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| Francisco Franco | |
 | |
Spanish Head of State | |
|---|---|
| In office April 1, 1939 – November 20, 1975 | |
| Preceded by | Manuel Azaña (as President) |
| Succeeded by | Juan Carlos I (as King) |
68th President of the Government of Spain 1st of the Francoism (1939-1975) | |
| In office February 5, 1939 – June 9, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Juan NegrÃn |
| Succeeded by | Luis Carrero Blanco |
| Born | December 4, 1892 Ferrol, Galicia, Spain |
| Died | November 20, 1975 (aged 82) Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Political party | FET y de las Jons |
| Spouse | Carmen Polo |
| Profession | Chief of the General Staff, Spanish Army |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
General Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 - November 20, 1975), commonly known as Francisco Franco (pronounced ) or Francisco Franco Bahamonde headed and later formally became head of state of Nationalist Spain from October 1936, and of all of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975.
Franco led a successful military career and reached the rank of General. He fought in Morocco and suppressed a strike in 1934. In February 1936, the left-wing Popular Front won the general election and formed a government. A period of severe instability and disarray followed the election, with escalating violence between left and right wing supporters. Anti-clerical violence against the Church by extremist militants further raised tensions. After the assassination of a major opposition figure, José Calvo Sotelo, by a commando unit of the Assault Guards in July 1936, Franco participated in a coup d'etat against the elected Popular Front government. The coup failed and evolved into the Spanish Civil War during which he emerged as the leader of the Nationalists against the elected government.
After winning the civil war, he dissolved the Spanish Parliament, establishing an authoritarian regime that lasted until 1978, when a new constitution was drafted. During the Second World War, Franco maintained a policy of neutrality, although he did assist Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a small scale against the Soviet Union, most famously by sending troops (known as the Blue Division) to aid Nazi Germany in fighting the USSR. Before the invasion of the Soviet Union by the German Army, Franco and Hitler met in Hendaye on October 23, 1940. During the Cold War, the United States established a diplomatic alliance with Franco, due to his strong anti-Communist policy. American President Richard Nixon toasted Franco , and, after Franco's death, stated: "General Franco was a loyal friend and ally of the United States."
Franco's state combined corporatism (though this form of corporatism was not the neocorporatism of fascists, but the paleocorporatism of the Middle Ages), nationalism, and a focus on traditional values. From 1947 and until his death he was de facto regent of Spain, which he ruled as a dictator, heavy prison sentences and the application of the death penalty against criminals, terrorists, and political opponents where present. After his death Spain began a transition to democracy.