Effects of the Spanish Civil War:
Social
High human cost:
~200k during war
~200k after war “White Terror”
Introduction of censorship
-No more freedom of speech
Introduction of conservative and
Catholic ideals:
-Women’s roles: traditional
Spanish was made compulsory
in all regions of Spain,
overtaking the roles of regional
languages like Catalan and
Basque.
Political
Franco was Spain’s sole dictator
after the war.
Regional autonomy was reduced
After the war, Franco launched a
“White Purge” to “save the
country from Communist”
-Political stability ensured
-In 1939 the Law of Political
Responsibility made supporters
of the Republicans liable to
punishment.
Industrial and political activism
was outlawed:
-The CNT and UGT were
destroyed
Church power and influence was
renewed
Use of Basque, Catalan and
Galician were restricted and
political power centred in
Madrid.
Franco restored the Monarchy
In the 1960’s, as Franco grew
older, he increasingly delegated
control and after his death,
democracy was restored.
(helped by then King, Juan
Carlos).
Economic
10-15% of Spanish wealth was
destroyed.
-Per capita income was 28%
lower in 1939 than it was in
1935.
70% of Madrid’s factory
machinery needed replacing and
communications needed to be
rebuilt.
Republican land reforms were
reversed.
Spain had large debts that had
to be paid off.
-Compounding the issue was
that the Soviets had taken the
Spanish gold reserves.
-Britain and Germany
demanded debt repayments
before giving new loans.
The loss of life meant that Spain
lacked skilled labour and there
was a further labour shortage.
Spain remained neutral during
WW2 and thus improved.
Spain was isolated after the war
and suffered famine in 1946.
Due to Franco’s anti-communist
stances, he was invited to and
supported by Nato throughout
the 1950’s and 60’s. As such,
Spain’s economy improved and
it became a successful Capitalist
State.