How long did franco rule spain

As Franco aged, he increasingly avoided daily political affairs, preferring instead to hunt and fish. At the same time, police controls and press censorship began to relax, strikes and protests became more commonplace, some free-market reforms were introduced, tourism increased and Morocco gained its independence.

Franco died on November 20, , after suffering a series of heart attacks. At his funeral, many mourners raised their arm in a fascist salute. Though Juan Carlos had spent a good deal of time alongside Franco and publicly supported the regime, he pressed for change immediately upon taking the throne, including the legalization of political parties.

The first post-Franco elections were held in June , and, except for an hour-long coup attempt in , Spain has remained democratic ever since.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Francisco Pizarro was an explorer, soldier and conquistador best known for conquering the Incas and executing their leader, Atahuapla. He was born around in Trujillo, Spain. In , Coronado led a major Spanish expedition Originally a Spanish later Mexican mission and pueblo, it was conquered On April 18, , an earthquake and subsequent fires devastated San Francisco, California, leaving more than 3, people dead and destroying more than 28, buildings.

The quake ruptured the San Andreas fault to the north and south of the city, for a total of miles, and On October 17, , a magnitude 6. Despite the fact that the disaster was one of the most powerful and destructive quakes ever to hit a populated area of the United States, A larger-than-life, controversial figure, It supports criminalization of strikes by employees and lockouts by employers as illegal acts.

Falangism supports the state to have jurisdiction of setting wages. The Franco-era Falange supported the development of cooperatives such as the Mondragon Corporation, because it bolstered the Francoist claim of the nonexistence of social classes in Spain during his rule. Privacy Policy.

Skip to main content. Search for:. Learning Objective Summarize the rise of the Franco regime in Spain. Francisco Franco, a Spanish general, rose to prominence in the mids, but his right-wing party failed to gained power in the elections. Franco and other military leaders staged a failed coup that led to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from Key Terms Francisco Franco A Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a dictator for 36 years from until his death.

He took control of Spain from the government of the Second Spanish Republic after winning the Civil War, and was in power , when the Spanish Constitution of went into effect. In he led from Madrid the repression of a revolutionary miners' strike in the northern region of Asturias. In Franco was one of the leaders of a military revolt against a democratically elected leftist government that heralded the start of the civil war. Adopting the title of "El Caudillo' The Leader , Franco persecuted political opponents, repressed the culture and language of Spain?

In the five years after the war ended in , Franco and his right-wing regime, supported by the Roman Catholic Church, had tens of thousands of Republican prisoners executed. Franco managed to keep the country out of World War II but his leanings towards the Axis powers of Adolf Hitler later led to his ostracisation by the victorious Allies. During the Cold War years, anti-communist Franco's relations improved with the United States, which opened military bases there.

When elections that were held in February led to a shift in power to the left, Spain slipped further into chaos. For his part, Franco was once again marginalized, with a new posting to the Canary Islands. Though Franco accepted what amounted to banishment with the professionalism for which he was known, other high-ranking members of the military began to discuss a coup. Though he initially kept his distance from the plot, on July 18, , Franco announced the Nationalist manifesto in a broadcast from the Canary Islands as the uprising began in the northwest of Spain.

The next day, he flew to Morocco to take control of the troops, and shortly thereafter gained the support of both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, whose planes were used to shuttle Franco and his forces to Spain. Establishing his base of operations in Seville the following month, Franco began his military campaign, advancing north toward the seat of the Republican government in Madrid.

Anticipating a swift victory, on October 1, , the Nationalist forces declared Franco head of the government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. However, when their initial assault on Madrid was repelled, the military coup evolved into the protracted conflict known as the Spanish Civil War.

Over the next three years, the Nationalist forces — led by Franco and backed by right-wing militias, the Catholic Church. Germany and Italy — battled the left-wing Republicans, who received aid from the Soviet Union as well as brigades of foreign volunteers.

Though the Republicans were able to resist the Nationalist advance for a time, with far-superior military strength, Franco and his forces were able to systematically defeat them, eliminating their opposition region by region.

In January , the Republican stronghold of Barcelona fell to the Nationalists, followed two months later by Madrid. On April 1, , after receiving an unconditional surrender, Franco announced the end of the Spanish Civil War.