Section 1: Creation of the 'new state'

Question 1

when was Franco declared the ‘Head of Government of the Spanish State?

Answer 1

on 21 September 1936 by decree.
-the decree granted hum full powers in the ‘new state’. In his new position he began to pass laws and establish control

Question 2

Between 1938 and 1957 what was Francos government based, in part, on?

Answer 2

Between 1938 and 1957, Francos government was based, in part, on corporatist ideas and Francos desire for an ‘organic democracy’

Question 3

what were the different committees which made up Franco’s government?

Answer 3

-the cabinet was the most senior committee in government. It was made up of Francos most senior ministers and it reflected the different groups that supported the regime, such as the Falange, devout Catholics, monarchists and senior figures from the military.
-from 1942 Franco revived the cortes. The cortes was appointed by Franco and his most senior advisors rather than being elected by the people. The cortes was a consultive body, that is to say it could offer advice to Franco, but unlike the Cortes of the republic, it could not make laws. Crucially, the Cortes had no power independent of Franco

Question 4

what did Franco argue about multi-party democracy?

Answer 4

he said it led to conflict and civil war.
-This is why he wanted to replace it with an organic democracy.

Question 5

With the Falange, what did Franco establish a series of?

Answer 5

he established a series of corporations, designed to represent the people in such a way as to unite them and serve the needs of the country.

Question 6

what were some of the features of corporatism?

Answer 6

-Francos new state established a series of corporations, representing different groups in Spanish society. There were corporations representing the army, the church, local areas and professional groups.
-the corporatist system also represented rural and urban workers. Franco claimed that the labour corporations replaced trade unions that he had abolished.
-members of these corporations and syndicates were appointed to the Council of State, which advised Franco on economic policy.
-Employers and workers were organised into syndicates representing different economic areas. For example, the mining syndicate included representatives of mine workers and mine owners. Workers and employers negotiated through the syndicate to set wage rates and working conditions.
-all workers were required to belong to the appropriate corporation. The corporation organised social activities and community activities for workers.

Question 7

what did Franco claim that the labour corporations replace?

Answer 7

that they replaced trade unions

Question 8

in theory, in terms of rights, workers and employers were what within syndicates?

Answer 8

in theory, workers and employers were equal within syndicates, but in practice the gov ensured that workers’ wages were kept low

Question 9

By 1957, how many syndicates were there? and what were they collectively known as?

Answer 9

by 1957 there were 30 syndicates representing 30 different sectors of the economy.
-collectively the 30 syndicates were known as the National Syndical Organisation

Question 10

what did the Ministry of Syndicates oversee?

Answer 10

-it oversaw bargaining between workers and employers.
-in theory it was designed to ensure that negotiations reflected the interests of the nation, rather than the interests of the employers or the workers. However, in practice the Ministry of Syndicates enforced government control.

Question 11

what did the syndicates set?

Answer 11

they set production targets and price levels for goods

Question 12

in theory what was the corporatist system designed for?

Answer 12

in theory it was designed to reconcile workers and employers and reunite Spain after the civil war.
-however, in practice it was used as a means of social control, which destroyed independent unions and placed the Spanish economy under state control.

Question 13

What did the Clerical Laws passed by Franco in the period March-April 1938 do? what did they establish?

Answer 13

-they strengthened the relationship between the Church and the Nationalists
-they established a legal basis for the relationship between church and state. The clerical law:
– gave control of primary education to the Catholic Church
– gave the Catholic Church the right to establish and run youth groups independently of the Falange youth movement
– they banned the practice of religions other than Christianity
– they restricted the rights of Protestant churches within Spain.
-these laws gave the Catholic Church a privileged position within Spanish society and a degree of independence from the gov

Question 14

in return for the privileges gained from the clerical laws, what did church leaders give the regime in return?

Answer 14

they gave the regime their full support.
-Church leaders did not condemn the atrocities committed by Nationalist forces during the civil war of Franco’s policy of terror that continued after 1939.
-more generally, the church supported Francos attempt to revive conservative, Catholic Spain as a society that emphasised family, heterosexual marriage and the dominance of men.

Question 15

why was the support of the Catholic Church crucial to the authority of Francos regime?

Answer 15

because it persuaded many Catholics that they had a duty to obey the ‘new state’

Question 16

What was the purpose of Franco adopting a range of policies in the early years of the ‘new state’?

Answer 16

-these policies were designed to consolidate the new regimes position by winning over the old elites, to secure his own position, and to transform Spain into the conservative and devout country that Franco envisioned.

Question 17

How did Franco win the support of landowners? How did he also appeal to leading industrialists?

Answer 17

he won their support by reversing the policies of the previous Republican government.
-particularly, he ended land reforms, returning farmland to the landowners who had controlled it before the establishment of the republic.
-he also appealed to leading industrialists by abolishing many of the rights that workers had won during the years of the republic.
-as a result of Francos policies, landowners no longer lived in fear of having land seized by peasants and industrialists no longer had to deal with assertive trade unions or strike action

Question 18

In 1940, what organisation did Franco introduce for working people?

Answer 18

-he introduced the government-run Organizacion Sindical Espanola (OSE)
-Franco knew that a policy of outright repression of Spain’s unions would be unpopular with working people. This is why he introduced this organisation.

Question 19

what did the OSE reflect?

Answer 19

it reflected the example of Italian fascism and, to some extent, the practice of Hitler’s Germany.
-Franco learned from Hitler’s policy of creating the DAF. Rather than simply destroying unions in Germany, Hitler forcibly merged them into a single gov-controlled organisation. This helped defuse opposition to the curtailment of union rights.
-the Italian example of fascist corporatism was also an important inspiration for the Falange, which initially played a major role in the OSE. Fascist corporations were supposed to generate unity between all producers. Rather than seeing the world in terms of a division between workers and owners, fascists argued that both workers and owners played an important economic role as ‘producers’

Question 20

what was there within the OSE? what was is it supposed to be in theory? What was it really like in practice?

Answer 20

-within the OSE there were syndicates which represented all of the producers in each industry.
-in theory, all the syndicates would decide collectively on wage rates and production targets, and in so doing resolve the tensions between workers and owners that existed under capitalism.
-In practice, although the OSE did guarantee some basic workers’ rights such as minimum wage, it was heavily weighted in favour of business owners. E.g. strikes were outlawed and therefore workers’ power to bargain within the system was seriously limited. In this sense it was a way in which Franco could control working people while creating the illusion of national unity

Question 21

What was Francos policy not designed to only do?

Answer 21

it was not designed to only consolidate his power.
-Franco and his supporters wanted to create a new society in Spain that reflected values of order and national unity

Question 22

between 1938 and 1942, who played a key role in developing social policy in Spain? what was he and what did he want? what was he critical of? what did he help introduce?

Answer 22

-Ramon Serrano Suner
-he was a fascist and therefore wanted closer ties between the ‘new state’ and Hitlers Germany and Mussolini’s Italy.
-he was critical of the influence of the Catholic Church on the ‘new state’, as he believed the church was an obstacle to the construction of a truly fascist regime
-he helped introduce pronatalist policies and new laws that seriously restricted the rights of women

Question 23

was Francos social policy wholly fascist?

Answer 23

no, his social policy was never wholly fascist and policy statements always referred to the importance of the Catholic Church.

Question 24

after the defeat of the Republicans, what started to emerge?

Answer 24

after the defeat of the Republicans in 1939, tensions between the different Nationalist groups began to emerge.
-different parts of the Nationalist coalition had radically different versions for the future of Spain, and with the Republicans defeated, there was considerable competition to shape the new state.

Question 25

what did the monarchists argue? what were the problems the restoration of the monarchy presented?

Answer 25

they argued that the restoration of the monarchy was the ideal way to reunite Spain after the trauma of civil war.
-however, a restoration of the monarchy presented a number of problems:
– a restored monarchy would undermine Franco’s position at the entre of the new gov
– different groups within Spain supported different potential kings
– the Falange viewed restoration of the monarchy as a backwards step

Question 26

what did Franco say to appease the monarchists?

Answer 26

-he said that he agreed that the ‘new state’ should restore the monarchy. However, he argued that the period immediately after the civil war was not appropriate and claimed that he should select the right time.
-in the meantime, he argued that Spain needed an experienced military leader to ensure its protection from internal threats.
-Franco did initiate contact with Juan de Borbon, the exiled Spanish king, promising that he would appoint him as the new king of Spain when the time was right.

Question 27

what law did Franco pass to further appease the monarchists?

Answer 27

-he passed the Law of Leadership Succession, which formally asserted that Spain was a monarchy.
-however, the new law left the timing appointment of a new monarchy firmly in Francos hands

Question 28

how did Franco maintain the support of the Falange?

Answer 28

-he maintained their support because they thought he would help them establish a fascist state. Franco indicated that the Falange would play an important role in the ‘new state’ by ensuring that it was the only legal political party in Spain and by granting prominent members of the Falange leading roles in the running of the economy and controlling the Spanish media.
-however, Franco had no intention of handing power to the Falange.

Question 29

why did the Falange not present a significant threat to Francos position after 1939?

Answer 29

-during the civil war, Franco had merged the Carlists with the Falange. As a result, the Falange lost a lot of its initial fascist character. Moreover, after the death of the Falange’s leader, Primo de Rivera, the Falange’s leadership increasingly became dependent on Franco.
-Finally, the Falange did not have a widespread support base in Spain. Without an independent or popular leadership the Falange did not present a significant threat to Franco’s position after 1939

Question 30

why did the Carlists fail to gain new converts?

Answer 30

-many Carlists became committed to fascism and identified with the aspirations of the Fascist movements in Germany and Italy. As a result the Carlists lost much of their initial support and failed to gain many new converts due to the lack of support for fascism in Spain

Question 31

what word did Franco use to describe his regime?

Answer 31

totalitarian

Question 32

what was a key aspect of Franco’s propaganda?

Answer 32

the focus was on the evils of communism
-the propaganda stressed that Franco had saved Spain from a revolution