However, five months after taking control of the country, Franco’s rule and Spain’s position in the international community were further complicated by the start of World War II. To enforce his power over Spain, he established a vast network of secret police. Franco also outlawed unions and all religions except for Catholicism, as well as banning the Catalan and Basque languages. Immediately following the war, military tribunals were held that led to tens of thousands more being executed or imprisoned. El Caudilloįor nearly four decades following the conflict, Franco - who became known as 'El Caudillo' (the Leader) - would rule Spain through a repressive dictatorship. Sources vary, but many estimate the number of casualties resulting from the war as high as 500,000, with perhaps as many as 200,000 the result of executions perpetrated by Franco and his forces. On April 1, 1939, after receiving an unconditional surrender, Franco announced the end of the Spanish Civil War.

In January 1939, the Republican stronghold of Barcelona fell to the Nationalists, followed two months later by Madrid. However, when their initial assault on Madrid was repelled, the military coup evolved into the protracted conflict known as the Spanish Civil War.īy the end of 1937, Franco had conquered the Basque lands and the Asturias and had also combined the fascist and monarchist political parties to form his Falange Española Tradicionalista while dissolving all others. Anticipating a swift victory, on October 1, 1936, the Nationalist forces declared Franco head of the government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Establishing his base of operations in Seville the following month, Franco began his military campaign, advancing north toward the seat of the Republican government in Madrid.

The next day, he flew to Morocco to take control of the troops, and shortly thereafter gained the support of both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, whose planes were used to shuttle Franco and his forces to Spain. Though he initially kept his distance from the plot, on July 18, 1936, Franco announced the Nationalist manifesto in a broadcast from the Canary Islands as the uprising began in the northwest of Spain. Though Franco accepted what amounted to banishment with the professionalism for which he was known, other high-ranking members of the military began to discuss a coup. For his part, Franco was once again marginalized, with a new posting to the Canary Islands. When elections that were held in February 1936 led to a shift in power to the left, Spain slipped further into chaos. But like the Second Republic before it, the new government could do little to quell the growing divide between left- and right-leaning factions.

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