OT History Baws: Francisco Franco

Sounds like a pitcher for the giants

NPI

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He’s still dead.

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Franco had an Old Iberia Haircut-

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ISWYDT

Nice.

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He’s still dead.

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Seriously so.

Important to note that while Franco was an autocrat, he was not a fascist. He was a counterrevolutionary in contrast to the revolutionary Nazis. He wanted to defend the Spanish status quo and in fact reinstalled the monarchy upon his death. He made common cause with the Nazis in their anti communism; he accepted their help in the Spanish Civil War and sent troops to fight in the Eastern Front. However, the ardently Catholic Franco was repulsed by Nazi anti-Catholicism and he resented German interference in Spanish internal affairs. He also had qualms about Nazi anti-semitism. There is some indication that he may have had Jewish ancestry himself.

Franco played both sides quite well and by the early fifties was hosting US military bases

Oh, I agree. Just one of those "what ifs?" that is fun to discuss. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he could have helped Germany out at Gibraltar as a payback for assistance in the Civil War. Especially when you consider how unbeatable Germany appeared after the successes of '38, '39 and '40. Franco, reasonably so, might have thought the best pro-Franco/pro-Spain strategy was aligning with the winning team.

Ultimately, he was brilliant in playing it the way he did.

To answer your question, the best I have read was the Anthony Beevor's book on the Spanish Civil War. There was bad on both sides, but the least bad side won. Franco saved Spain from the communists.