The Relevance of Hannah Arendt’s Concept of

Totalitarianism in the Context of the Spanish Francoist

Regime

Maddi Lapitz for

Hauptseminar: Hannah Arendt, Dr. Timothy Nunan,

Universität Regensburg (SS-2023)

Universität Regensburg
25 of July, 2023
Hauptseminar: Hannah Arendt
Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
Maddi Lapitz

Hannah Arendt’s thought has shaped how modern society thinks about authoritarian

and totalitarian regimes, from the banality of the evil of those in charge in those regimes to

the mechanisms that come into play in their inner workings. This paper aims to critically

analyze how the themes and theories of her works about Totalitarianism relate to the Spanish

Francoist Dictatorship since its beginning in 1939, after the Civil War (1936-1939), and to the

posterior Transition of 1975. To do that, an introductory section will offer background

information on Arendt’s life and political thought, as well as her relationship with the Spanish

Francoist Regime. After the introduction, the development of the Francoist Regime and its

implications on Spanish society will be laid out, followed by Arendt’s concept of

totalitarianism and its implications. Finally, the relationship between the two will be

established, characterizing the Spanish Regime according to Arendt’s political philosophy.

Introduction

Hannah Arendt was born in 1906 in Hanover, to a German-Jewish family. She rarely

spoke of the formative years, the Then, as she called them, but we know from many sources

that her childhood was a happy one, at least until her father died of syphilis when she was 7

years old. During this time, her identity as a German Jew did not matter practically: she lived

as though she was German and only thought about her Jewishness when antisemitic

occurrences reminded her of it.1 She studied Philosophy at Marburg University, coinciding

with Heidegger, who went on to be her mentor and impacted her life both intellectually and

1
Elizabeth Young-Bruehl, Hannah Arendt: For love of the world. Yale University Press, 1982

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Universität Regensburg
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personally, and in Freiburg, where she also met and got acquainted with Karl Jaspers. In

1933, she was forced to flee Germany after the proclamation of the Third Reich, first to Paris,

and then in 1941 to New York. There, she became part of an influential community of

intellectuals, worked as a lecturer in various universities nationwide, and composed her most

famous works. 2

When it comes to her work and contribution, Arendt has become one of the most

influential political thinkers because of her most controversial opinions on the debates of her

time, mostly the repercussions of the Nazi Regime in her mother country. Her most important

works, which include Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), Eichman in Jerusalem (1963), or On

Human Condition (1958), all deal with the political and moral questions Nazism and extreme

antisemitism created, but instead of conforming to the popular narratives, she analyzed these

events from a philosophical, historical and sociological standpoint. The results she reached

with this kind of argumentation were not always well received, she was accused of betraying

her Jewish heritage and for justifying Nazi behavior in many accounts, but her theories have

stood the test of time, and have been used to get a better understanding of politics and its

mechanisms in all contexts imaginable, including the one at hand: the Francoist Regime.

In Arendt’s travel from Occupied France to New York, she traveled through Spain,

from Marseille to Lisbon, so that she could board the boat that would take her to freedom. In

these few weeks of 1941, she was able to see the destruction of the Civil War (1936-1939)

2
“Hannah Arendt (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy),” January 11, 2019,
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/#BioSke

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Universität Regensburg
25 of July, 2023
Hauptseminar: Hannah Arendt
Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
Maddi Lapitz

and to experience the beginnings of a regime that would last until Francisco Franco died in

1975. Even if these experiences are often omitted from her biographies, claiming her travel

took her directly from Porbou to Lisbon, there are many instances in which she remained

connected to the Spanish reality, such as her work in the Spanish Refugee Aid for

non-communist exiles, or her citing Ortega-Gasset’s work as a source for Origins of

Totalitarianism (1951).3 This indirect connection between Arendt and Franco’s Spain reveals

how her thought relates to the Spanish reality, as this paper will try to illustrate.

Development of Francoism in Spain

In order to understand the applications Hannah Arendt’s concept of Totalitarianism

could have in the Spanish Francoist regime, it is important to first get an overview of the

development and characteristics of a set regime, starting with the previous context and ending

with its consequences.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Spain suffered economic and social crises that

affected the general stability of the country, caused by the Restauration of the Borbon

Monarchy of 1874. After many years of political and social instability, a coup, and Primo de

Rivera’s dictatorship (1923-1930), the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed on the 14th

of April 1931. The aim of this Second Republic was to attempt general modernization and

democratization of the country, with measures directed to ending analphabetism or promoting

3
José Lasaga Medina. “Hannah Arendt en España, una relación fugaz pero intensa.” The Objective, June 18,
2023. https://theobjective.com/cultura/2023-06-18/hannah-arendt-en-espana-una-relacion-fugaz-pero-intensa/.

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culture in public spaces. However, as Spain was not completely ready for this sudden change

of pace, many sectors of society opposed and political polarization grew between progresists

and conservative monarchists. In this context, extremist movements started gaining ground,

like Fascists but also Communists and governability became almost impossible. This,

together with the fact that Spain was still mostly an agrarian country, in which the retribution

of wealth was despair, and in which socioeconomic inequality created cultural and

ideological clashes that were impossible to overcome, led to an impossibility to govern in an

orderly manner.

In this tumultuous context, on the 17th of July of 1936, generals from the military

who opposed the Republic’s government orchestrated a coup against it. The evergrowing

confrontation of other Republican and nationalist parties had already escalated political

discourse into violence, and so as tensions were at an all-time high all over the country, a

Civil War was declared, which lasted until 1939. The front lines of this war were decided

quickly, with Republicans taking over the East and Center of Spain, and nationalists

positioning themselves on the West and the North. After fierce battles especially in Barcelona

and Madrid, and the intervention of international militaries such as Germany or Italy in favor

of the Nationalists and the Soviet Union in favor of the Republicans, Francisco Franco

declared the end of the war in 1939.

The end of the Civil War supposed the beginning of the Francoist Regime, which

lasted until Franco’s death in 1975. This dictatorial regime had absolute control over the

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State, repressing dissidence and suppressing individual and civil liberties. Spanish

nationalism and conservative Catholicism were established as the official ideologies of the

new State, with all opposing opinions being censured thoroughly. The country was

internationally isolated for most of the regime, even if economic measures allowed for some

level of international trade in the 1960s and the 1970s, mostly out of necessity and the need to

position Spain as an economic power again. When Franco died in 1975, this authoritarian

dictatorship came to an end and the Transition to democracy began.

This Spanish Transition, that is, the social and political process that lead Spain to

democracy, was characterized by the negotiation of various political factors, including

opposition and syndicalist movements. A new Constitution was drafted (1978), general

elections were called (1977), and new political parties were created with the aim of reflecting

the political diversity of the country. It can not be denied that this process appointed civil

liberties and social guarantees to citizens at a level unimaginable in Francoist times, but still,

the presence of Francoist authorities and the lack of condemnation for the events of the

40-year-long dictatorship have made people skeptical about the efficacy of this process.

Nowadays, there is a big sector of the population that favors the Francoist ideology and

defends the goodness it brought to Spanish society, whatever it may be.

When it comes to the ideological framework of Spanish Francoism, which will be of

the utmost importance when relating these successes back to Arendt’s political theories, it can

be said that the basis is a combination of nationalism, traditionalism, conservatism, and

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catholicism. The major aim of the regime was the unity of Spain and the centralization of the

State, exalting Spanish history and the longing for the glorious past as a motivation for the

present. Traditionalism was also prevalent, rejecting all modern or “liberal” notions and

instead advocating for patriarchal families, in tune with the conservative Catholic Church,

with which the Regime had a crucial relationship. Francoist Spain called itself “Catholic,

Apostolic, and Roman”, presenting as the number one defensor of the its values. The Church

had considerable power as an institution, as well as influence in the legislation and general

moral of society.

During this regime, repression and censorship were crucial for the State’s absolute

control and the silencing of any form of opposition. This repression included persecution,

imprisonment, and even execution of those contrary to the regime, political actors but also

artists, and all kinds of public figures or civilians. This included communists, republicans,

syndicalists, dissident intellectuals, and all alleged oppositions, all of which were controlled

by secret surveillance mechanisms and infiltrated spies. All cultural production was limited

and pre-approved by the regime before being accessed by the general public, in order to make

sure it adhered to Francoist values, limiting the artistic value of Spanish creators for more

than 40 years. When it came to education, an indoctrination system was put into place, so that

the official version of history and information about the Regime and its characteristics did not

potentially clash with the real events that transpired. This complete control of information

and opinion completely shaped Spanish society, generating fear, auto-censorship, and loss of

civil liberties up until the last years of Francoism.

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Universität Regensburg
25 of July, 2023
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Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
Maddi Lapitz

As will be explained by Arendt’s thought, the Francoist Regime was an authoritarian

one rather than a totalitarian one. It took complete control of the State and all its institutions,

but the aim was not to control all aspects of private and public life in the name of an

established ideology. Unlike totalitarian regimes, the Church had considerable power, and no

extreme points of systematic violence were reached, even in the context of repression and

censorship. It is true that the Francoist regime was supported by an ideological framework,

but it was not as concrete and mobilizing as the ones of Totalitarian regimes like Nazism or

Communism. This idea, the differentiation between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes,

will be thoroughly explained in the following sections of this essay, but it is important to

establish the characterization of this regime beforehand in order to better understand the

relationship it has with Arendtian totalitarianism.

Arendt’s Concept of Totalitarianism

Hannah Arendt’s contribution to the definition and characterization of totalitarianism,

which she explains in her work Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), has proved crucial to

analyzing oppressive and authoritarian political regimes. She developed her theories based on

the Twin Horrors of her time, Nazism and Stalinism, focusing on the nature of these regimes

and the conditions that made such unthinkable realities materialize in the last half of the 20th

century. By doing this, she identified the elements of totalitarian regimes which serve to

suppress individuality and freedom and enable humans to submit to the most vile authorities:

absolute power, totalitarian ideology, systemic violence, and terror. By laying these concepts

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Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
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out, Arendt aims to understand the strategies and tactics used to control an entire population,

with the intention of understanding what happened to her and millions of others, but also to

warn about the dangers of ideological manipulation and the erosion of democratic values, all

of which are of vital importance for the freedom and well-being of humans.

One of the most important elements of totalitarian regimes, as Arendt will propose, is

The State’s absolute control or power. Unlike traditional political power, which is obtained

through legitimate democratic processes and the consent of the population, authoritative

power is characterized by the concentration and centralization of power, in the hands of a sole

party or individual, like Hitler or Stalin. These personifications of the State control all aspects

of private and public life, eliminating any chance for political opposition. In this context,

there will be no room for individual freedom nor collective community-building

opportunities, which she will deem necessary for a society's political advancement. In this

case, “freedom, private as well as public, is nothing but an illusion.”4 In order to exert this

total influence, absolute power will also control the circulation of information and the media,

as to manipulate the population towards a certain ideology.

Another crucial element of totalitarian regimes is ideology, which, according to

Arendt, serves as a theoretical framework that justifies the actions of the regime itself.

Ideologies, such as Nazism or Communism, are able to mobilize the masses and establish a

coherent set of beliefs that can be juxtaposed with reality. As all socialization happens within

4
Jerome L Kohn. “Arendt’s Concept and Description of Totalitarianism.” Social Research: An International
Quarterly 69, no. 2 (June 1, 2002): 621–56. https://doi.org/10.1353/sor.2002.0061.

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Universität Regensburg
25 of July, 2023
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Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
Maddi Lapitz

the restrictions of totalitarian rule, manipulation, and propaganda serve to make individuals

assume these ideologies as their own and identify them as absolute truths. All of this has the

ability to control individual actions, justify oppression and, in short, shape reality to whatever

fits the ideological agenda. As Arendt puts it, “(t)otalitarian propaganda can outrageously

insult common sense only where common sense has lost its validity.”5

Systemic violence will be another defining aspect of totalitarian regimes according to

Arendt. For her, violence in totalitarian regimes does not manifest itself in isolated violent

acts of repression, but rather in the structural and systematic incorporation of violence as a

means to control society. This implies the State’s careful planning and organized application,

manifesting itself in political repression, torture, summary executions, concentration camps…

Apart from the elimination of dissident elements of society, the objective of this violence is

also to install fear in society and destroy all possibilities of public life and

community-building, which she will deem necessary for a democratic society. As the chance

for the organization will be non-existent, this systemic violence will eliminate the possibility

for organized resistance to the Totalitarian rule, both by the direct infliction of violence and

by the indirect threat of it.

As mentioned when discussing systemic violence, terror or fear will be of the utmost

importance for the upholding of totalitarian regimes. Totalitarian rule will use fear as a tool

for the submission of societies: by creating an environment so dominated by terror, citizens

5
Hannah Arendt. “The Origins of Totalitarianism.” Harcourt, Brace & World, 1951, p. 443

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will have no other choice but to censor themselves, obey every single rule, and limit their

own freedom of opinion out of fear of possible retaliations. As fear paralyzes all possible

public and political organization, individuals are left scared and isolated, much more

manipulable than ever before: “(t)he dependence and interdependence which we need in

order to realize our power, the amount of strength which is strictly our own, becomes a

source of despair whenever in complete loneliness we experience that one man alone has no

power at all but finds himself always overwhelmed and defeated by superior power.”6

Moreover, uncertainty and unpredictability will affect social trust and stability, exerting not

only the terror of physical punishment but also mental and emotional torture, which will

distort the perception of reality. All in all, taking into account the most important elements of

totalitarian rule, it can be said Arendt characterizes it as the unprecedented and complete loss

of individuality and freedom.

Analysis of the Reflection of totalitarian elements in Franco’s Regime

As Francoism is not a totalitarian regime, but rather an authoritarian one, Arendt’s

notions of totalitarianism will not adhere explicitly to the Spanish context. However, given

that those two notions are extremely interconnected and that the Francoist Dictatorship does

present many elements characterized as totalitarian, this analysis will show how the

Arendtian political theory is applicable to Franco’s regime, albeit it presents its characteristics

in a more mild manner.

6
Hannah Arendt. Hannah Arendt Papers: Speeches and Writings File, -1975; Essays and lectures; "On the
Nature of Totalitarianism: An Essay in Understanding," undated. - 1975, 1923, p. 28. Manuscript/Mixed
Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mss1105601268/.

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As seen in the previous section, one of the most important characteristics of

Totalitarianism is absolute State control. This is the point in which properly totalitarian

States, like Nazi Germany or Communist Russia, differ from authoritarian States like

Francoist Spain. In this case, more than one institution can be considered powerful in the

context of the dictatorship, most notably, the Catholic Church. However, it can’t be denied

that the Regime’s control, even if it had help from other sources of power, controlled both the

private and public realms like totalitarian control did, especially when it comes to the source

of this control. Arendt points out how totalitarian control comes from the manipulation and

extortion of the population, while legitimate political power comes from the active

participation of society, via discussion, democratic processes, and general consent.

Because of this, a totalitarian ruler’s power can never be considered legitimate: it is

essentially the suppression of political power. This is the case of both the Totalitarian regimes

Arendt works with, and also the Spanish dictatorship. Franco got to be “caudillo”, or Head of

State, because of the Nationalist coup of 1936 and the subsequent 3-year Civil War. This is by

no means a legitimate way to get State control, given that it does not account for the

population’s representation or participation. It is true that there were so-called elections

during the Franquist Regime, specifically nine times between 1948 and 1971, but these

electoral processes were nothing but an instrument to legitimize the Regime internationally

after the fall of the Third Reich and the generalized sense of repulsion for non-democratic

States: “from that date (1945) on, no political regime that wanted to be considered in an

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international context could avoid the regular celebration of elections.”7 These elections,

however, were mostly referendums in which public opinion was extremely manipulated to

favor one option over the other, or municipal elections in which all “threatening” candidates

were eliminated.

Ideology is also a focal point of totalitarian regimes, given that according to Arendt,

it’s the most important way in which Totalitarian Regimes control and manipulate their

citizens. It serves to dominate beliefs and create an alternative version of reality in which the

regime’s actions are all perfectly justified, in which the notions of right and wrong are so

stretched out they no longer mean anything. This is also Spain’s case between the years 1939

and 1975 when Francoist ideology became the norm from which all else was understood. As

mentioned before, this combination of nationalism, conservatism, catholicism, and

traditionalism was imposed using education, propaganda, and strong censorship. Even so, this

ideology served to unite the nation under one common conception of Spain, basing it on

loyalty to the regime but also pride in one’s nationality. As will be explained, Arendt did not

classify Francoism as a totalitarian ideology, but there is no doubt that it served a similar

purpose of control and mass manipulation in order to legitimize and maintain Franco’s

absolute rule.

According to Arendt, Francoist ideology is not as established or as mobilizing as the

ideologies of proper totalitarian States. Nazism and Communism both strived for the

7
Carlos Domper Lasús. “Las elecciones que siempre ganaba Franco.” ctxt.es | Contexto Y Acción, n.d.
https://ctxt.es/es/20201001/Firmas/33864/Carlos-Domper-Lasus-elecciones-Franco-dictadores-democracia.htm

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Universität Regensburg
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Hauptseminar: Hannah Arendt
Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
Maddi Lapitz

domination of the world based on their ideals, may they be the defense of the mystical Aryan

Race or the rejection of Capitalism, which they deemed superior to any other. While

Francoism also believed its ideals were better than the rest, the aim of its propaganda was

simply to uphold the status and unite the country. The rise of Francoism, or the nationalism of

before, was the extremist reaction to the polarized society of the Second Spanish Republic,

not as a deliberate strategy to control the nation, and definitely not with the intention of

expanding globally.

The biggest and most significant difference between totalitarian ideologies and other,

also damaging, ideologies like Francoism is the fact that they mobilize masses in an

unprecedented manner and that they are able to legitimize the unthinkable with pure reason:

“(w)hat distinguished these new totalitarian ideologists from their predecessors was that it

was no longer primarily the “idea” of ideology (...) which appealed to them, but the logical

process which could be developed from it.”8 Even if Francoism did inspire violence, it did

oppress the population, and it did persecute civilians in the name of a common ideology, it

never used its logic to justify systemic genocide or force its citizens to blindly participate in

terror. Stalinism or Nazism modified the truth to such an extent that the most unjustifiable

actions became mere logical results of reality. While crimes against humanity were

committed in the name of Francoism, they were hardly as ideologically motivated as Nazi or

Stalinist crimes.

8
Hannah Arendt. “Ideology and Terror: A Novel Form of Government.” The Review of Politics 15, no. 3 (July
1, 1953) p. 318-319

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One of the most important elements of totalitarian regimes in the Arendtian sense is

the use of systemic violence to control and uphold societal order. This violence can manifest

itself in many different forms: political repression, censorship, and in the most extreme cases,

concentration camps and executions. It is true that Francoism was not a properly totalitarian

regime, which means these manifestations of internalized violence were not as apparent, but

that does not mean they did not play a significant role in the Spanish dictatorship. In this

case, the centralization and personification of power led to the monopoly of violence in the

name of the Head of State, who was able to implement measures to maintain absolute control

and eliminate opposition even at the cost of the physical integrity of its population.

One of the main ways in which systemic violence appears in Francoism is political

repression, that is, the persecution and repression of those considered “enemies of the State”.

It is estimated 200.000 people were executed during the first years of the Spanish post-war

alone, as revenge for the crimes of the Civil War. As Franco himself said in a 1938 speech in

Zaragoza, “Every day that goes by, every life you sacrifice, every crime you commit, is a new

accusation for the day you stand in a trial before our justice.”9 Taking these declarations into

account, there is no doubt that Franquism had no issue with exerting violence in a

disproportionate and structural manner, given that it is impossible to murder 200.000 citizens

in an unorganized way. This repression and executions led to an environment in which

freedom and individuality were in jeopardy, just like in the totalitarian regimes Arendt talked

about.

9
José Ignacio Alvarez-Fernández. Memoria y Trauma En Los Testimonios de La Represión Franquista.
Anthropos Editorial, 2007.

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Another significant manifestation of systemic violence in the Franquist regime was

internment camps. Even if they are by no means comparable to Nazi concentration camps,

where people were executed in unprecedented dimensions mostly because of racial

motivations, these internment camps did dehumanize citizens and install terror in society.

These camps originated as a way to separate dissident war criminals from those criminals that

could be useful for the Nationalists once they won the war, around 1937. Still, as many grey

areas arose in which this classification was not as straightforward as they had hoped, labor

divisions were created and prisoners were forced to work firstly for the Nationalist's needs,

and once the war had ended, for the reconstruction of the Great Spanish Nation.10 This

modern form of slavery, similar to the one present in Germany and Russia during the Third

Reich, implies a dehumanization of the workers that can only be achieved with us versus

them mentality: we, the winners of the war, are superior and therefore them, those who dared

to rebel against us, should work for us. Even if the magnitude of the brutality and the

violence can not be equated to Nazism, the mechanisms of violence worked similarly in

Spanish Francoism.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that systemic violence also appears in the form of

censorship, intending to control information and limit freedom of speech and expression. All

cultural and artistic production had to be supervised by Francoist authorities, just like in

totalitarian regimes, limiting what Arendt understood as the public realm and therefore

eliminating the ability to organize and exercise democratic power. While censorship does not
10
Javier Sanz Rodrigo. “Internamiento y Trabajo Forzoso: Los Campos de Concentración de Franco.” Hispania,
Nova: Revista De Historia Contemporánea, no. 6 (January 1, 2006): 48.
https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2110205.

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constitute physical violence per se, it does lead to it direct or indirectly, given that it is

extremely linked with the political repression mentioned before. This is the case of the

famous Spanish author Federico Garcia Lorca, famously executed on the 19th of August of

1968 for his republicanism and the progressive themes of his poetry and plays. In this case, it

is demonstrated that extreme censorship leads to systemic violence in both authoritarian and

totalitarian regimes.

The last aspect of totalitarianism this essay will expand on is the use of terror as a

means to control the population and create a vigilante State in which no one feels safe enough

to exercise their freedom. During the Civil War, and the posterior Regime, terror was

installed via arbitrary violence and a generalized sense of uncertainty, which lead to auto

censorship, as well as mistrust among the population, both of which were necessary for the

imposition of a Francoist ideology. As Heras puts it, “Terror is an essential part of the

Regime, and just like the set of values to praise and the set of rules to follow was established,

a system of sustained intimidation was also put into place, powered by the myth of the inner

enemy.”11 In the Francoist Regime, the idea that everyone who opposed the Regime supposed

a threat to national security was so strong, that all dissident opinions were delegated to the

private sphere, never to be expressed in public for fear of being reported: “isolation may be

the beginning of terror; it certainly is its most fertile ground; it always is the result.”12 In

11
Manuel García Heras. “Instrumentos Legales Del Terror Franquista.” Historia Del Presente, no. 3 (January 1,
2004): 203–22.
http://historiadelpresente.es/sites/default/files/revista/articulos/3/314instrumentoslegalesdelterrorfranquista.pdf
12
Hannah Arendt. “Ideology and Terror: A Novel Form of Government.” The Review of Politics 15, no. 3 (July
1, 1953) p. 322

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Universität Regensburg
25 of July, 2023
Hauptseminar: Hannah Arendt
Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
Maddi Lapitz

Arendt’s words, terror served both as a way to install Francoist values, and later on, as a way

to maintain it.

Conclusion

This essay has illustrated how Spanish Francoism and Arendtian Totalitarianism

relate, even if they are not equal essentially. By defining totalitarian regimes in Arendt’s

terms, and then seeing how they manifest in Spanish history, this essay has intended to

highlight Arendt’s relevance in diverse political contexts, and also to shed light to the horrors

of Francoism, which are oftentimes disregarded as less harmful in comparison with Nazism,

Stalinism, or even Italian Fascism.

In today's context, when alt-right movements are gaining ground all over Europe, the

importance of these topics and the condemnation of Spain’s violent past turn more relevant

than ever. As Francoism did not end in a tragic manner, the Spanish society was not

confronted with its violent past like other European authoritarian or totalitarian regimes were.

Spain adopted the image of a country that was able to free itself, to pacifically get over

Francoism, but the truth is Francoist ideologies are still present in society, and will still be

present for as long as there is reluctance to condemn those years as what they really were. As

Fernandez says, “There are still a lot of Spanish people who associate Francoism with a time

of order and unprecedented economic progress, which would explain both the scarce negative

assessment of this regime and the lack of organized movements during the Transition

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demanding measures in the name of retroactive justice.”13 Even today, in 2023, the legitimacy

of Francoism is at the center of public debate, with the Falange (FE-JONS), what was

Franco’s political party, being a legitimate party able to be elected for Parliament, and new

alt-right parties like Vox defending Franco’s role in creating modern Spain.

Because of this, understanding Arendt’s characterization of totalitarianism and its

mechanisms of oppression is vital for the assessment of Spanish history and the solemn

rejection of those who justify or even glorify it. There is no way to free a country of its past if

it is not confronted with it, and as Arendt’s work is able to explain the most unimaginable

events of the 20th century and their relation to human nature, there is no better way to do so

than to reflect on her ideas. Even if Spain has failed to do so, it is necessary to know and

understand history in order not to repeat it, and so, understanding how and why Francoism

worked is the only way to fully and unconditionally move forward as a country.

Word count: 4599

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Paloma Fernández. “Presencia y Ausencia de La Guerra Civil y Del Franquismo En La Democracia Española:
Reflexiones En Torno a La Articulación y Ruptura Del ‘Pacto de Silencio.’” Memoria y Olvido Del
Franquismo, January 1, 2006, 245–94. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=1706581

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Universität Regensburg
25 of July, 2023
Hauptseminar: Hannah Arendt
Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
Maddi Lapitz

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19
Universität Regensburg
25 of July, 2023
Hauptseminar: Hannah Arendt
Prof. Dr. Timothy Nunan
Maddi Lapitz

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Maddi Lapitz

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