The Influences On Francisco Franco's Rule Of Spain

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Much of the world remembers Francisco Franco as a merciless dictator who ruled Spain with an iron fist after achieving victory in the Spanish Civil War. Many consider him considered a fascist on par with Hitler and Mussolini. He is commonly viewed through one particular lens: the military man. The Pact of Forgetting in 1977 allowed Spaniards to move towards democracy by leaving Franco in the rearview mirror, but it created a more complicated future from which to interpret Franco himself. Looking back, in the midst of that civil war, a Spanish magazine made the following prediction: “Esta labor de la unificación será la gran obra del general Franco como Jefe del Estado y caudillo del pueblo español, más ardua que la de la dirección de la campaña militar, de mayor trascendencia que su actual cometido de Generalísimo, pues sin aquélla, la victoria de ahora se desvanecería entre las hendiduras de las menudas rencillas de patinillo” (Gómez 100). There is no doubt that Franco’s political leadership deserves attention given the fact he ruled Spain for over 30 years. The vivid youth experiences of Francisco Franco, as he grew into an apolitical Spanish General, played a crucial role in shaping his pragmatic …show more content…
Stanley G. Paine and Paul Preston, a pro-conservative and more liberal author respectively, were the foremost scholars on the life of Francisco Franco. Paine believed Franco’s life was full of contradictions. His direct evidence was the poor, short, meek individual from El Ferrol rising into becoming Europe’s youngest general. Preston drew the conclusion that Franco felt himself to be inadequate and physically flawed. Thus, he compensated by pursuing military positions of authority, and once power was consolidated, embracing the glorious propaganda of Caudillo. On the whole, one finds that Franco’s ideas of ruling were very simplistic: order, unity, and

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