The Spanish Civil War began in 1936 as a military rebellion led by Francisco Franco against the Spanish Republic. Franco and the Nationalists were supported by fascist governments in Germany and Italy and sought to restore traditional Spanish values and the powerful role of the Catholic Church. The war resulted in over 500,000 deaths as both sides received foreign support and weapons. After three years, Franco emerged victorious in 1939 and established a repressive dictatorship, banning opposition and severely restricting civil liberties. Franco ruled until his death in 1975, when King Juan Carlos began democratic reforms and transitioned Spain to a constitutional monarchy with autonomous regional governments.

1. THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

2. Let’s make one thing clear:
The Spanish Civil War is a tragic, complex and very difficult topic.
We can spend MONTHS if not YEARS discussing what happened.
This is a very, very short version.
There were no real “good guys” or “bad guys” here.
Just a lot of ideas using weapons instead of words.
BEFORE WE BEGIN..

3. Salvador Dali’s “Premonition of the Spanish Civil War”
Painted six months before the war started in 1936.

4. 1885 – King Alfonso XII dies
1886 - His son Alfonso XIII succeeds to the throne.
1898 – The Spanish-American War occurs between Spain and
the United States, Spain loses Cuba, Puerto Rico an the Phillipines – its final
colonies.
ALFONSO’S BURDENS

5. Alfonso took control of the government in 1902 but faced many troubles –
corruption, inefficiency, too many things to list.
1923 saw General Primo de Rivera take over with Alfonso’s support.[
However, he was considered a poor leader
and lost this support in 1930, leading to
elections.
These elections found the monarchy losing all
of its support and bringing in the
Second Spanish Republic.
RIVERA’S BURDEN

6. The Second Spanish Republic saw some changes happen in
1931
The Spanish nobility lost any special political status.
Freedom of speech and freedom of association was granted to
people.
Women could vote from 1933.
Various reformed benefited education and lower class people.
However….
SECOND SPANISH REPUBLIC

7. The power of the Catholic church was severely restricted and controlled
during this time.
Some in the Republican government supported this and others did not...
Disagreements were often violent, such as the Tragic Week in Catalonia
CHURCH CRUNCH

8. Before 18th July, 1936, Franco was stationed in Morocco – the government
was not fond of him and wanted to keep him away from Spain proper.
A very pro-Catholic man, he decided to start a military rebellion (a coup)
against the the Spanish Republic.
FRANCO TAKES OVER

9. The Nationalists with Franco thought the Republicans were too against the
Church and wanted to stop them by force to bring back the Catholic Church.
YEARS OF CONFLICT
The years of conflict saw many hundreds of
tanks and planes flown by both sides, by the
end in April 1939, 500,000 people were
dead and 450,000 more left the country.
The Nationalists were supported largely by
Nazi Germany and Benito Mussolini’s Italy.
The Republicans, on the other hand, found
support from the Soviet Union and Mexico.
The rest of Europe promised to stay out,
but, in reality, many foreigners volunteered
to fight for both sides and France supplied
the Republicans weapons.
The Spanish Civil War became called
the “rehearsal for World War II.”

10. After the Nationalist victory in the Civil War, Franco made the country once
again into a military dictatorship. The church was made a central part of the
government and the monarchy was effectively banned.
After the defeat of Franco’s allies Germany and Italy in World War II, Spain
found itself isolated from both other, more democratic European countries,
the West and the Soviet Union.
SPANISH DICTATORSHIP AND
MIRACLE
However, from 1959-1974, the Spanish
economy saw a brief boom, second only to
Japan and becoming the ninth largest
economy in the world until the crash.
Tourism grew but, freedom of people
was severely limited and the government
maintained strict control.

11. In 1969, Franco, in poor health, named Prince Juan Carlos I to be his heir
(And the first real return of Spanish royalty to the country)
In 1975, Franco died and Juan Carlos took over, where he worked to take
apart the dictatorship policies after being crowned King in 1977.
Under Juan Carlos, a more democratic and
autonomous system was formed in Spain,
balancing many of that the various regions of
Spain had had for many centuries.
Due in part to Juan Carlos’ works, we have the
formation of modern Spain.
RETURN TO DEMOCRACY