Book Review - Spain under Franco: a history by Max Gallo

Spain under Franco: a history by Max Gallo, translated by Jean Stewart

London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1973 (originally published in French in 1969)

ISBN 0049460099

This an interesting, if somewhat dense, book that focuses on the politics of Franco and the various branches of the opposition to his rule, between the Civil War and the end of the 60s. Starting with the end of the Civil War, Gallo describes how the defining characteristic of Franco was his caution - he never made a move unless he was certain of the outcome, or had another path to take if needed.

Thus although he relied on the Axis powers for his victory in the Civil War, he was able to obfuscate around joining the battle against the Allied Powers, and nimbly move to the "other" side when the outcome of hostilities became obvious.

Once the War was over, Franco kept control through a classic "divide and rule" strategy, periodically seeming to acquiesce to the claims of one or other of the Falange, Carlists or other monarchist factions, only to quash them if they got too far ahead of themselves. He also controlled the Royal Family in much the same way, pitting father against son, and both against the Bourbon pretender.

These machinations enable Franco to seem to rise above petty squabbling and portray himself as the only person who could hold Spain together, and avoid a further fratricidal struggle, and keep Spain a country that was Catholic and united.

What Gallo shows us is that one thing Spain wasn't was united. From the end of the war, opposition to Franco emerged in guerrilla activities, sabotage, strikes and pamphleteering. The regime cracked down hard on any dissent, and the opposition groups could not put up a united front, with constant bickering between the Republicans, Monarchists and Communists blighting any attempt at country-wide protest. This doomed any effort at rebellion to failure, but these failures did not dim the desire for many to rid themselves of the Franco Regime.

Gallo is certainly not on the side of Franco in this book, although he clearly shows what an effective leader and ringmaster he was. While - as a Socialist and ex-Communist himself - he clearly sides with the opposition forces, Gallo explains clearly how they failed to make much of an impression on a system that was only too happy to resort to censorship, imprisonment and state-sanctioned violence to stay in power.

Staying in power was what the regime was all about, and it did this by pandering to those large land-owners and capitalists that controlled the country. Francoism did very little over it's history to ensure working people were better off, and was more than happy to ship large numbers of them to Northern Europe as workers. The regime deliberately curtailed education and training, and periodically tried to crush regional separatism as well. While many Europeans enjoyed the sun and sand of Spanish holidays, they failed to see that Spain was, still, effectively a totalitarian dictatorship.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that Francoism died with Franco, and Spain rapidly transitioned to democratic rule - this was far from clear at the time Gallo wrote this book, and his fears for the future of the country are mapped out in the final few pages.

One for the aficionado, Spain under Franco is an interesting slice of history.

Cheers for now, from
A View Over the Bell