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Example research essay topic: Spanish Civil War World War Ii - 1,612 words

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The regime of General Franco considered its greatest political achievement to be the establishment of an era of peace and order without precedent in the history of Spain. Opposition to Franco was ineffective for so long due to a wide variety of factors, the Franco regime itself was very oppressive yet it cannot solely explain the lack of opposition as it did not prevent strikes, student demonstrations and the activities of ETA in the 1960 s. There was tacit acceptance by the large sections of the Spanish population of the Francoist system, the Franco regime represented the restoration of traditional values in education, family, religion and social order; values which were more deeply rooted in Spanish society than the liberal-democratic reformists of the 1930 s had believed. The Franco regime also benefited from the sheer exhaustion of the Spanish society after three years of bloody civil war and it can be said that there was majority social support for Francoist within Spain. Conflicts in Spain were much more severe than was apparent in the regimes propaganda or reflected in a manipulated media. The resistance was heroic but its repercussions in Spain were limited, it revealed the repressive nature of the regime and the inadequacy of its institutions for solving the conflict of a modern society.

The regimes repression was very efficient, between 1939 and 45 the clandestine Socialist Party saw six executive committees imprisoned and until the end of the diplomatic isolation of Spain in the 1950 s the government was not concerned with the effect of brutal repression on its image abroad; it in fact capitalised on international hostility. Harsh repression prevented any effective action by clandestine unions, when these unions were ineffective the workers were demobilized, concerned with the satisfaction of their individual needs rather than with collective action. Ridruejo spoke in 1961 of a loss of working-class consciousness. Leaders of the historic opposition were mostly forced into exile and therefore cut off from the clandestine struggle within Spain. Only the Communists successfully survived the difficulties created by exile combined with repression at home. They grasped the importance of action within Spain itself in the fight against Franco; they formed the only continuous and significant clandestine organisation.

Nevertheless their guerrilla action between 1944 and 48 failed due to the strict press censorship there were no echoes of their activity outside of a few rural districts, thereby not reaching the average Spaniard. Yet, however severe and effective the repression was it does not itself explain the widespread political indifference, the de mobilisation of opinion and the lack of serious overt social unrest in the 1940 s and 50 s. The regime in fact enjoyed more support than its opponents liked to admit and this support was reflected in the tacit consent of the Spanish society. In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, Spain was in turmoil and needed strong leadership, rationing only ended in 1952 and with the Spanish population so isolated internationally and scared domestically there was no desire amongst the people to rise up against Franco.

So many of the opposition had been exiled, killed or imprisoned during the causa general that there was no internal opposition to even support if the people had wanted to. If the people had risen against the state they would have risked losing their livelihoods as the state ran all industries and so the people depended on the state for their jobs and income. The only official party in Spain at the time of Franco's regime was the Falange party founded by Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. Primo de Rivera denied his party was fascist, calling fascism fundamentally false. His political philosophy was based on Catholicism, saying that man "carries eternal values" and carries "a soul that is capable of damning or saving itself." He called for "the greatest respect for... human dignity, for the integrity of man and for his liberty. " Primo de Rivera called for what he called "organic democracy." In Spain, the Falange was an authoritarian political organization founded by Jos Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1933 in opposition to the Second Spanish Republic.

After the war, the party was charged with developing an ideology for Franco's regime. This job became a cursus honor for ambitious politicians; new converts, who were called camisa's nuevas ("new shirts") in opposition to the more overtly populist and ideological "old shirts" from before the war. The Falange also developed youth organizations (Flechas, Plays; which compared to Hitlerjugend and Italian Balilla and Audit), a female section (Section Femenina) led by Jos Antonio's sister, that instructed young women on how to be "good patriots, good Christians and good wives", and a student's union (the Syndicate Unificado de Estudiantes (SEU) ) which was mandatory until the 1950 s. After the opening to the United States and the Spanish Miracle of the 1950 s, Franco began working with younger, more technocratic politicians linked to Opus Dei. The Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 with the victory of the nationalist forces led by the ruthlessly efficient and unemotional General Francisco Franco and supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Republican side received tepid support from European democracies, which left the Soviet Union and idealist voluntary International Brigades as the only supporters of the legitimate democratic Republican rule.

After winning the Spanish Civil War, Franco ruled Spain as Caudillo by the Grace of God until his death in 1975. After the war Spain was politically and economically isolated in the international arena as no country wanted to be seen helping a dictatorship, this led to many years of economic struggle as Franco tried to revive Spain. The regime has been described as a traditionalist rightist regime with emphasis on order and stability rather than a strict ideology such as facts. Franco created a vertical syndicate in order to try and end the class struggle yet Franco's party was so heterogenous that it almost hardly qualified as a political party; Franco himself was not politically involved neither did he have any strong ideologies of his own. Franco himself had no particular desire for a King despite his liking for a monarchy and so left the throne vacant and calling himself de facto regent, he only named a successor in order to appease monarchists of which there were many in Spain. The political structure of the regime received only superficial changes whereas the society he governed changed dramatically.

Spain became an industrial society more like those of Western Europe and therefore the authoritarianism inherited from the victory of 1939 became increasingly anachronistic and out of place as the last surviving fascist regime in the West with Portugal; it was also unsuited to the modern Spanish society of the 1970 s. Economic changes had produced conflicts and expectations that the political system absorbed only with increasing difficulty. The crucial break in the socio-economic infrastructure came with the economic miracle in the 1960 s and the political consequences in the 1970 s. From 1945 onwards Franco's regime was under heavy international pressure from both Western and Eastern countries; the Republican government in exile and its supporters around the world were pursuing a propaganda campaign against it; along with a severe drought ravaging the economy and creating pockets of famine in various parts of the country. It was during this period that conflict between the regime and its foreign and domestic opponents was at its peak. Perons government extended important economic, political and diplomatic aid to Francoist Spain in the second half of the 1940 s thereby helping the Spanish dictatorship to survive the critical years of transition between World War II and the Cold War.

After World War II, being one of few surviving fascist regimes in Europe, Spain was politically and economically isolated and was kept out of the United Nations until 1955, when it became strategically important for U. S. president Eisenhower to establish a military presence in the Iberian peninsula. This opening to Spain was aided by Franco's opposition to communism. In the 1960 s, more than a decade later than other western European countries, Spain began to enjoy economic growth (Spanish miracle) which gradually transformed it into a modern industrial economy with a thriving tourism sector. Growth continued well into the 1970 s, with Franco's government going to great lengths to shield the Spanish people from the effects of the oil crisis.

The resentment of Franco's brutality towards the more modern pro-Republican regions of Catalonia and the Basque country, whose distinctive languages and identity he suppressed during his long reign, continues to fuel strong separatist movements to this day. There are many factors which explain why opposition to Franco was so ineffective for so long; there was in fact not much opposition to his leadership due to the weariness of the Spanish people caused by years of Spanish war, there was tacit acceptance by a large majority of the population of his leadership and during the 1950 s and 60 s, caused by the economic miracle, the Spanish population were in some ways almost happy with his leadership. Any opposition that did arise, for example the communist party, was dealt with effectively through harsh repression and the exiling of prominent members. Despite tacit acceptance by a majority of the population, foreign powers were not so accepting leading to international exclusion for Spain and being disallowed entry into the European Union until 1955. Bibliography: Carr&Full, Spain: Dictatorship to Democracy, (London, 1979) R. Carr, Modern Spain 1875 - 1980, (Oxford, 1981) S.

G Payne, The Franco Regime 1936 - 75, (1987) P. Preston, The Politics of Revenge: Facts and Military in Twentieth century Spain, (1990) P. Preston, Franco, (1993)


Free research essays on topics related to: world war ii, spanish civil war, majority of the population, spanish people, spain

Research essay sample on Spanish Civil War World War Ii

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