Francoist dictatorship in the context of "Spanish transition to democracy"

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⭐ Core Definition: Francoist dictatorship

Francoist Spain (Spanish: España franquista; English: pronounced Franco-ist), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (dictadura franquista), or Nationalist Spain (España nacionalista), and Falangist Spain (España falangista), was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title Caudillo. After his death in 1975, Spain transitioned into a democracy. During Franco's rule, Spain was officially known as the Spanish State (Estado Español). The informal term "Fascist Spain" is also used, especially before and during World War II.

During its existence, the nature of the regime evolved and changed. Months after the start of the Civil War in July 1936, Franco emerged as the dominant rebel military leader and he was proclaimed head of state on 1 October 1936, ruling over the territory which was controlled by the Nationalist faction. In 1937, Franco became an uncontested dictator and issued the Unification Decree which merged all of the parties which supported the rebel side, turning Nationalist Spain into a one-party state under the FET y de las JONS. The Spanish Nationalists received crucial support from Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Estado Novo Portugal, allowing them to win the civil war over the Spanish Republicans. The end of the Civil War in 1939 brought the extension of the Franco rule to the whole country and the exile of Republican institutions. The Francoist dictatorship originally took a form described as, "fascist or quasi-fascist", "fascistized", "para-fascist", "semi-fascist", or a strictly fascist regime, showing clear influence of fascism in fields such as labor relations, the autarkic economic policy, aesthetics, the single-party system, and totalitarian control of public and private life. As time went on, the regime opened up and became closer to developmental dictatorships and abandoned the radical fascist ideology of Falangism, although it always preserved residual fascist trappings and a "major radical fascist ingredient."

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👉 Francoist dictatorship in the context of Spanish transition to democracy

The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as la Transición (IPA: [la tɾansiˈθjon]; 'the Transition') or la Transición española ('the Spanish Transition'), was a period of modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system, in the form of constitutional monarchy under Juan Carlos I.

The democratic transition began two days after the death of Francisco Franco, in November 1975. Initially, "the political elites left over from Francoism" attempted "reform of the institutions of dictatorship" through existing legal means, but social and political pressure saw the formation of a democratic parliament in the 1977 general election, which had the imprimatur to write a new constitution that was then approved by referendum in December 1978. The following years saw the beginning of the development of the rule of law and establishment of regional government, amidst ongoing terrorism, an attempted coup d'état and global economic problems. The Transition is said to have concluded after the landslide victory of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the 1982 general election and the first peaceful transfer of executive power.

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In this Dossier
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Spanish transition to democracy
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Spanish language → History of Spain → Francisco Franco → Spanish Civil War → Caudillo → Spanish transition to democracy → World War II → Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War) → Dictator → Unification Decree (Spain, 1937) → One-party state → FET y de las JONS → Nazi Germany → Fascist Italy → Estado Novo (Portugal) → Republicans (Spanish Civil War) → Spanish Republican government in exile → Fascism → Para-fascism → Spanish Syndical Organization → Economic history of Spain → Symbols of Francoism → Totalitarianism → Falangism →