The mid-20th century was momentous in Spain with the polarization of the 1931-1936 Second Spanish Republic leading up to the Spanish Civil War. The 1939 Nationalist victory was followed by a dictatorship called the Spanish State ruled by General Francisco Franco until his death in 1975.
Understand
[edit]| Spain historical travel topics: Roman Empire → Goths → Al-Andalus → Spanish Empire → Spanish-American War → 20th-century Spain |
The Spanish Empire was on decline since the 18th century, and Spain lost its last New World colonies in the 1898 Spanish-American War. Early 20th-century Spain was among the poorest countries in Western Europe. Socialists and liberals criticized the monarchy, the Catholic church and wealthy landowners, and the 1931 Second Republic deposed King Alfonso XIII and led to a power struggle between the radical left and the conservative right.
The Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939 began as a Nationalist rebellion against the Republican government, in which Francisco Franco rose to power as the country's leader. The war was an ideological struggle, and both sides drew volunteers from around the world. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed in the war. While both sides committed atrocities, the Nationalists did so on a larger scale, and won the war. Following the April 1939 victory, Spain became a one-party state with Franco as Head of State (Caudillo) and Head of Government, with far-reaching power even compared to other dictators of his time. The dictatorship oppressed all dissenters, as well as Spain's minority languages (Galician, Catalan and Basque), Freemasons and non-Catholics.
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy supported the Nationalists and Franco's government. Spain remained non-belligerent through the Second World War, though the volunteer Blue Division (División Azul) participated in Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. Franco described World War II as "the two wars" and declared hostility toward the Communist Soviet Union but not the Democratic Allies.
At the end of World War II, Spain was sanctioned by many of the Western Allies, until the Cold War encouraged them to work closer with Spain, which was accepted as a member of the United Nations in 1955. While Spain went through modernization of the transportation, manufacturing and tourism sectors, Franco kept using brutal methods to stay in power he died on 20 November 1975, as Western Europe's last dictator to date.
Juan Carlos I, grandson of Alfonso XIII, became Spain's new head of state, and oversaw the consolidation of a parliamentary monarchy. Amnesty was declared for all atrocities of the Civil War. In 1981, a far-right coup was foiled, much thanks to the King's resistance. Spain joined NATO in 1982 and the European Community in 1986, and has since then been integrated with other European democracies.
Destinations
[edit]
- 1 Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Museo Reina Sofía / Reina Sofía National Museum and Art Center) (Madrid). Spain's largest collection of 20th century art, with Pablo Picasso's Guernica and many artworks of the Civil War and the Spanish States.
- 2 The Alcazar (Toledo). A fortress captured by Franco's troops as a decisive move in the Civil War.
- 3 Belchite. A ghost town destroyed in a 1937 battle won by the Republicans. A new town was built in 1939.
- 4 General Archive of the Spanish Civil War, Salamanca, Spain.
- 5 Museum of the History of Catalonia (Museu d'Història de Catalunya (MHC)) (Barcelona).
- 6 Parque de El Capricho. Has a bunker used during the Civil War.
- 7 Federico García Lorca Museum (Huerta de San Vicente) (Granada). Once the summer home of poet Federico Garcia Lorca. The house-turned-museum holds the original furnishings from when he lived here in the 1920s and 30s.
- 8 Palacio de las Cortes (Madrid). The parliament building was the site of the installation of King Juan Carlos I, and the failed 1981 coup.
- 9 Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) (El Escorial). This site hosts the world's largest free-standing Christian cross, Franco's first tomb, and a memorial to Catholics (both Nationalists and Republican) killed in the Civil War. Construction was ordered by Franco and erected on rocks through the forced labour of many Republican prisoners of war. The monument is controversial in 21st century Spain, and there used to be pro-Franco demonstrations on November 20th, the anniversary of the death of Franco and Primo de Rivera until the "Historical Memory Law" of 2007 outlawed them. In October 2019 Franco's mortal remains were relocated to a Madrid cemetery, despite much controversy and efforts by Franco's heirs to block the move. There are plans to turn the site into more of a "documentation center" akin to the former Nazi Party Rallying Grounds in Nuremberg, but as the site is owned by the Catholic Church, this has proven complicated.
Respect
[edit]The Civil War and the dictatorship are still divisive issues in Spain, and those who remember them have strong opinions.