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01
At the end of World War II media in Spain deliberately downplayed Nazi extermination camps, suggesting they did not exist and that inmates died from starvation or disease due to war and Allied blockade.
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02
Dictator of Spain from 1936 to 1975.
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03
In July 1974 he suffered an attack of thrombophlebitis, signaling successive afflictions over 16 months: partial kidney failure, bronchial pneumonia, coagulated blood in his pharynx, pulmonary edema, bacterial peritonitis, gastric hemorrhage, endotoxic shock and finally cardiac arrest. After relatives asked doctors to remove support systems, he died on November 20, 1975.
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04
His death was a recurring running gag on Weekend Update segments of Saturday Night Live during its first year, with the line Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!
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05
He was the last and longest-surviving fascist leader from the Nazi era.
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06
When Walter Cronkite interviewed him in 1963, Franco submitted questions and answers in advance and read prepared answers off-camera. This was the only way he would grant interviews.
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07
His favorite film was Nobleza baturra, released in 1935.
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08
After capturing Madrid during the Spanish Civil War, he said he had five columns attacking the city: four outside and one inside. This gave rise to the terms fifth column and fifth columnists.
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09
He requested help from German and Italian air forces to bomb rebel positions during the Spanish Civil War.
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10
Franco was initially keen to join World War II on the Axis side after the Fall of France, but realized his plan to invade Gibraltar would likely fail due to British defenses.
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11
Historians dispute whether Franco’s regime was fascist. Some believe he was originally fascist but became more authoritarian by the 1950s. Others describe his regime as semi-fascist.
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12
He used more than 190 concentration camps to intern opponents.
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13
In May 2013 documents showed that UK’s MI6 spent over 200 million dollars in present-day equivalent bribing senior Spanish military officers and others to keep Spain from joining World War II on the Axis side.
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14
Joined the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1937 and signed a revised version in November 1941.
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15
Formed the Blue Division to fight under German command against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944.
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16
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin wanted to invade Spain in 1945 due to Franco’s aid to the Axis.
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17
Ordered a list of all Spanish Jews to be compiled on May 13, 1941 for the Final Solution.
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18
It is widely believed Franco actually died on November 19, 1975, but his death was not announced until the following day.
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19
He personally requested the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces in 1937. For the rest of his life he maintained the Communists destroyed the town.
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20
Many Spanish officials believed Franco would have officially joined World War II if Hitler had given him French Morocco in October 1940.
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21
Allowed German and Italian U-Boats to use Spanish harbors from 1940 to 1944.
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22
On June 19, 1940 Franco sent a message to Hitler saying he was prepared to join the war in return for help building Spain’s colonial empire. Hitler was annoyed by the request for French Cameroon.
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23
Banned Freemasonry, Communism and other secret societies in 1940, claiming Freemasonry caused the fall of the Spanish colonial empire and the Spanish Civil War.
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24
Allowed many former Nazis, such as Otto Skorzeny and Léon Degrelle, and other former Fascists to flee to Spain.
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25
Francoist Spain has been considered fascist in terms of authoritarian ultra-nationalism, described by some authors as semi-fascist.
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26
In speaking on the record to German official Eberhard von Stohrer, he stated he completely identified with Hitler’s methods of governance.
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27
He allowed both Axis ships and aircraft to get fuel, supplies and repairs at Spanish coastal places.
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28
He ended trade with the Axis in May 1944 after the United States stated it would no longer trade petroleum with Spain.
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29
More than 100 Nazis were given a new identity and allowed to live out their lives in Spain.
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30
In August 2018 the Spanish government approved the exhumation of Franco’s remains from Valley of the Fallen mausoleum near Madrid.
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31
He refused to recognize the state of Israel.
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32
British National Archives files from 1953 show that Franco claimed Spain had been promised Gibraltar in return for not attacking the colony during World War II. The UK denied any such agreement.
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33
He made several anti-Semitic remarks in public speeches.
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34
An Amnesty Law adopted in 1977 prevents any criminal investigation into the Franco years. Statues were removed and streets renamed to erase signs of Spain’s fascist past.
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35
He continued to believe the Axis would win until late in World War II, even in winter 1944-45 feeling Germany’s secret weapons would turn the tide.
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36
At a victory parade in Madrid in May 1939, Franco denounced the Jewish spirit which permitted the alliance of big capital with Marxists. He later criticized Britain and France and justified persecution of those races marked by the stigma of their greed.
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37
The UK embargoed shipments of oil to Spain on July 27, 1940 to deter Franco from joining the Axis.
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38
He continued to trade war materials like tungsten with Germany until August 1944 when Germans withdrew from the Spanish frontier.
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39
Full freedom of religion in Spain was only allowed three years after his death.
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40
It has been suggested Franco did not officially join the Axis because the resources he requested from Hitler in October 1940 were not forthcoming.
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41
Brutally crushed the Asturian miners’ strike of 1934 with troops, aircraft, warships and armored trains.
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42
After World War II Spain was not allowed to join the United Nations due to wartime support for the Axis, and was isolated until mid-1950s.
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43
Enabled IRA terrorist Frank Ryan to escape from Burgos Prison on July 15, 1940 to assist Nazi Germany as an IRA-Abwehr go-between.
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44
He stopped using the fascist salute in the late 1940s.
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45
After the Spanish Civil War a telegram from Franco’s headquarters revealed he asked the German Condor Legion to carry out the attack on Guernica.
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46
Invaded and occupied the Tangier International Zone in 1940, maintaining occupation until 1945.
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47
Made homosexuality illegal in Spain in 1954.
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48
Allowed former Croatian fascist dictator Ante Pavelic to secretly move to Spain in 1957.
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49
His regime worked with Axis intelligence networks to spy on Allied ships moving through the Straits of Gibraltar.
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50
Despite agreement with Allies in 1944, Franco continued to supply intelligence to the Axis and smuggled at least 800 tons of war materials to Germany.
