The Truth about Franco: Spain's Forgotten Dictatorship

At the end of a bloody civil war, Francisco Franco seized power and ruled Spain with an iron hand for nearly four decades. Under his leadership the conservative, monarchist armed forces staged a coup against Spain's republican government which had been democratically elected. The insurrection was supported by Italy and Germany. Three years of bitter civil war followed which, by April 1939, had turned Spain into a different country. The hostilities and political purges cost half a million lives.

Franco gave himself the title of Caudillo de España - Supreme Leader of Spain - and created his own rituals of power: the war hero, the family man, and the mass murderer. Franco was a man of many faces.

At the end of the Second World War the cards in global politics were reshuffled, and the situation became critical for Franco because in Spain many suffered from his reign of terror. For that reason, there were many who wanted to topple him.

In the mid-1950s Franco's foreign policy successes opened up new perspectives for Spain - and new challenges. As Spain began to change, Franco did what he could to cling to the power he gained.