Francisco Franco
Generalissimo Francisco Franco Bahamonde ("El Caudillo") was a soldier and statesman who served as the fascist leader of Spain from April 1, 1939 until his death on November 20, 1975. He had previously been an officer in the Spanish army.
Franco gained power through an attempted military coup d'etat in 1936 that developed quickly into the Spanish Civil War. Franco's forces fought the elected communist government for three years before finally defeating them outside Madrid on April 1, 1939. Franco then assumed control of Spain. His regime rested on the support of a number of stalwart elements in Spanish society - the army, the Roman Catholic Church, rural landowners, and the Falange political party.
During his rule, Spain (known as El Estado Español: "The Spanish State) was officially a monarchy, but with the position of monarch unfilled. Prince Juan Carlos was named as the heir designate, but Franco never allowed him to assume the monarchy during the former's lifetime. After Franco's death, Juan Carlos took the throne in 1975 lead Spain through a transition period, prior to the creation of a democratic constitution in 1978.