WikipediaExtracts:Francisco Franco

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{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F1wWKJVaZeIC | isbn=978-0-7456-3992-5 | title=Spanish Politics: Democracy After Dictatorship | year= 2008 | publisher=Polity }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ | isbn=978-0-19-957112-3 | title=Oxford Dictionary of English | date=19 August 2010 | publisher=OUP Oxford }}</ref> Head of State was one of the titles most frequently used by the regime after Franco's official appointment on 1 October 1936, and was the title used in the 1967 Organic Law of the State.<ref>{{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Defensa Nacional de España|issue=32|date=30 September 1936|language=es|title=Decreto núm. 138. Nombrando Jefe del Gobierno del Estado Español al Excelentísimo Sr. General de División don Francisco Franco Bahamonde, quien asumirá todos los poderes del nuevo Estado|url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1936/032/J00125-00126.pdf%7Cissn=0212-033X%7Cpages=125–126}}</ref>{{non-primary source needed|date=July 2025}}<ref>{{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=467|date=31 January 1938|language=es|title=Ley organizando la Administración Central del Estado|url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1938/467/A05514-05515.pdf%7Cissn=0212-033X%7Cpages=5514–5515}}</ref>{{non-primary source needed|date=July 2025}}<ref>{{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=9|date=11 January 1967|language=es|title=Ley Orgánica del Estado, número 1/1967, de 10 de enero|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1967/01/11/pdfs/A00466-00477.pdf%7Cissn=0212-033X%7Cpages=466–477}}</ref>{{non-primary source needed|date=July 2025}}}}"},"term_start":{"wt":"1 October 1936{{efn|name=war|In civil war until 1 April 1939.}}"},"term_end":{"wt":"20 November 1975"},"prime_minister":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* ''Himself''\n* Luis Carrero Blanco\n* Carlos Arias Navarro\n}}"},"predecessor":{"wt":"{{indented plainlist|\n* Miguel Cabanellas (as President of the National Defence Junta of the Nationalist side)\n* Manuel Azaña (as President)\n}}"},"successor":{"wt":"{{indented plainlist|\n* Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel (acting)\n* Juan Carlos I (as King)\n}}"},"office2":{"wt":"Prime Minister of Spain{{efn|The post of Prime Minister was attached to that of Head of State until the 1967 Organic Law of the State, with the separation coming into force with Franco's resignation as Prime Minister on 9 June 1973.<ref>{{cite journal |publisher = Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado |journal = Boletín Oficial del Estado |issue = 138 |date = 9 June 1973 |title = Ley 14/1973, de 8 de junio, por la que se suspende la vinculación de la Presidencia del Gobierno a la Jefatura del Estado |language = es |url = https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1973/06/09/pdfs/A11686-11686.pdf |issn = 0212-033X |page = 11686 }}</ref>}}"},"deputy2":{"wt":"Agustín Muñoz Grandes<br>Luis Carrero Blanco"},"term_start2":{"wt":"30 January 1938{{efn|name=war}}"},"term_end2":{"wt":"9 June 1973"},"predecessor2":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* Francisco Gómez-Jordana{{efn|President of the Technical State Junta of the Nationalist side}}\n* Juan Negrín<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/presidente/presidentes-desde-1823/Paginas/index.aspx%7Ctitle=Relación cronológica de los presidentes del Consejo de Ministros y del Gobierno|website=La Moncloa|editor=Gobierno de España - Presidencia del Gobierno|access-date=18 January 2023|language=es|quote=Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic between 17 May 1937-31 March 1939}}</ref>\n}}"},"1blankname3":{"wt":"Deputy"},"1namedata3":{"wt":"{{ubil|Francisco Gómez-Jordana (1938{{nbnd}}1939)|''None'' (1939–1962)|Agustín Muñoz Grandes (1962{{nbnd}}1967)|Luis Carrero Blanco (1967{{nbnd}}1973)}}"},"successor2":{"wt":"Luis Carrero Blanco"},"office3":{"wt":"National Chief of FET y de las JONS"},"term_start3":{"wt":"19 April 1937"},"term_end3":{"wt":"20 November 1975"},"predecessor3":{"wt":"''Position established''"},"successor3":{"wt":"Carlos Arias Navarro"},"party":{"wt":"FET y de las JONS (''Movimiento Nacional'')"},"birth_name":{"wt":"Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde"},"birth_date":{"wt":"{{Birth date|1892|12|04|df=y}}"},"birth_place":{"wt":"Ferrol, Kingdom of Spain"},"death_date":{"wt":"{{Death date and age|1975|11|20|1892|12|04|df=y}}"},"death_place":{"wt":"Madrid, Francoist Spain"},"resting_place":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* {{longitem|Valley of the Fallen, Madrid<br />{{0|00}}(<!-- 23 November -->1975–<!-- 24 October -->2019)}}\n* {{longitem|Mingorrubio Cemetery, Madrid<br />{{0|00}}(since <!-- 24 October -->2019)}}\n}}"},"relatives":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* Nicolás Franco (brother)\n* Ramón Franco (brother)\n* Francisco Franco (cousin)\n* Ricardo de la Puente (cousin)\n}}"},"spouse":{"wt":"{{Marriage|Carmen Polo|1923}}"},"children":{"wt":"María del Carmen"},"education":{"wt":"Infantry Academy of Toledo"},"signature":{"wt":"Francisco Franco Signature.svg\n\n<!-- Military service -->"},"allegiance":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* {{longitem|Kingdom of Spain<br />{{0|00}}(1907–1931)}}\n* {{longitem|Second Spanish Republic<br />{{0|00}}(1931–1936)}}\n* {{longitem|Spanish State<br />{{0|00}}(1936–1975)}}\n}}"},"branch":{"wt":"Spanish Armed Forces"},"branch_label":{"wt":"Branch"},"service_years":{"wt":"1907–1975"},"service_years_label":{"wt":"Service&nbsp;years"},"rank":{"wt":"Captain general\n{{hlist|\n* Army\n* Air Force\n* Navy}} ''Generalissimo''"},"unit":{"wt":""},"commands":{"wt":"Spanish Armed Forces (Francoist)"},"battles":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* 2nd Melillan Campaign\n* Rif War{{WIA}}\n* Revolution of 1934\n* Spanish Civil War\n* Spanish Republican insurgency\n* Ifni War\n}}"},"mawards":{"wt":""},"footnotes":{"wt":""}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwDQ">

Francisco Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish military general and the dictator of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975. He had led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. This period in Spanish history, from the Nationalist victory to Franco's death, is commonly known as Francoist Spain.

Born in Ferrol, Galicia, into an upper-class military family, Franco served in the Spanish Army as a cadet in the Toledo Infantry Academy from 1907 to 1910. While serving in Morocco, he rose through the ranks to become a brigadier general in 1926 at age 33. Two years later, Franco became the director of the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. As a conservative and monarchist, Franco regretted the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Second Republic in 1931, and was devastated by the closing of his academy; nevertheless, he continued his service in the Republican Army. His career was boosted after the right-wing CEDA and PRR won the 1933 election, empowering him to lead the suppression of the 1934 uprising in Asturias. Franco was briefly elevated to Chief of Army Staff before the 1936 election moved the leftist Popular Front into power, relegating him to the Canary Islands.

Franco joined the July 1936 military coup, which, after failing to take Spain, sparked the Spanish Civil War. He commanded Spain's African colonial army.

Later, following the deaths of much of the rebel leadership, he became his faction's only leader, and was appointed generalissimo and head of state in 1936. He became recognised as a fascist leader while receiving support from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. He consolidated all Nationalist groups into the FET y de las JONS (also known as the Movimiento Nacional), and developed a cult of personality around his rule. Three years later the Nationalists declared victory, which extended Franco's rule over Spain through a period of extreme repression of political opponents. His government's use of forced labour, concentration camps and executions after the war led to at least 30,000 deaths, with some estimates exceeding 200,000. Combined with wartime killings, this brings the death toll of the White Terror to between 100,000 and 350,000 or more. During World War II, he maintained Spanish neutrality, but supported the Axis powers, damaging the country's international reputation.

During the start of the Cold War, Franco lifted Spain out of its mid-20th century economic depression through technocratic and economically liberal policies, presiding over a period of accelerated growth known as the "Spanish miracle". At the same time, his regime transitioned from a totalitarian state to an authoritarian one with limited pluralism. He became a leader in the anti-communist movement, garnering support from the West, particularly the United States. As the government relaxed its hard-line policies, Luis Carrero Blanco became Franco's éminence grise, whose role expanded after Franco began struggling with Parkinson's disease in the 1960s. In 1973, Franco resigned as prime minister—separated from the office of head of state since 1967—due to his advanced age and illness. Nevertheless, he remained in power as the head of state and as commander-in-chief. Franco died in 1975, aged 82, and was entombed in the Valley of the Fallen. He restored the monarchy in his final years, being succeeded by King Juan Carlos, who led the Spanish transition to democracy.

The legacy of Franco in Spanish history remains controversial, as the nature of his rule changed over time. His reign was marked by both severe repression, with tens of thousands killed, and economic prosperity, which greatly improved the quality of life in Spain. His style proved adaptable enough to allow social and economic reform, but still centred on highly authoritarian nationalism. Contemporaries regarded Franco as a fascist dictator.

Among scholars, by contrast, there has been a long-lasting debate whether it is adequate to define Franco's regime as fascist. It has been described in broad definitions, from a traditional military dictatorship to a para-fascist or a fully fascist regime.

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