Francisco Franco
Generalissimo Francisco Franco Bahamonde ("El Caudillo") was a soldier and statesman who served as the dictator of Spain from April 1, 1939 until his death on November 20, 1975. He had previously been a General 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 democratically elected Popular Front government - including Communists - 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 the Cold War, Franco was allied to the United States of America.
Franco ruled Spain as a dictator until his death in 1975. His successor, King Juan Carlos, reversed most of Franco's policies after a period of transition that led to the approval of a democratic constitution in 1978.
Ideology
While often said to be fascist, and despite adopting certain elements of fascism during his rule, his ideology differed from fascism in several ways. Fascism has the revolutionary aim to transform a society, while Franco's rule was rather conservative and traditional. The main elements of his rule are said to be nationalism, authoritarianism, anti-freemasonry, anti-communism, a strong promotion of Roman Catholicism, support to the family. Some of his early supporters in the Falange were fascist, but he distanced himself from fascism after the second world war.
