be discussed, as well as which sectors benefited. Similarly, the causes of the progressive abandonment of this policy throughout the 1950s and the importance of the Stabilization Plan should be explained.