Franco and the Spanish Civil War

[Occident]

I am very curious to know how the Spanish posters on this forum feel about the legacy of Franco and the Spanish Civil War. Do you feel Franco's rule was a good thing for Spain?

Thanks.

[TheBorrebyViking]

Franco is hated by my Argentina NS friend.

[Sarmata]

I'm not Spaniard of course, but as for my opinion I respect general Franco. He was a great man who save his country from communist murderers(Sotelo case). He also did very much for Spain, for economy and future especially(bring back monarchy).

[perikolez]

I'm not Spaniard of course, but as for my opinion I respect general Franco. He was a great man who save his country from communist murderers(Sotelo case). He also did very much for Spain, for economy and future especially(bring back monarchy).

bring back monarchy:D?. Borbon french family is bad for everybody, and for everything. Iñaki Urdangarin has been poluted by them:p. He probably was a good man until he got marry with Cristina de Borbon. Actually he is a corrupt, and has become a millionaire only for being related with Borbon family.

General Franco was a dictator, and like every dictator he only wanted to benefit himself , not Spain. I am not antifranquist, because my family was franquist, had some benefit for it, and probably and in my opinion leftist from Frente Popular, socialist , or comnists would have been worse than him, but this doesnt become him in good for Spain. With him, a good amount of spaniards emigrated to Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium, because economically he didnt do well most of the time, mainly in 50 decade. Finally, he had many marocan people between franquist soldiers, and many northern marocan people has spanish nationality because they are the descendants of franquist marocan soldiers, and Franco gave them spanish nationality. Them Franco wasnt really european nationalist.

[Lábaru]

eAfcdTt_FwI

[Amapola]

There are many misconceptions and things that people don't know about his regime... I, not being Franquist or not even liberal, will try to bring some light about it.

[Joe McCarthy]

Arguably the greatest leader of the 20th century. Authoritarian yet not crazy like certain, er, others of his time period. Pretty hard to make a case Spain is better without him...

[Occident]

There are many misconceptions and things that people don't know about his regime... I, not being Franquist or not even liberal, will try to bring some light about it.

I look forward to hearing your insight.

[Amapola]

eAfcdTt_FwI

Not only the Republic was ilegal but also our 1987 Constitution. It broke many requirements even demanded by the assumed constitutional legimacy. The draft was produced, from the beginning, by representatives of parties that were never legalized at the polls and not according with the Constitution- It established a political code that was basically partidist and that later evolved into our present radical bipartidism, with no need of reformation of the text. On the other side, since amongst the parties and from the beginning there was room for more or less separatist groups, the constitutional text, was fully conscious that they had just accepted the possibility for nationalist evolutions of the regional organizations with all the consequences that we undergo now.

[Amapola]

I look forward to hearing your insight.

Well, to start with, we should answer the following questions? And this is the key to understand his regime:

1) Did Franco rebel against a democracy or a revolucionary process?
2) Was his dictatorship totalitarian or autoritarian?
3) Does the present democracy come from the Franco regime or from the opposition to Franco?

Historical perspective varies a lot according to ideologies.

[Amapola]

Paul Johnson said that the Spanish Civil War was the event of the XX century about which people said the biggest number of lies. In the last decades, claiming to be anti-Franquist awarded you the biggest honor to distort the past with no scruples; it's even more shoking that the majority of these antifranquists never moved a finger against the dictatorship and many had worked with it or came from Franquist families. :D Many were slowly forgetting memories of what they had really lived to accept the new propaganda versions. This happened in the whole country but especially in the Basque lands and Catalonia. This forgetful thing was supported by the opposition (centered on forgetting and thinking only of the future).

This ignorance of the past is as dangerous as its falsification, especially developped by Socialist and secessionists. The question is not petty because, against what the Communist regimened wanted, history never starts from scratch.

[Raikaswinþs]

Well, to start with, we should answer the following questions? And this is the key to understand his regime:

1) Did Franco rebel against a democracy or a revolucionary process?

He rebelled against a change that could be dangerous for the Church-Monarchy-Military stablishment.
The second republic could have eventually become indeed a revolutionary state, which, albeit not of my taste, is hard to say it would have been a worse historic scenario than a irrepairable civil war and four decades of dictadura. Guess we would have had our own Perestroika more sooner than latter (I know, that is a lot of "if´s" and wild guesses)



2) Was his dictatorship totalitarian or autoritarian?

Although it presented characteristics of both types, it was , for the most part, a specially harsh (specially during the first half of its lenght) autoritarian. Which would gradually root and soften to eventually become the parody that today we call the Spanish Democracy


3) Does the present democracy come from the Franco regime or from the opposition to Franco?

Current state of affairs in Spanish politics is definitely a son fathered by Francoism, but the real pathriarc is the Borbonic stablishment.

IMO Spain started to be destroyed by the Aubsburgs,in a sense. A dinastic and political union of the Spanish crowns (Castile and Leon, Aragon, Navarre, and even Portugal) could have had a much better result hadn´t the foreign monarchs tried so hard to turn them all into some kind of centralized and homogeneous nation-state , directed by a privilleged stablishment of foreign land owners and noble men, churchmen and generals.


Franco possibly started the beginning of the end of Spain.By trying so hard to suppress the Spanish people´s regional identities, he possibly started what one day will end with the actual partition of the Spanish nation.

I however refuse to admit that union is a lost cause, no matter what Jordi says. Defying the odds has always been part of the spanishood.

Iberia sumergida? only time will tell


Historical perspective varies a lot according to ideologies.

Couldn´t agree more


Paul Johnson said that the Spanish Civil War was the event of the XX century about which people said the biggest number of lies. In the last decades, claiming to be anti-Franquist awarded you the biggest honor to distort the past with no scruples; it's even more shoking that the majority of these antifranquists never moved a finger against the dictatorship and many had worked with it or came from Franquist families. Many were slowly forgetting memories of what they had really lived to accept the new propaganda versions. This happened in the whole country but especially in the Basque lands and Catalonia. This forgetful thing was supported by the opposition (centered on forgetting and thinking only of the future).

He was right. I will even go farther. Spain is the country about whose history more lies have been told , in order to comply with so many anti-spanish agendas that it would sound conspiranoic if only it wasn´t so true.

Paraphrasing Don: "Destino de un pueblo Alpha"

[Amapola]

I will be slowly answering the very questions as I see them. This thread is going to be long and with antagonizing opinions. Just wait for perikolez and Count to join :D

[perikolez]

I will be slowly answering the very questions as I see them. This thread is going to be long and with antagonizing opinions. Just wait for perikolez and Count to join :D

You havent read my initial post. I consider Franco bad because he was a dictator, but I dont see very clearly that leftist oponents were better than them. Finally , my mother's family was profranquist. Then, I am not so antagonic with you about Franco.

[Amapola]

Why do you think that Franco chose Juan Carlos as successor if he really wanted a Catholic, social and representative monarchy?