Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco Bahamonde was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 1939 to 1975. 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.