Francisco Franco Biography

Francisco Franco Bahamonde was the dictator of Spain from 1939 to his death in 1975. Coming from a military background, he became the youngest general in Europe in the 1920s.

A conservative, he was shocked when the monarchy was removed and replaced with a democratic republic in 1931. With the 1936 elections, the conservatives fell and the leftist Popular Front came to power. Looking to overthrow the republic, Franco and other generals staged a partially successful coup, which started the Spanish Civil War. With the death of the other generals, Franco quickly became his faction's only leader.

Franco received military support from local fascist, monarchist and right-wing groups, and also from Hitler's Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Fascist Italy. Leaving half a million dead, the war was eventually won by Franco in 1939. He established an autocratic dictatorship, Francoist Spain, which he defined as a totalitarian state, installing himself as head of state and government, with one legal political party: a merger of the monarchist party and the fascist party which had helped him, FET y de las JONS. Source: Wikipedia

Marriages

• 1923-10-16
  General Francisco Franco (30) marries María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés (23) at Church of San Juan el Real in Oviedo

Francisco Franco Timeline

• 1926-02-25
  Francisco Franco becomes the youngest General in Spain
• 1936-07-17
  Spanish generals Francisco Franco and Emilio Mola lead a right-wing uprising, starting the Spanish Civil War
• 1936-07-18
  Spanish Civil War : General Francisco Franco issues manifesto and leds uprising with army in Morocco
• 1936-09-21
  Spanish fascist junta names Franco to generalissimo/supreme commander
• 1936-09-27
  Franco troops conquer Toledo
• 1936-10-01
  Generalissimo Francisco Franco establishes state of Spain
• 1936-11-18
  Germany & Italy recognize Spanish government of Francisco Franco
• 1937-03-20
  Franco offensive at Guadalajara, Spain
• 1937-12-01
  Japan recognizes Franco government
• 1938-02-27
  Britain & France recognize Franco government in Spain
• 1939-01-26
  Franco conquers Barcelona
• 1939-02-22
  Netherlands recognizes Franco regime in Spain
• 1939-03-28
  Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid falls to Francisco Franco
• 1939-04-01
  US recognizes Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war. Pope Pius XII congratulates Generalissimo Franco's victory in Spain
• 1947-07-09
  Spain votes for Franco monarchy
• 1965-01-20
  Generalissimo Francisco Franco meets with Jewish representatives to discuss legitimizing Jewish communities in Spain
• 1969-01-24
  Spanish General Franco announces state of emergency
• 1969-06-08
  General Franco closes Spain's frontier with Gibraltar
• 1971-07-16
  Franco appoints prince Juan Carlos as deputy in Spain

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