Franco és rendszere
Franco and His Regime

Summary/Abstract: Francisco Franco (1892-1975) was general and leader of the Nationalist forces that overthrew the Spanish democratic republic in a bloody civil war (1936-39); thereafter until his death he was the head of government of Spain. He ruled his country as dictator – called El Caudillo (the Leader) – for 36 years. In his essay, Ignác Romsics deals with the military carrier of the would-be dictator, the Civil War as an arena of social change where different political ideas and programs were forged, and finally the main characteristics and functioning of the Francoist authoritarian regime. The most difficult period of Franco’s regime began in the aftermath of World War II, when his government was ostracized by the newly formed United Nations. This period of ostracism came to an end with the worsening of relations between the Soviet world and the West at the height of the Cold War. His international rehabilitation was advanced further in 1953, when Spain signed a military pact with the United States. Later his domestic policies became somewhat more liberal, as well. Due to all these and the economic development during the 1960s, Franco’s image gradually changed from that of the rigorous generalissimo to a more benign civilian elder statesman. In spite of that, his legacy deeply divides the Spanish society even today. The essay is based on the available literature written in English, French and Hungarian.

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