Life Under a Dictator: The Reign of Francisco Franco

A few weeks ago, I visited a friend studying for a semester in Madrid, Spain. The first day, we went on a walking tour throughout the city, and our first stop was an old government building that is now a post office. Our tour guide explained that simply looking at this building can bring sadness to the people of Madrid, because during the reign of Francisco Franco, people who entered this building were often times never heard from again.

General Francisco Franco ruled Spain following the Spanish Civil War in 1939 until his death in November 1975. Ruling as a fascist dictator, Franco had complete control over the military, was both the chief of state and head of government, and had the final decision over every major political decision. Under Franco, strikes were regarded as treason, parliament was merely an “advisory body,” and owners and workers were expected to cooperate with the government to work “for the good of the nation.” Franco severely limited the rights of citizens, and although he did issue a bill of rights during his reign, he did so merely to keep in line with the democratic nations. “The government bestowed these rights on the people, and therefore could suspend them without justification; furthermore, the charter placed more emphasis on the duty of all Spaniards to serve their country and to obey its laws than on their basic rights as citizens. Thus, for example, the charter guaranteed all Spaniards the right to express their opinions freely, but they were not to attack the fundamental principles of the state.” To ensure his control over the people, political parties were banned, and supporters of the previous republic were imprisoned. As many as 200,000 Republicans were executed.

Following the death of Franco in 1975, celebrations took place throughout Spain. One girl recalls her grandmother’s reaction upon his death, in which she proclaimed, "I am so glad he suffered a long death!! With that he paid for a tiny bit of what he did!"

As I sat in one of the public plazas following the walking tour, I asked my friend more questions about Franco. She explained that this was not the best area to discuss the topic. Following the death of Franco, there was an unspoken vow of silence amongst the Spaniards; the memories of Franco’s reign was so terrible that it was better to act like it had never occurred. Is this idea of repressing bad memories and acting as if the events did not occur the best response? Take Hitler as an example of another infamous dictator. His actions are taught in history classes throughout the world, not merely to teach history but rather to prevent them from happening in the future. While in Berlin, I walked past the massive Holocaust Memorial. There was great controversy over the cost and size of the memorial, yet the architect insisted that it was necessary in order to reach the greatest number of people. The purpose of the memorial is not simple to remember those murdered by Adolf Hitler, but rather to help the world understand the impact of this terrible event, so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated in the future.

Sources:
Country Studies
BBC Memories of Franco's Death
What Did Francisco Franco do as a Dictator?