Francisco Franco
Spanish general and dictator (1892-1975)
Francisco Franco: army officer and Spanish dictator
A military career in Morocco
Franco trained at the Infantry Academy in Toledo after a planned naval career became unavailable. Service in Spanish-controlled Morocco from 1912 helped him rise rapidly through the army. He later directed the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, making military institutions the foundation of his public career.
Civil war and seizure of power
The establishment of Spain’s Second Republic in 1931 brought reforms and political conflict. Franco joined the military uprising of 1936 and became the leading figure of the Nationalist side during the civil war. Its victory in 1939 placed him at the head of a dictatorship built on repression of defeated opponents.
A long authoritarian rule
Franco governed Spain until his death in 1975. His regime kept Spain outside direct participation in the Second World War while maintaining close relations with the Axis powers at different stages. Decades of censorship and political imprisonment marked the dictatorship; after his death, Spain began a transition toward parliamentary democracy.