LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Francisco Franco: War
built 190 days ago
Francisco was to follow his father into the navy, but entry into the Naval Academy was closed from 1906 to 1913. To his father's chagrin, he decided to join the Spanish Army. In 1907, he entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo, from which he graduated in 1910. He was commissioned as a lieutenant. Two years later, he obtained a commission to Morocco. Spanish efforts to physically occupy their new African protectorate provoked the protracted Rif War (from 1909 to 1927) with native Moroccans.
Source:
With the end of World War II, Franco and Spain were forced to suffer the economic consequences of the isolation imposed on it by nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States. This situation ended in part when, due to Spain's strategic location in light of Cold War tensions, the United States entered into a trade and military alliance with Spain. This historic alliance commenced with U.S. President Eisenhower's visit in 1953. This launched the so-called "Spanish Miracle," which developed Spain from autarky into capitalism. Spain was admitted in the United Nations in 1955. In spite of this opening, Franco almost never left Spain once in power.
Source:
Franco initially derived his authority from his victory in the Civil War. The armed forces gave his regime security; the Roman Catholic Church and the National Movement gave it legitimacy. The National Movement was the only recognized political organization in Franco's Spain. It was not a political party, and it did not have an overt ideological basis. Its membership included monarchists, Falangists, conservative Catholics, members of the armed forces, as well as business groups with (vested interests in continuity), technocrats, and civil servants. Although there was some overlap among these groups, they had distinct, and often contradictory, interests.
Source:
After the war Franco came under considerable pressure to restore the monarchy. In 1947 Franco announced a referendum to establish his position. The vote confirmed him as lifetime regent. The following year, Juan Carlos, the future king, began his education at the age of ten under Franco's supervision.
Source:
Franco wanted to follow a family tradition by pursuing a career in the navy, but government cutbacks in the size of the naval officer corps pushed him in another direction. At age 14, he gained admission to Spain's premier military institution, the Infantry Academy at Toledo. For the next three years Franco acquired the skills then considered essential to a Spanish officer; apart from fencing, riding, and shooting, he spent long hours in the classroom absorbing the lessons of war theorists such as Prussian Karl von Clausewitz. Upon graduating in 1910, the 17-year-old Franco received his commission as a second lieutenant.
Source:
After three years of fighting, Franco’s fascists had finally taken control of the country. There were about 500,000 deaths from various causes. It has been estimated that 200,000 people died in combat or combat-related causes. Out of those 200,000; 110,000 were on the Loyalist side and 90,000 on the Nationalist side. Around 10,000 Spanish people were killed in bombing incursions. Due to the war, the economy in Spain took decades to recover.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
War