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Although Spain did not intervene in World War II and declared itself neutral first and non-belligerent after, Franco was favourable to the Axis powers from the beginning. In 1940 he met with Hitler in Hendaye, on the border with France, to negotiate Spain’s entry into the war, but this ultimately did not take place.
After the end of the war, the victorious powers tried to cause the fall of Franco regime, they isolated Spain internationally. -
The Blue Division, which was was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army, was created to support the Nazis on the Russian front. It was withdrawn from 1943 due to Allied victories.
Also some popular anti-communist sentiment, and 150 Portuguese volunteers served unofficially in the Blue Division. Although was Portugal under the Salazar regime whichremained neutral. -
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The Concordat with the Holy See and the Spanish-American Friendship Treaty were signed, which allowed the installation of US military bases in Spain in exchange for US economic aid. The Falangists lost influence and high positions were occupied by Catholics and monarchists. The political system was defined as an organic democracy, although the dictatorship remained.
This contributed to the organization of riots at the University of Madrid and workers’ strikes in Asturias and Catalonia. -
At the end of the 1950s, people linked to the Catholic group Opus Dei applied technical criteria to develop the Spanish economy. The stabilization plan was enacted, a decree law that dictated the elimination of Tax benefits for public companies and the reduction of public spending. Also the currency (the peseta) was devalued to stimulate foreign investment and trade.
In this way, autarchy was abandoned and the Spanish economy moved closer to the capitalist system. -
The economic crisis increased social discontent. Strikes, led by underground unions, increased, despite being illegal.
The economic crisis and increased opposition coincided with the political crisis. Franco’s health was deteriorating rapidly and, faced with the possibility of his death, the regime wanted to plan for the future. In 1973, Franco appointed Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco head of government to guarantee continuity. But, that same year, ETA assassinated him. -
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The PSOE began its internal reorganization in the Congress of Suresnes (France) and elected Felipe González as general secretary, as in the sixties opposition to Franco increased.
The Communist Party also proposed a policy of national reconciliation, to achieve the alliance of all the parties that opposed the dictatorship, also associations were created, such as the Democratic Board of Spain and the Democratic Convergence Platform which organized opposition to the regime. -
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In July 1976, the king forced Arias Navarro to resign and was succeeded by Adolfo Suárez, who carried out a series of reforms that started the implementation of the democratic system in Spain, where political plurality and individual rights and freedoms were guaranteed.
He approved the Law for Political Reform, decreed an amnesty for political prisoners, legalized political parties, including the Communist Party, and called elections for June 1977. -
The Constitution recognizes the national sovereignty in Spanish and universal suffrage,that the political form of the state is the parliamentary monarchy and the king is the head of state, it sets the separation of powers: the Cortes Generales with two chambers, the Congress of Deputies and the Senate (legislative power) the Government (executive power) and the judges and magistrates (judiciary) also th possibility of creating Autonomous Communities is contemplated. Among other things. -
Spain joined NATO during the Government of Calvo Sotelo, in the midst of great popular opposition encouraged by the PSOE submitting to a referendum.
However, the socialist government submitted Spain’s permanence in NATO to a popular referendum, but supported the affirmative vote with three conditions: not joining the military structure, not introducing nuclear weapons and reducing the US military presence. The Socialist Party won popular support. -
The PSOE won the 1982 elections by an absolute majority and until 1996 the socialist governments succeeded one upon the other, headed by Felipe González. In this year the Spanish political situation was unstable. Democracy was not well established and there was a danger of a new military coup. Between 1982 and 1996 democracy was definitively consolidated in our country. They carried out numerous reforms that modernized Spain such as the expantion of the welfare state. -
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The PSOE decided to strengthen ties with the countries that could favour entry into the organization (France, Germany and the UK). It also adopted harsh measures to make it more competitive, adjusting it to those of the other countries, which in general had a higher level of development.
Finally, Spain signed the Accession Treaty, which entered into force in1986. The incorporation of Spain to the EEC was a step decisive for the economic modernization of our country.