In 1892, Francisco Franco was born in El Ferrol Spain. After serving in different positions in the government, he rose to power and became a dictator in Spain from 1939 to 1975 (De Madariaga 17). In his manipulation to form the second Republic, Franco took advantage of the situation of realism in the build up towards the World War II. In many ways, Franco’s rise to power was slow and planned culminating in the aftermath of the 1931 municipal elections. During the years towards the World War II, the political struggle between nations presented a perfect chance to take advantage of the confusion. Realism gained stable feet during the nineteenth century, and world politics was defined by the balance of power between states. Historical analysts argue that the misgivings of King Alfonso XIII during his dictatorial leadership from 1923 were the commencement of a slow but sure growth of dissatisfaction that would promote Franco’s rise to power. These were the days when the state was considered the most important element in shaping territorial politics due to the tendency of the new system to adopt the anarchical system (Casanova, 187). Franco was convinced about the influence of military power in cementing a stable dictatorship. His experience as a military general was elemental in creating a force to take over the reins. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the rise of Franco to power and consequently the formation of his dictatorship. It illustrates the factors that promoted the dictatorship and the implications for the future of Spain as a nation.
Military Experience and Rise to Fascist Leadership
Franco met his admission to a Catholic school with indifference but with optimism to follow his education into a military career. From a military family, Franco intended to follow in the steps of his father and grandfather. Sea-based military power was one of the strongest military phases during the early nineteenth and twentieth century. Franco’s objective was to join the Marine and manipulate his way up the ladder. By 1907, the Spanish government was becoming cash-strapped as the state spent its finances in enforcing joint authority with France over Morocco. As a result, the state closed down its admission of cadets to naval military centers leaving only the infantry Academy the sole responsibility of expanding the military forces. Franco joined the infantry in the same year and graduated three years later. Despite the fact, that Franco was a poor student and a below average military apprentice, his willingness to serve in the forces was a crucial factor in promoting his rise. After his graduation from the infantry academy, Franco was posted to a small military unit in El Ferro where he served in a junior position. In the grand scheme of things Franco, was aware that a military career in El Ferro was inadequate in forcing way to political relevance. As a result, he volunteered to fight in the insurgency in Morocco where both France and Spain exercised joint powers. During this time, Franco earned his name in readiness to take a serious political direction (De Madariaga 17).
Over his stay in Morocco, Franco was quickly promoted to higher positions and by the time he returned to Spain in 1926 he was made the youngest army general in Europe. In addition, Franco was put in charge of the general military academy in Zaragoza where he gained popularity. All this while, Spain was under the monarchical control of King Alfonso XIII whose leadership was pure dictatorial. At the same time, world politics was slowly taking shape for massive changes in political leaderships across nations. Richards (07), suggest that in the early 1930’s power-hungry political leaders realized that violence was crucial in the consolidation of power. Dictators such as Hitler soon started to arrange for plans of violence and consolidation of power within the system which was important for a quick rise to authority. Elsewhere in the Soviet Union, fear was an important in instilling the communist strategy that would create a platform for single party political leadership in the nation. King Alfonso did not intend to hand his dictatorial authority to anyone. As a result, Franco preferred his conservative approach in the belief that it was easier to gain power through the monarchy than the Republican approach advocated by the popular civil front. During the reign of King Alfonso XIII, he failed to garner enough support to aid his sustainability leading to the separation of the dictatorship into a leftist movement and the conservatives.
The hybrid monarchical dictatorship was poor in gearing up adequate consolidation of power. This was partly because the system lacked the political incentive to establish stable military forces and functional political movements. This explains why in the past monarchies were easy to overthrow through dictatorial coups. The popular front won the municipal elections in 1931 leading to a power strives between Franco’s ultranationalist faction and the Republicans. Franco himself carried out a coup to overthrow the new republic and as expected his leftist movement was gaining strength with time as he received military support from his past connection with the infantry. The short period between 1931 and 1936 was punctuated by massive bloodshed as both sides attempted to prove where power belonged. The years of the Spanish civil war consumed most of the generals in Franco’s faction leaving him as the de facto leader of the movement. So it was not surprising when later in 1936 Franco started to re-organize as the chief leader of the most powerful political movement in the nation towards the 1939 victory (Campos, 342).
The 1931 Municipal Elections and the Spanish Civil War
The 1931 municipal elections was a matter of choice between retaining the reigning monarchy of King Alfonso XIII and the new Republican leadership proposed by the popular front. King Alfonso XIII was effectively deposed, and the Republicans took the reins. Franco was not pleased with this new development knowing clearly that the Republican approach to governance hindered the exercise of power. Franco was a renowned rightist authoritarian who opposed major policies of the republic (De Madariaga, 17). Among these policies, the Republic advocated for the reduction of military power and the influence of the Catholic Church. Most of the elites who owned property in the state were also members of the Catholic Church whose influence the Republicans detested. Franco was aware that for a successful dictatorship, he needed support from major sections of the society especially the elite who owned property. His open opposition led to his transfer from Toledo to a distant post in El Ferrol where the republican authorities believed that his influence would be minimal. Consequently, the Republicans closed down the general military academy that Franco headed for fear that the academy would transform into a resistance group. In El Ferrol, Franco slowly organized himself in readiness for a coup to overthrow the second republic. This step ushered in the Spanish civil war (Casanova, 187).
Central to the strength of Franco’s ultranationalist faction was massive support from other fascist military groups. The struggle for political power was simply a fight for supremacy in order to achieve personal interests. Elkin (38) suggest that even on the global scene, the political struggle between nations was clear. Realism was a real threat to global peace and harmony. As in Thucydides theory, the war between Athens and Sparta was influenced largely by the increasing power of Sparta to control the polity. In his History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides considered that the Hellenic race taking sides was a precipitate of a great war ahead. Similarly, sections of political analysts believe that the struggle for power during the reign of the second republic was instrumental in creating the Spanish civil war and consequently the development of Franco’s dictatorship. As part of the local political scene, war was driven by the continuous and inexhaustible struggle for power between the ultranationalist movement and the second republic in power. Campos (342) reinforces Thomas Hobbes premise that if the polity has no means to share a common source of power to keep them in peace, then war is inevitable. In the roadmap to different support from global fascist groups, the position of Morocco as a colonial territory was crucial. Morocco was sought after by the French and Spanish. At that point, Germany which had previously clashed with France grabbed the opportunity to support Morocco’s cause for independence. It created a state of conflict and growing tension between these countries, and when Spain wanted to increase its presence in Morocco, Germany quickly supported it.
On the face of this, it was not therefore surprising when the Nazi supported Franco’s course for power. At the same time, the kingdom of Italy quickly joined in support of Franco as the Soviet Union along with local Spanish communists, Galicians and Catalans supported the Republicans. The civil war that commenced in 1931 dragged on for about seven years and resulted in the death of approximately half a million people. In the summer of 1936, Franco was gaining strength over the Republicans as his military movement strengthened. One major development was Franco’s elevation to Generalissimo during the course of the war increasing his stamp on the nationalist fascist movement. There were three other older generals who would have assumed power at the end of the civil war, but they all died before the success. Franco was left as the only general in the power ranks of the rebel movement. At the same time, the movement continued to rely on small pockets of strength in the former military posts where Franco served in Morocco consolidating power gradually. With the assistance of various fascist dictators including Hitler’s Nazi, Franco moved from the interior of Morocco and captured Barcelona the heart of republican forces and proceeded onwards. Eventually, with the support of strong Nazi and Italian bombardments, the nationalists capturing Madrid won the war in January of 1939 (Hauser, 79).
On the way to success, Franco ensured that he earned enough support by convincing the major groups in society to promote his course. The Catholic Church was already in opposition of the Republicans for their intentions to reduce the church’s influence in the republic. As a result, the Catholic Church readily supported Franco’s nationalist movement. By the same token, the republican movement’s strength was reducing with time as its members separated forming smaller groups. Franco took this opportunity to convince Republican defects to join his course with the support of major elite groups in the nation. As a result, when, Franco went to the power that year, he was supported by large groups of people who found themselves in his camp either (Campos, 342). There is a notion that Franco’s rise to power and his eventual dictatorship was indeed accidental. The support received from major groups was situational rather than willing objective support. For instance, the German Nazi support was the result of secondary contempt for the French and the Soviet Union. On the other hand, the Catholic Church was compelled to oppose the Republicans and its joint forces where the nationalists were circumstantial. Republican defects joined the nationalists for lack of choice. Franco established his dictatorship in 1939 with an objective to remain in power as long as he was alive.
The Totalitarian State
It can be argued that Franco’s dictatorship was one of the most typical in the history of dictatorship in Europe. While there were other dictatorial regimes in Europe, Franco’s power was unique. Upon his conquest, Franco established an autocratic dictatorship that he defined as the totalitarian state. This new regime implemented the same ideologies and policies that Republicans rejected and opposed. Central to this development was the institution of strong military power as the elemental tool with which to exercise power. Power was collective and centralized through military force. In this new state, Franco was the head of state and the government. He was the de facto leader of the regime as the Cudillo whose exercise of power in the state was limitless (Hauser, 79). Most political leaders with ambitions of imposing dictatorial power must envy Franco’s regime. After, rising to power, he ensured that all opposition was cleared to avoid any form of rebellion. Republican chiefs fled the country for fear of the impending execution.
Indeed shortly after going to power, Franco established tribunals to try all supporters of the republican movement. The tribunals were renowned for their speedy trials and swift sentencing. The ultimate punishment was execution. Of course, many dictators exercise their power by instilling fear and imposing a threatening authority (Richards, 07. The dictators have the ability to pass major policies without opposition and to promote their ideology without a question. Many Spaniards were executed through this tribunals and thousands of others were imprisoned under Franco’s orders. After receiving support from the defects of the republican movement and the monarchist party, Franco reconsidered them in forming his regime. He instituted a merger between his nationalist party and the monarchist party creating a strong and undisputed regime. All other political parties were banned. Catholicism became the only form of religion recognized under Franco’s reign as all other religions were banned. Catalan and Basque were also banned as languages within the home territory as did the names of these ethnic groups. Elites were promoted under Franco’s policies of self-sufficiency as the ordinary citizens remained peripheral objects in the regime. Like all other dictatorships, Franco was insecure of his position. He established a vast network of the police force to spy the polity for any signs of resistance or opposition. There would be many forms of opposition on the way, but none ever stood the taste of time to defeat Franco’s power. As the impending World War II approached, Franco tried as much as possible to stay out of world politics as he had few allies outside Spain. However, he supported the German by sending his troops on various occasions (De Madariaga, 17). Francisco Franco exercised his dictatorship for many years and only stepped aside on his death.
In conclusion, there is no doubt that Franco’s rise to power was promoted by the civil war and the partial distribution of power in the Spanish kingdom. The continuous failure of King Alfonso’s monarchical regime to consolidate power enabled Franco to gear up support toward his rise. In addition, the Catholics hard-line stance on the Republican authority enabled Franco to start an uprising that was augmented by Republican defects. The civil war promoted Franco’s course as he received support from the German Nazi and the Italian kingdom. Despite the fact that his dictatorship officially kicked off in 1939, many events earlier on promoted Franco’s course. The thirty-six years of dictatorship were clearly planned in advance although various circumstances went in favor of Franco and his Nationalist party.
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