Franco

Today....a short essay over Francisco Franco (1892–1975), the Spain dictator who ruled from 1939 until his death.

There are fair number of criticisms and negative aspects to talk about.

First....he did overthrew the democratically elected Second Spanish Republic after the 1936–1939 Civil War.

Second, he did establish a one-party rule (Falange/National Movement), that lasted 36 years.

Third, he did ban all political parties, trade unions (except the regime-controlled vertical syndicates), and regional nationalist parties (Catalan, Basque, Galician).

Fourth, through his  years....he established “White Terror”....where historians figure estimates of 50k to 200k  executions after the Civil War.

Fifth, hundreds of thousands were imprisoned in concentration camps, forced labor battalions.

Sixth....use systematic use of torture, used rape as a weapon, and extrajudicial killings by Falangist and military death squads.

Seventh....had from the 1940s to the 1980s, thousands of babies taken from Republican/left-wing families (or unmarried mothers) and given to “politically reliable” families.

Eighth...forced Castilian Spanish as the only official language (“If you speak Spanish, you are Spanish” policy).

Ninth....pushed censorship of press, literature, film, and music.

Tenth....pro-Nazi.  Met Hitler at Hendaye (1940) and seriously considered entering WWII on the Axis side.

I could  probably write forty-odd negatives.

So it's curious today....reading through a Spain news piece....one in five young Spaniards....see Franco as 'hero-status'.