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Franco
Francisco Franco.
General Francisco Franco was the Fascist Dictator of Spain during WW2. He kept Spain out of the war and held onto power, keeping Spain a backward country with no political freedom well into the 1970's.
In March of 1938, the republican forces surrendered ending the Spanish Civil War, and Francisco Franco became President (dictator) of Spain. He ran Spain until his death in 1975. Franco was supported during the drawn out and bloody civil war in Spain of the 30's by the Nazi's (Germany) and Fascist's (Italy). Their opponents were backed by Stalin's Communist's of the Soviet Union. The German's in particular, honed their military accumen during this involvement. The Soviets, in contrast, generally used the war as an opportunity to pillage the fabulous museums of Spain. Many Russian museums today still have large collections of this stolen art, along with the later thefts of art from Germany in the 1940's. During WWII, Franco, of course, was aligned with the Nazi's. Spain, having just concluded their civil war, was in no shape to take an active part in the fighting. Nonetheless, Spain did aid the Germans in many ways - intelligence, supplies, minerals, and an occassional Uboat repair. This involvement was such that serious consideration was given by the western Allies of invading Spain as a way to get at Germany without the bloody confrontation of more direct invasion via France. Ultimately this notion was rejected as too roundabout. Also of some interest is that despite decades of civil war and fascist Dictatorship, Spain emerged via their intact monarchy with a semblance of democracy which is in full bloom today. Spain now has both a modern democracy and a flourishing economy.
Franco.
francisco franco

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7y ago

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