During the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (where he reigned for 36 years), the position of the Catholic Church was highly included and changed dramatically after the civil war. The Franco regime used religion as a way to gain popularity and trust throughout Spain, exploiting the faith of others. Catholicism was the only state religion allowed at the time, so the Franco regime preferred a conservative Roman Catholicism. Franco saw the Catholic Church as the perfect opportunity to show his power discretely. He could hide all that he did behind the church because he knew that the people would trust him. This paper will examine the position the Catholic Church had during the Franco regime from the period 1939-1953. It will also examine
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Franco was not yet dictator, in fact Franco only became commander in chief of the new nationalist regime in 1936. The reason why there was a new nationalist regime is because the leftist government was in power when then the right-wing wanted power over Spain for themselves. These tensions caused the Spanish civil war (1936) where Franco was sided with the right-wing. During the next few years Franco proved himself to his fellow officers, he proved to Spain that he was a rightful leader and alas drove the nationalists to victory over Spain on April 1st 1939. Not only did he impress there, but he was also sent to Spanish morocco where he was seen as courageous and was given a promotion to general, making him Spain’s youngest general at the age of 33. Of course, Franco was different to previous officials in Spain. He was cold and distant which made it more difficult for people to figure him out. He was soon close to the likes of Hitler and even signed an official document, taking sides with Germany, but allowing Spain to not participate in …show more content…
From here on he is officially in power. Situated in poverty stricken Madrid, Franco made plans to mainly focus on the South of Spain at first. He was admired by all and not questioned, Franco was young and new so people trusted him. He took over, immediately getting rid of anyone seen as a threat or anyone that could damage his position. This made all those who had something to say (poets, journalists, artists) flee the country in fear. Since the start of their reigning, the Franco regime had some important ideologies that they put in place. One of the ideologies, as stated by Juan Carlos Ocaña Aybar, was national-Catholicism. By this, the church would defend the Francoist dictatorship and as a reward for this, the Church was able to dominate Spain’s social life and education. And so it did. The church started to work as if it were the state. Roman Catholicism became the main religion and was the only one that had power. No other religion was allowed to be advertised to the public. Franco abolished the right to abortion and divorce and also banned homosexuality, the practice of another religion, sale of contraceptives and prostitution. The abolishment of divorce also meant that those who had gotten divorced prior to the Franco regime had to get back to their former partners. This is when Spain fell into a real dictatorship. Citizens had no real freedom and were forced to only speak one language; Spanish
Franco was not yet dictator, in fact Franco only became commander in chief of the new nationalist regime in 1936. The reason why there was a new nationalist regime is because the leftist government was in power when then the right-wing wanted power over Spain for themselves. These tensions caused the Spanish civil war (1936) where Franco was sided with the right-wing. During the next few years Franco proved himself to his fellow officers, he proved to Spain that he was a rightful leader and alas drove the nationalists to victory over Spain on April 1st 1939. Not only did he impress there, but he was also sent to Spanish morocco where he was seen as courageous and was given a promotion to general, making him Spain’s youngest general at the age of 33. Of course, Franco was different to previous officials in Spain. He was cold and distant which made it more difficult for people to figure him out. He was soon close to the likes of Hitler and even signed an official document, taking sides with Germany, but allowing Spain to not participate in …show more content…
From here on he is officially in power. Situated in poverty stricken Madrid, Franco made plans to mainly focus on the South of Spain at first. He was admired by all and not questioned, Franco was young and new so people trusted him. He took over, immediately getting rid of anyone seen as a threat or anyone that could damage his position. This made all those who had something to say (poets, journalists, artists) flee the country in fear. Since the start of their reigning, the Franco regime had some important ideologies that they put in place. One of the ideologies, as stated by Juan Carlos Ocaña Aybar, was national-Catholicism. By this, the church would defend the Francoist dictatorship and as a reward for this, the Church was able to dominate Spain’s social life and education. And so it did. The church started to work as if it were the state. Roman Catholicism became the main religion and was the only one that had power. No other religion was allowed to be advertised to the public. Franco abolished the right to abortion and divorce and also banned homosexuality, the practice of another religion, sale of contraceptives and prostitution. The abolishment of divorce also meant that those who had gotten divorced prior to the Franco regime had to get back to their former partners. This is when Spain fell into a real dictatorship. Citizens had no real freedom and were forced to only speak one language; Spanish