1 00:00:03,433 --> 00:00:06,733 (male narrator) August 2017. 2 00:00:06,766 --> 00:00:09,433 In Valladolid, Spain. 3 00:00:09,466 --> 00:00:12,366 A mass grave is revealed. 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,266 It is just one of more than 2000 5 00:00:15,300 --> 00:00:18,833 mass burial sites across the nation. 6 00:00:18,866 --> 00:00:20,933 (Guy Hedgecoe) According to Amnesty International, 7 00:00:20,966 --> 00:00:23,633 Spain has the highest number 8 00:00:23,666 --> 00:00:27,700 of mass graves in the world after Cambodia. 9 00:00:27,733 --> 00:00:32,466 (narrator) This is the legacy of General Francisco Franco, 10 00:00:32,500 --> 00:00:35,366 victor of the Spanish Civil War. 11 00:00:37,833 --> 00:00:41,566 After taking control of the country in 1939, 12 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,033 he secures his hold on the nation 13 00:00:45,066 --> 00:00:49,666 by unleashing a wave of violence against his countrymen. 14 00:00:49,700 --> 00:00:55,000 (Paul Preston) There were probably 20,000 people executed 15 00:00:55,033 --> 00:00:58,500 after the civil war, after the end of hostilities. 16 00:00:58,533 --> 00:01:01,433 It's a regime of terror. 17 00:01:01,466 --> 00:01:05,733 (narrator) Within 6 years, Adolf Hitler will take his own life. 18 00:01:05,766 --> 00:01:10,300 Benito Mussolini will be swinging from his heels. 19 00:01:10,333 --> 00:01:14,800 But Franco will rule Spain with ruthless efficiency 20 00:01:14,833 --> 00:01:17,966 for almost 40 years. 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,366 (Paul Preston) Franco was someone who never lost a minute's sleep 22 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,833 over the crimes that were committed in his name. 23 00:01:24,866 --> 00:01:28,333 (narrator) What drove this general to wage war on his people, 24 00:01:28,366 --> 00:01:31,133 destroy his country's new democracy, 25 00:01:31,166 --> 00:01:34,166 and establish Europe's longest dictatorship? 26 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,900 [loud cheering] 27 00:01:37,933 --> 00:01:40,633 (woman) Dictatorships have had an incredible impact 28 00:01:40,666 --> 00:01:43,433 in the past century. 29 00:01:43,466 --> 00:01:47,266 These dictators ended up learning from one another. 30 00:01:47,300 --> 00:01:50,966 (man) They're all different, but many use the same tactics. 31 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,400 (woman) The use of terror. (man) Propaganda. 32 00:01:53,433 --> 00:01:55,566 (woman) Control the elites. Create an enemy. 33 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,000 Cult of personality. (man) Use violence-- 34 00:01:58,033 --> 00:02:00,800 These are tools that dictators use to stay in power. 35 00:02:00,833 --> 00:02:02,600 [loud cheering] 36 00:02:09,166 --> 00:02:12,866 (narrator) The roots of Francisco Franco's dictatorship 37 00:02:12,900 --> 00:02:16,333 lie within deep divisions in the Spanish nation 38 00:02:16,366 --> 00:02:20,166 and within his own family. 39 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,900 Born in 1892, 40 00:02:23,933 --> 00:02:28,366 Franco is the 7th generation of a naval dynasty. 41 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,533 For almost 2 centuries, 42 00:02:31,566 --> 00:02:35,033 his family has sailed for the legendary Spanish fleet. 43 00:02:35,066 --> 00:02:38,266 Francisco dreams of joining them. 44 00:02:38,300 --> 00:02:41,000 But it's not to be. 45 00:02:45,333 --> 00:02:49,533 In 1898, when Franco is 6, 46 00:02:49,566 --> 00:02:52,500 Spain goes to war with the United States 47 00:02:52,533 --> 00:02:54,733 over control of Cuba. 48 00:02:54,766 --> 00:02:58,300 Spain's navy is devastated. 49 00:02:58,333 --> 00:03:02,433 When the Spanish-American war ends, the country has lost Cuba, 50 00:03:02,466 --> 00:03:06,133 Puerto Rico, and almost all of its empire. 51 00:03:09,533 --> 00:03:14,133 It is a wrenching and humiliating amputation. 52 00:03:14,166 --> 00:03:17,566 There was an identity crisis if you didn't have an empire. 53 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,233 it was a cultural political trauma 54 00:03:20,266 --> 00:03:23,600 for families related to the military, for the military 55 00:03:23,633 --> 00:03:27,333 and the political elites, for the government. 56 00:03:27,366 --> 00:03:30,566 (narrator) As Spain's empire falls to pieces, 57 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,666 so does Franco's homelife. 58 00:03:33,700 --> 00:03:37,800 His father, Nicolas Franco is a naval officer, 59 00:03:37,833 --> 00:03:40,266 and a notorious man about town, 60 00:03:40,300 --> 00:03:43,700 known for his womanizing and drinking. 61 00:03:43,733 --> 00:03:47,733 (Paul Preston) I think a lot of Franco's problems derived, 62 00:03:47,766 --> 00:03:50,233 of course, from the family dynamic. 63 00:03:50,266 --> 00:03:53,200 His father despised him, 64 00:03:53,233 --> 00:03:57,266 he had two brothers, and his father 65 00:03:57,300 --> 00:04:00,900 massively preferred the other two. 66 00:04:00,933 --> 00:04:05,566 Franco's mother was a very strict Catholic. 67 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,533 Franco was the mommy's boy. 68 00:04:08,566 --> 00:04:12,300 These two things I think created a sense of vulnerability, 69 00:04:12,333 --> 00:04:15,666 but also a sense that he had to prove himself. 70 00:04:15,700 --> 00:04:17,966 (narrator) Franco will adopt his mother's 71 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,566 deeply conservative vision of Spain 72 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,100 and devote his life to making it a reality. 73 00:04:24,133 --> 00:04:27,266 Yet he also wants to please his father, 74 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:30,666 and that means a career in the military. 75 00:04:30,700 --> 00:04:32,400 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) The problem with Franco was 76 00:04:32,433 --> 00:04:35,100 that he really wanted to be in the navy. 77 00:04:35,133 --> 00:04:38,966 The Naval Academy was closed 78 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,766 because Spain has lost most of its fleet in the war 79 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,966 so he has to settle for infantry, 80 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,433 which was far less prestigious. 81 00:04:49,466 --> 00:04:52,133 (narrator) 1907... 82 00:04:52,166 --> 00:04:56,233 Franco enters the Toledo military academy 83 00:04:56,266 --> 00:04:58,833 determined to be an officer. 84 00:04:58,866 --> 00:05:01,333 Small for his age 85 00:05:01,366 --> 00:05:03,933 and conspicuous for a high-pitched voice, 86 00:05:03,966 --> 00:05:07,166 he endures severe bullying. 87 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:11,133 (Paul Preston) Well, Franco was a very small person 88 00:05:11,166 --> 00:05:15,466 and one of the ways in which he coped with being in the army 89 00:05:15,500 --> 00:05:17,633 was by creating a series of myths, 90 00:05:17,666 --> 00:05:19,766 and throughout his whole life, 91 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,133 Franco was a bit like the Wizard of Oz, 92 00:05:23,166 --> 00:05:26,933 he was somebody who hid behind a series of masks. 93 00:05:26,966 --> 00:05:30,566 (narrator) When Franco graduates in 1910 94 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,733 his ambitions define him as much as his uniform. 95 00:05:33,766 --> 00:05:36,666 Spain's military class is obsessed 96 00:05:36,700 --> 00:05:40,166 with restoring the nation's prestige. 97 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,266 For a young officer, the best place to start is 98 00:05:44,300 --> 00:05:48,133 in one of Spain's remaining colonial outposts, Morocco. 99 00:05:48,166 --> 00:05:50,933 in Spain, in the peninsula, 100 00:05:50,966 --> 00:05:54,300 if you were an army officer, promotion was incredibly slow. 101 00:05:54,333 --> 00:05:56,600 It was dead man's shoes. 102 00:05:56,633 --> 00:05:59,700 Franco chose to go to Africa 103 00:05:59,733 --> 00:06:02,933 because it was the best place to get quick promotion. 104 00:06:02,966 --> 00:06:04,900 [machine-gun fire] 105 00:06:04,933 --> 00:06:07,900 (narrator) 1912... 106 00:06:07,933 --> 00:06:10,833 Moroccan rebels have launched a violent campaign 107 00:06:10,866 --> 00:06:14,866 to force the Spanish out. 108 00:06:14,900 --> 00:06:18,833 Lieutenant Franco is assigned to Spain's Army of Africa, 109 00:06:18,866 --> 00:06:23,533 a battalion of native Moroccans used for the fiercest fighting. 110 00:06:25,900 --> 00:06:27,833 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) Going to Africa, he was lucky. 111 00:06:27,866 --> 00:06:29,933 If he didn't get killed, 112 00:06:29,966 --> 00:06:32,900 meant the possibility of rapid promotion. 113 00:06:32,933 --> 00:06:38,133 This is what Franco and many other officers did-- 114 00:06:38,166 --> 00:06:41,833 they became high-ranking officers within a few years... 115 00:06:41,866 --> 00:06:45,200 if they survived. 116 00:06:45,233 --> 00:06:48,533 (narrator) The Army of Africa has a name 117 00:06:48,566 --> 00:06:49,933 for young officers like Franco... 118 00:06:52,333 --> 00:06:54,866 "the Betrothed of Death." 119 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:02,500 Of the first 42 officers assigned to the unit in 1912, 120 00:07:02,533 --> 00:07:06,233 only 7 are alive in 1915. 121 00:07:06,266 --> 00:07:10,233 And one of them is Franco. 122 00:07:10,266 --> 00:07:14,966 While fighting with the Army of Africa, he employs a tactic 123 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,466 that will come to define his dictatorship. 124 00:07:21,866 --> 00:07:25,900 Terror is the indiscriminate and arbitrary use of force 125 00:07:25,933 --> 00:07:29,500 that can incite fear in the hearts of people. 126 00:07:29,533 --> 00:07:32,600 These acts of terror are public. 127 00:07:32,633 --> 00:07:37,066 They're meant to be public; they're meant to seen. 128 00:07:37,100 --> 00:07:40,800 The experience in Morocco, the experience of colonial war, 129 00:07:40,833 --> 00:07:42,800 which is war without limits, 130 00:07:42,833 --> 00:07:46,733 completely wild war against civilians 131 00:07:46,766 --> 00:07:50,266 where torture and mass killings are allowed, 132 00:07:50,300 --> 00:07:54,966 these definitely shaped his character. 133 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,200 (narrator) His unit becomes infamous for its bloodthirsty tactics. 134 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,766 They cut the ears and the noses of the Moroccan rebels, 135 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,300 and they take pictures of themselves with these trophies. 136 00:08:09,333 --> 00:08:12,366 This is a brutal war, 137 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,166 and this is where this man is finding his personality, 138 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,533 who he is. 139 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,933 (Paul Preston) Obviously it would be impossible 140 00:08:22,966 --> 00:08:26,733 to know that Franco arrived as a young soldier in Africa 141 00:08:26,766 --> 00:08:29,366 determined that one day he would be the dictator of Spain. 142 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,166 It wasn't like that. 143 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:36,966 But very soon we can see lots and lots of pieces of evidence 144 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,733 of just how calculating he was. 145 00:08:42,733 --> 00:08:46,100 (narrator) Franco learns that fear can be useful with subordinates 146 00:08:46,133 --> 00:08:49,800 as well as enemies. 147 00:08:49,833 --> 00:08:53,166 (Guy Hedgecoe) One of his soldiers refused to eat his lunch one day 148 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,300 and threw it back in the face of one of the officers. 149 00:08:56,333 --> 00:08:58,900 Franco had that soldier shot, 150 00:08:58,933 --> 00:09:02,633 and he forced the rest of the battalion 151 00:09:02,666 --> 00:09:06,000 to parade past the corpse of this dead soldier 152 00:09:06,033 --> 00:09:09,600 to remind them of the need for discipline. 153 00:09:09,633 --> 00:09:14,800 (narrator) Terror is his tactic, and the Army of Africa is his tool. 154 00:09:14,833 --> 00:09:19,100 One day he will use both to seize ultimate power in Spain. 155 00:09:19,133 --> 00:09:23,333 But in 1916, he is a young officer testing his limits 156 00:09:23,366 --> 00:09:27,000 and building a reputation for bravery. 157 00:09:27,033 --> 00:09:29,633 To be courageous, you need to know fear. 158 00:09:29,666 --> 00:09:32,666 You need to have the imagination to know 159 00:09:32,700 --> 00:09:35,533 what you're letting yourself in for, 160 00:09:35,566 --> 00:09:38,733 and Franco, in my view, was empty inside. 161 00:09:38,766 --> 00:09:42,466 He had, seems to have had little or no emotion, 162 00:09:42,500 --> 00:09:45,766 so when it's said, "Franco is a man who knew no fear," 163 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,833 I believe that, I believe he knew no fear, 164 00:09:48,866 --> 00:09:52,900 and that to me, for what it's worth, is not courage. 165 00:09:52,933 --> 00:09:56,133 (narrator) In June, Franco's unit makes 166 00:09:56,166 --> 00:09:59,400 a frontal assault on insurgents trenches. 167 00:09:59,433 --> 00:10:02,100 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) This is very dangerous. 168 00:10:02,133 --> 00:10:06,333 And the sharpshooters, of the rebels target officers. 169 00:10:06,366 --> 00:10:09,266 (narrator) Leading from the front, Franco takes a bullet. 170 00:10:12,233 --> 00:10:17,400 His unit loses 56 of its 133 men. 171 00:10:17,433 --> 00:10:23,133 And Franco is very nearly one of them. 172 00:10:23,166 --> 00:10:27,866 At the time, an abdominal wound is often a death sentence. 173 00:10:31,666 --> 00:10:34,833 Against all odds, he makes a full recovery 174 00:10:34,866 --> 00:10:38,033 and is promoted to major. 175 00:10:38,066 --> 00:10:43,333 To his Moroccan troops, Franco's survival is a sign. 176 00:10:43,366 --> 00:10:47,066 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) They started to say that he had "baraca"-- 177 00:10:47,100 --> 00:10:49,566 like a sort of blessing, good luck. 178 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,333 So they follow him blindly. 179 00:10:53,366 --> 00:10:57,733 (narrator) For Franco, it's confirmation that his life has a purpose. 180 00:10:57,766 --> 00:11:00,633 (Guy Hedgecoe) That adulation persuaded him 181 00:11:00,666 --> 00:11:04,733 that he was someone special, that he'd been chosen 182 00:11:04,766 --> 00:11:09,966 perhaps by providence, perhaps by God, to help Spain. 183 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,433 (Paul Preston) In a very famous interview he said, 184 00:11:13,466 --> 00:11:17,600 "Without Africa, I do not know how to understand myself." 185 00:11:17,633 --> 00:11:20,600 (narrator) Franco's African experience is 186 00:11:20,633 --> 00:11:23,533 also an opportunity to enhance his reputation. 187 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:31,633 In Morocco you have this group of embedded journalists 188 00:11:31,666 --> 00:11:35,766 who are quite pro war, who are there to promote, 189 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,700 to make popular the cause of the war among the Spanish public. 190 00:11:39,733 --> 00:11:42,466 They have been sent by the newspapers from Madrid, 191 00:11:42,500 --> 00:11:44,366 from Barcelona, from the provinces, 192 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,600 and they are looking for heroes. 193 00:11:48,633 --> 00:11:51,900 (Paul Preston) Very early on, he began to cultivate journalists, 194 00:11:51,933 --> 00:11:54,833 say from about 1916 onwards, 195 00:11:54,866 --> 00:11:58,466 there are more and more articles about him. 196 00:11:58,500 --> 00:12:01,100 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) He became very political as well. 197 00:12:01,133 --> 00:12:05,100 Because there is, one thing is the officer in combat 198 00:12:05,133 --> 00:12:09,333 and then the officer who tells the story of the combat. 199 00:12:09,366 --> 00:12:13,233 And something that Franco learned very early is 200 00:12:13,266 --> 00:12:17,333 how to please the press with the right stories. 201 00:12:17,366 --> 00:12:19,600 (Paul Preston) The national right-wing newspaper 202 00:12:19,633 --> 00:12:23,333 starts to refer to him as "el ace de la legion," 203 00:12:23,366 --> 00:12:25,100 the ace of the legion. 204 00:12:27,266 --> 00:12:30,766 (narrator) In 1926, 205 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,233 Franco is promoted to brigadier general. 206 00:12:34,266 --> 00:12:40,366 At 33, he is the youngest general in all of Europe. 207 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:45,233 The bullied little cadet is a certified war hero. 208 00:12:45,266 --> 00:12:49,100 Africa has given him the respect he craves, 209 00:12:49,133 --> 00:12:55,100 and the tactics that will mark his rise to power. 210 00:12:55,133 --> 00:12:58,200 But now, at the peak of his career, 211 00:12:58,233 --> 00:13:02,133 a tide of political change could destroy his dreams for Spain. 212 00:13:06,933 --> 00:13:09,600 [loud explosions] 213 00:13:14,133 --> 00:13:17,066 The convulsions of the First World War 214 00:13:17,100 --> 00:13:19,666 and the Russian revolution of 1917 215 00:13:19,700 --> 00:13:23,833 have transformed European society. 216 00:13:23,866 --> 00:13:27,800 By contrast with its enduring monarchy, 217 00:13:27,833 --> 00:13:30,800 Spain seems tradition bound. 218 00:13:30,833 --> 00:13:35,433 The population is largely rural, and the Catholic church 219 00:13:35,466 --> 00:13:40,333 a powerful force, but even here, change is brewing. 220 00:13:40,366 --> 00:13:42,800 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) The country was industrializing. 221 00:13:42,833 --> 00:13:45,366 The country was becoming more urban. 222 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,966 There were huge pockets of poverty. 223 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,933 Very strong social inequalities, 224 00:13:50,966 --> 00:13:55,166 and the political system was problematic. 225 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,133 (narrator) The gap between rich and poor 226 00:13:58,166 --> 00:14:00,766 is a faultline that divides Spanish society. 227 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,600 Those who have knew what they had, 228 00:14:03,633 --> 00:14:06,133 and they knew how to go about keeping it, 229 00:14:06,166 --> 00:14:08,766 whereas all those who wanted to change things 230 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:10,300 all had very different ideas. 231 00:14:13,833 --> 00:14:16,266 (narrator) Inspired by Russia's Communist Revolution, 232 00:14:16,300 --> 00:14:19,266 many turn to socialism, which is 233 00:14:19,300 --> 00:14:22,266 sweeping countries like France and Germany. 234 00:14:22,300 --> 00:14:26,633 Others look to the Fascism of Benito Mussolini's Italy. 235 00:14:26,666 --> 00:14:29,500 Some blame the Catholic Church 236 00:14:29,533 --> 00:14:33,200 for complicity in maintaining an oppressive status quo. 237 00:14:33,233 --> 00:14:36,566 (Paul Preston) You go into Spanish churches, 238 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,166 and they have, you know, gold altars and so on. 239 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,800 In places where the people were starving, 240 00:14:42,833 --> 00:14:45,666 this created huge hatred. 241 00:14:45,700 --> 00:14:49,766 (narrator) Anarchists want to tear down the existing power structure. 242 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:54,133 So all of this is happening and for people like Franco 243 00:14:54,166 --> 00:14:57,400 and traditionalists, those kind of related to the military, 244 00:14:57,433 --> 00:15:00,233 this is really absolutely beyond the pale, 245 00:15:00,266 --> 00:15:04,233 this is not what they want, they are looking back 246 00:15:04,266 --> 00:15:07,200 to an imperial Spain of centuries gone 247 00:15:07,233 --> 00:15:09,933 where there was hierarchy, where people knew their place. 248 00:15:13,666 --> 00:15:16,666 (narrator) April 1931. 249 00:15:16,700 --> 00:15:20,266 Support for the monarchy is plummeting. 250 00:15:20,300 --> 00:15:24,266 Facing a possible insurrection, 251 00:15:24,300 --> 00:15:27,400 the Spanish King agrees to step down. 252 00:15:30,066 --> 00:15:32,666 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) King Alfonso XIII 253 00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:37,066 steps down in 1931 because the country rejects him. 254 00:15:37,100 --> 00:15:40,233 (Helen Graham) He didn't have the support 255 00:15:40,266 --> 00:15:43,366 of sufficient numbers of old Spain. 256 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,433 There was an awful lot of animus against Alfonso the 13th 257 00:15:47,466 --> 00:15:51,200 not against the monarchy so much but against him personally. 258 00:15:51,233 --> 00:15:55,100 So there's a sense of new constituencies 259 00:15:55,133 --> 00:15:57,733 knocking on the door of an old system 260 00:15:57,766 --> 00:16:01,000 and wanting some kind of representation. 261 00:16:01,033 --> 00:16:03,633 (narrator) Within months a new republic is formed 262 00:16:03,666 --> 00:16:06,866 and a left-leaning government established. 263 00:16:12,066 --> 00:16:15,766 A new constitution guarantees 264 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,366 a free press and regular elections. 265 00:16:22,833 --> 00:16:25,700 Every Spanish adult, man or woman, can vote. 266 00:16:28,133 --> 00:16:31,433 But not everyone is celebrating this tide of change 267 00:16:35,166 --> 00:16:39,166 (Paul Preston) Franco has an idea of the authentic Spain. 268 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:44,300 It's Catholic, it protected property, 269 00:16:44,333 --> 00:16:46,833 it protected the sanctity of marriage, 270 00:16:46,866 --> 00:16:49,833 all of these things were challenged by the left. 271 00:16:52,633 --> 00:16:55,766 (narrator) The left threatens his vision of Spain. 272 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,800 Soon he'll have the opportunity to strike back. 273 00:17:02,833 --> 00:17:06,500 November, 1933. 274 00:17:06,533 --> 00:17:10,733 Spain swings to the right 275 00:17:10,766 --> 00:17:13,866 as a coalition of conservative parties wins the next election. 276 00:17:18,466 --> 00:17:22,066 Franco, the hero of Africa, is promoted to major general. 277 00:17:24,300 --> 00:17:27,366 But almost a year later, 278 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,733 socialists and anarchists stage a massive strike 279 00:17:30,766 --> 00:17:34,900 in the coal-rich region of Asturias in the Northwest. 280 00:17:34,933 --> 00:17:38,766 The right-wing government turns to Franco, 281 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:41,566 who welcomes the chance to restore order. 282 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,300 (Guy Hedgecoe) Communists and socialists 283 00:17:44,333 --> 00:17:46,800 offended him in a way, automatically. 284 00:17:46,833 --> 00:17:49,466 He was very religious, very Catholic. 285 00:17:49,500 --> 00:17:52,433 He saw people on the left as atheists, 286 00:17:52,466 --> 00:17:54,133 who did not believe in God. 287 00:17:56,900 --> 00:18:00,700 (narrator) To warn the left against further acts of rebellion, 288 00:18:00,733 --> 00:18:03,666 he turns to a tactic used by other would-be strongmen. 289 00:18:15,633 --> 00:18:19,566 (Dan Slater) So for Franco, terror is a form of communication. 290 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,600 You don't have to attack every single person 291 00:18:22,633 --> 00:18:24,633 who belongs to these organizations-- 292 00:18:24,666 --> 00:18:27,966 if you used terror against some of them, 293 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,600 it sends the signal that anyone whose loyalty goes 294 00:18:31,633 --> 00:18:34,633 to these leftist movements is going to be in trouble. 295 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,000 [loud gunshot] 296 00:18:40,033 --> 00:18:43,400 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) He ordered troops from the Army of Africa 297 00:18:43,433 --> 00:18:46,166 to go to Asturias. 298 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,933 By doing that, he knows that it's going to take there 299 00:18:49,966 --> 00:18:51,933 troops that are ruthless, very violent. 300 00:18:55,266 --> 00:18:58,200 (narrator) Franco's troops round up more than 3000 Spaniards 301 00:18:58,233 --> 00:19:01,433 and gun them down. 302 00:19:01,466 --> 00:19:04,600 (Paul Preston) That was a symbol of his ruthlessness. 303 00:19:04,633 --> 00:19:09,700 He had the coast bombarded by the Spanish Navy, 304 00:19:09,733 --> 00:19:12,466 he had the mining villages bombed by the Spanish Air Force. 305 00:19:15,066 --> 00:19:18,000 (narrator) 30,000 prisoners are transported 306 00:19:18,033 --> 00:19:22,300 to colonial territories outside Spain to serve their sentences. 307 00:19:22,333 --> 00:19:25,200 He did what he had been doing in Africa. 308 00:19:25,233 --> 00:19:27,500 It was mass repression. 309 00:19:27,533 --> 00:19:31,400 It was colonial war basically. 310 00:19:31,433 --> 00:19:34,166 But for the first time it was colonial war 311 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:36,300 that was applied in the metropolis. 312 00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:38,666 It was not longer war against the Moroccans, 313 00:19:38,700 --> 00:19:41,800 it was war against the Spaniards. 314 00:19:41,833 --> 00:19:45,700 (Guy Hedgecoe) It was not just an opportunity to prove himself militarily, 315 00:19:45,733 --> 00:19:48,466 there was also an element of politics in that. 316 00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:51,533 So it was kind of his first taste of politics-- 317 00:19:51,566 --> 00:19:54,633 a chance for him to prove himself 318 00:19:54,666 --> 00:19:57,466 in a sphere that was beyond the purely military. 319 00:20:00,066 --> 00:20:02,933 (Paul Preston) It also gave him the conviction 320 00:20:02,966 --> 00:20:06,833 that he was the man that could save Spain 321 00:20:06,866 --> 00:20:09,633 from all these challenges from the left. 322 00:20:09,666 --> 00:20:11,966 (narrator) Franco suppresses the uprising. 323 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,266 But his tactics trigger a political explosion. 324 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:18,833 Left-wing parties are appalled by his brutality. 325 00:20:18,866 --> 00:20:21,633 They band together into a coalition 326 00:20:21,666 --> 00:20:23,700 called the Popular Front. 327 00:20:26,666 --> 00:20:29,766 On February 16, 1936, 328 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,533 Spaniards go to the polls once again. 329 00:20:32,566 --> 00:20:35,633 The pendulum swings, 330 00:20:35,666 --> 00:20:39,200 and the right-wing government is ejected. 331 00:20:39,233 --> 00:20:44,400 The Popular Front emerges with a majority in parliament. 332 00:20:44,433 --> 00:20:50,466 It's a disaster for Franco, but the worst is yet to come. 333 00:20:50,500 --> 00:20:54,133 Worried about a military coup, 334 00:20:54,166 --> 00:20:57,200 the Popular Front sidelines key right-wing generals. 335 00:20:59,966 --> 00:21:03,966 Franco himself is banished to one of Spain's 336 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,733 last colonial possessions-- the Canary Islands, 337 00:21:06,766 --> 00:21:10,200 100 kilometers off the coast of Africa, 338 00:21:10,233 --> 00:21:14,066 and 2000 kilometers from Madrid. 339 00:21:14,100 --> 00:21:17,466 The minister of war decides that 340 00:21:17,500 --> 00:21:21,866 to keep these guys out of trouble, they will be posted 341 00:21:21,900 --> 00:21:25,300 far away where they can do the least damage. 342 00:21:29,333 --> 00:21:33,566 (narrator) In exile, the generals watch as Spain's new leaders 343 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,733 steer the nation to the left. 344 00:21:36,766 --> 00:21:42,166 Even worse, they learn that left-wing extremists 345 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,800 have been torching churches and executing priests. 346 00:21:48,333 --> 00:21:52,400 To save Spain, the exiled generals plot a coup 347 00:21:52,433 --> 00:21:56,300 and they ask Franco to take a leading role. 348 00:21:58,933 --> 00:22:01,866 But a military coup is the ultimate gamble. 349 00:22:05,133 --> 00:22:08,066 (Guy Hedgecoe) He was cautious about getting involved in this uprising. 350 00:22:08,100 --> 00:22:14,633 He'd seen other similar attempts at military rebellions fail. 351 00:22:14,666 --> 00:22:17,700 He was worried that that would happen again. 352 00:22:17,733 --> 00:22:22,033 (narrator) If the coup fails, Franco will be executed as a traitor. 353 00:22:22,066 --> 00:22:24,933 For days, he deliberates. 354 00:22:24,966 --> 00:22:28,533 He has a wife, he has a child. 355 00:22:28,566 --> 00:22:31,300 He has a career. 356 00:22:31,333 --> 00:22:35,666 But circumstances will force his hand. 357 00:22:35,700 --> 00:22:38,766 On July 13, 1936, 358 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,633 José Calvo Sotelo, a leading right-wing politician, 359 00:22:42,666 --> 00:22:45,533 is assassinated in Madrid. 360 00:22:45,566 --> 00:22:48,366 (Paul Preston) What clinched it for Franco, 361 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:54,266 what made the difference was the murder of José Calvo Sotelo. 362 00:22:54,300 --> 00:22:57,200 (Helen Graham) He is murdered whilst 363 00:22:57,233 --> 00:23:00,300 in the custody of republican police. 364 00:23:00,333 --> 00:23:03,866 The funeral for Calvo Sotelo is turned into 365 00:23:03,900 --> 00:23:08,266 a kind of show of strength; in a sense, it is the trigger. 366 00:23:08,300 --> 00:23:11,900 (narrator) For Spaniards on the right, 367 00:23:11,933 --> 00:23:15,166 the assassination is an outrage. 368 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,100 For Franco and the generals, it's the final straw. 369 00:23:21,533 --> 00:23:24,700 July 18, 1936. 370 00:23:24,733 --> 00:23:27,766 Wearing civilian clothes, 371 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,966 Franco secretly boards a plane that will carry him to Africa. 372 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,633 The coup is on. 373 00:23:33,666 --> 00:23:36,533 Franco was given the responsibility for Morocco 374 00:23:36,566 --> 00:23:39,566 because of his track record as 375 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,866 a major player in the colonial history of Spain. 376 00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:48,866 (narrator) His mission-- lead the Army of Africa into Spain. 377 00:23:48,900 --> 00:23:51,766 it's the beginning of a bloody struggle 378 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,933 between bitter enemies-- the right-wing nationalists 379 00:23:54,966 --> 00:23:57,133 against the left-wing republicans. 380 00:24:00,366 --> 00:24:04,766 Franco gets the Army of Africa to support the coup. 381 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:09,333 Now he has to get them to Spain. 382 00:24:11,833 --> 00:24:14,100 But transporting thousands of men 383 00:24:14,133 --> 00:24:16,466 and their equipment across the Strait of Gibraltar 384 00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:18,100 would be a massive undertaking... 385 00:24:18,133 --> 00:24:20,266 even in peacetime. 386 00:24:23,300 --> 00:24:26,600 And for Franco, there's an added complication. 387 00:24:26,633 --> 00:24:29,566 The Spanish Navy has refused to join the coup, 388 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,233 and its ships are patrolling the strait. 389 00:24:33,266 --> 00:24:35,433 (Helen Graham) The army of Africa is 390 00:24:35,466 --> 00:24:37,300 basically trapped in North African territory. 391 00:24:37,333 --> 00:24:39,300 So the Strait's very effectively blocked; 392 00:24:39,333 --> 00:24:43,000 speed is of the essence. 393 00:24:43,033 --> 00:24:46,033 (narrator) Franco needs planes to jump the Strait and join the fight. 394 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:53,900 Audaciously, he turns to a pair of strongmen-- 395 00:24:53,933 --> 00:24:58,366 Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. 396 00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:04,833 They leap at the chance to use Spain 397 00:25:04,866 --> 00:25:07,600 as a testing ground for new weapons and tactics. 398 00:25:14,633 --> 00:25:18,200 Making some 800 flights, 399 00:25:18,233 --> 00:25:21,800 German and Italian air force planes take 14,000 men 400 00:25:21,833 --> 00:25:24,366 across the Mediterranean into Spain. 401 00:25:29,433 --> 00:25:34,533 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) So without the help of the fascist powers, 402 00:25:34,566 --> 00:25:37,600 the army of Africa would have had a very tough time. 403 00:25:42,766 --> 00:25:47,300 (Helen Graham) This is seen as the first major airlift in modern history, 404 00:25:47,333 --> 00:25:52,200 and absolutely crucial to the coup on mainland Spain. 405 00:25:52,233 --> 00:25:56,033 (narrator) Franco's airlift astonishes his Republican enemies 406 00:25:56,066 --> 00:26:00,933 and advances his status among his coconspirators. 407 00:26:00,966 --> 00:26:04,733 While other generals fight across Spain, 408 00:26:04,766 --> 00:26:09,300 he begins a merciless advance north towards Madrid. 409 00:26:09,333 --> 00:26:13,666 (Helen Graham) The Army of Africa's a killing machine, and it's 410 00:26:13,700 --> 00:26:17,166 up against a civilian population in the south of Spain. 411 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,800 There is no army. 412 00:26:19,833 --> 00:26:23,233 It was basically meeting peasants with farm implements. 413 00:26:23,266 --> 00:26:26,800 Every time they arrive at a destination, 414 00:26:26,833 --> 00:26:30,333 or indeed just en route, they just massacre people. 415 00:26:34,833 --> 00:26:38,433 Franco's forces soon reach the city of Badajoz, 416 00:26:38,466 --> 00:26:40,766 near the Portuguese border. 417 00:26:43,233 --> 00:26:45,866 (Guy Hedgecoe) He encouraged his officers 418 00:26:45,900 --> 00:26:48,566 to be extremely brutal, often savage, 419 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,566 when they were waging their campaigns. 420 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,866 When they took a town in the Civil War, 421 00:26:53,900 --> 00:26:57,100 a few hours after the taking of that town 422 00:26:57,133 --> 00:26:59,500 there would be absolute carnage. 423 00:26:59,533 --> 00:27:02,866 (Paul Preston) Basically the left wingers who were captured 424 00:27:02,900 --> 00:27:06,033 were rounded up and then they were machine-gunned. 425 00:27:06,066 --> 00:27:08,466 (narrator) In the Badajoz Massacre 426 00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:11,033 some 4000 suspected leftists are murdered. 427 00:27:11,066 --> 00:27:14,633 And it's not an isolated event. 428 00:27:14,666 --> 00:27:20,566 In retaliation, some republican extremists turn on the church. 429 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,166 Priests and other clergy are executed 430 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,766 for siding with the nationalists. 431 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,166 There is this kind of mass attack 432 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,866 on anyone who is symbolically representative of the church. 433 00:27:32,900 --> 00:27:36,633 Because the ecclesiastical hierarchy backs the coup. 434 00:27:36,666 --> 00:27:39,833 (narrator) Spain is split. 435 00:27:39,866 --> 00:27:44,800 The coup has ignited a battle for the soul of the nation. 436 00:27:44,833 --> 00:27:49,000 Franco believed that he should do whatever was possible, 437 00:27:49,033 --> 00:27:51,566 whatever was at his disposal, 438 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:56,500 to eliminate the left and their ideology. 439 00:27:56,533 --> 00:28:00,766 (narrator) His ruthlessness is not limited to his enemies. 440 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:06,000 Officers who failed to support the coup are executed, 441 00:28:06,033 --> 00:28:09,333 including his own cousin and childhood playmate. 442 00:28:09,366 --> 00:28:14,666 To show mercy is to show weakness. 443 00:28:14,700 --> 00:28:19,866 The future dictator is preparing his path to power. 444 00:28:19,900 --> 00:28:22,000 (Paul Preston) At the very beginning 445 00:28:22,033 --> 00:28:24,000 while the other generals were mainly concerned 446 00:28:24,033 --> 00:28:26,766 with how they went about winning the war, 447 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:31,066 Franco would set up a press office whose main purpose was 448 00:28:31,100 --> 00:28:34,466 to project Franco in the world's press as 449 00:28:34,500 --> 00:28:38,300 the leader of the military coup, which at that stage he wasn't. 450 00:28:38,333 --> 00:28:40,500 [speaking Spanish] 451 00:28:40,533 --> 00:28:42,700 (narrator) To claim the leadership, 452 00:28:42,733 --> 00:28:46,933 he calls for a meeting of the top brass. 453 00:28:46,966 --> 00:28:50,533 September 21, 1936. 454 00:28:50,566 --> 00:28:53,300 Franco's fellow generals fly in 455 00:28:53,333 --> 00:28:56,133 from every sector of Nationalist Spain 456 00:28:56,166 --> 00:28:59,800 to a temporary airstrip near Salamanca. 457 00:28:59,833 --> 00:29:02,333 (Paul Preston) The really big thing on Franco's side, 458 00:29:02,366 --> 00:29:05,200 in the quest for power, was the fact 459 00:29:05,233 --> 00:29:07,566 that he was the commander of the African Army. 460 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,400 Franco had been instrumental 461 00:29:10,433 --> 00:29:15,633 in securing the help of Hitler and Mussolini. 462 00:29:15,666 --> 00:29:18,966 (Helen Graham) So they basically saw him as somebody 463 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,366 who could unite them all 464 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,133 and keep them together for the duration of the war. 465 00:29:25,166 --> 00:29:27,666 (narrator) The other generals vote to make Franco 466 00:29:27,700 --> 00:29:30,500 the commander in chief of the armed forces. 467 00:29:30,533 --> 00:29:36,166 Although he is ranked 23rd in seniority, no one else has 468 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,466 the combination of combat experience, 469 00:29:38,500 --> 00:29:42,233 political savvy, and connections. 470 00:29:42,266 --> 00:29:47,100 Franco is now the generalissimo, the first among generals, 471 00:29:47,133 --> 00:29:51,466 a major step on his road to power. 472 00:29:51,500 --> 00:29:55,900 The cunning with which he got to be dictator, 473 00:29:55,933 --> 00:30:00,000 the cunning with which he rose to the top is very evident. 474 00:30:00,033 --> 00:30:03,233 (narrator) But for now Franco only controls parts of Spain. 475 00:30:03,266 --> 00:30:06,333 To rule it all he will need the support 476 00:30:06,366 --> 00:30:08,533 of the pillars of Spanish society. 477 00:30:08,566 --> 00:30:11,366 And to earn it, he will use a key tactic 478 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:12,866 from the dictator's playbook. 479 00:30:16,866 --> 00:30:21,866 The Achilles heel of any dictatorship is the elites 480 00:30:21,900 --> 00:30:24,500 and whether or not they support them. 481 00:30:24,533 --> 00:30:26,766 And that's why dictators, so early on, 482 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,066 want to get control over their elites. 483 00:30:29,100 --> 00:30:32,466 They want to ensure that they're completely loyal to them. 484 00:30:32,500 --> 00:30:35,466 (Alfredo Gonzalez-Ruibal) There were 2 or 3 sectors 485 00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:38,166 whose consent was crucial for his survival. 486 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:42,066 This was the church, it was the military, 487 00:30:42,100 --> 00:30:44,333 and it was the higher classes: 488 00:30:44,366 --> 00:30:48,366 the aristocracy and the industrialists. 489 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,366 (narrator) With the support of the military assured, 490 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,266 Franco sets his sights on the pillar 491 00:30:55,300 --> 00:30:57,900 of traditional Spanish society... the Catholic Church. 492 00:30:57,933 --> 00:31:00,366 [loud explosion] 493 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:04,366 September, 1936. 494 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,966 Rather than advance on the republican stronghold of Madrid, 495 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,100 Franco pivots to Toledo. 496 00:31:11,133 --> 00:31:13,900 [loud explosions] 497 00:31:17,700 --> 00:31:21,700 There, a small group of nationalist soldiers 498 00:31:21,733 --> 00:31:25,666 is besieged in the city's ancient fortress, the Alcázar. 499 00:31:25,700 --> 00:31:28,600 Although Toledo has no strategic value, 500 00:31:28,633 --> 00:31:31,400 it has something more important. 501 00:31:31,433 --> 00:31:35,200 It is the historic center of Spanish Catholicism. 502 00:31:39,966 --> 00:31:43,600 Franco decides to detour 503 00:31:43,633 --> 00:31:46,333 to relieve the siege of the military fortress. 504 00:31:46,366 --> 00:31:49,033 It is particularly seen as 505 00:31:49,066 --> 00:31:52,366 a symbol of imperial Christian Spain. 506 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,833 (narrator) Franco's forces crush the Republican Army 507 00:31:55,866 --> 00:31:59,300 in Toledo and take the town. 508 00:31:59,333 --> 00:32:04,800 Franco personally wasn't there when Toledo was relieved, 509 00:32:04,833 --> 00:32:08,466 however, he was there the next day. 510 00:32:08,500 --> 00:32:12,966 The newsreel cameras were there to see Franco arrive 511 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,766 in order to be able to project to the world this view 512 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,800 that Franco was the hero who had saved Toledo. 513 00:32:20,833 --> 00:32:23,933 [male newsreel announcer] Franco greeted as the savior of 1900 men, women, and children 514 00:32:23,966 --> 00:32:25,866 who held out in this shattered fortress 515 00:32:25,900 --> 00:32:27,600 and in caverns underneath. 516 00:32:30,733 --> 00:32:33,866 (Paul Preston) He projected himself as a major world figure. 517 00:32:36,366 --> 00:32:39,100 (Helen Graham) He has an ambition 518 00:32:39,133 --> 00:32:45,100 and is clearly looking beyond the war to a political phase, 519 00:32:45,133 --> 00:32:48,700 to a phase of being in control of Spain beyond the war. 520 00:32:51,700 --> 00:32:55,900 (narrator) When the coup began, Franco was just one of many generals. 521 00:32:55,933 --> 00:32:59,600 Now, he has established his reputation 522 00:32:59,633 --> 00:33:02,133 as a military mastermind 523 00:33:02,166 --> 00:33:04,866 and the savior of Spanish Catholicism. 524 00:33:07,366 --> 00:33:11,566 Just imagine, mid-July 1936, 525 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,466 you are a general semi-isolated from your colleagues. 526 00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:20,133 Two months afterwards, you are the head of the main army 527 00:33:20,166 --> 00:33:22,700 of the rebels with no rival for powers 528 00:33:22,733 --> 00:33:25,400 and about to take Madrid. 529 00:33:25,433 --> 00:33:27,766 He cannot believe his luck. 530 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,333 Must be God! 531 00:33:30,366 --> 00:33:33,233 What other explanation? 532 00:33:33,266 --> 00:33:36,666 (narrator) October 1936 533 00:33:36,700 --> 00:33:40,633 Nationalist forces control the western half of Spain. 534 00:33:40,666 --> 00:33:44,533 But much of the nation remains under the control 535 00:33:44,566 --> 00:33:47,366 of the Republican Popular Front. 536 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:51,733 To rule the country, Franco must take 537 00:33:51,766 --> 00:33:56,300 its political, financial, and administrative center. 538 00:33:56,333 --> 00:33:59,100 To convince all Spaniards, 539 00:33:59,133 --> 00:34:03,033 and to convince the rest of the world that he had won, 540 00:34:03,066 --> 00:34:04,500 he needed to take Madrid. 541 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,066 (narrator) For weeks, Franco throws everything at the capitol-- 542 00:34:14,100 --> 00:34:17,333 artillery... 543 00:34:17,366 --> 00:34:20,266 aerial bombardment... 544 00:34:22,266 --> 00:34:24,800 frontal attacks. 545 00:34:24,833 --> 00:34:26,666 [machine-gun fire] 546 00:34:26,699 --> 00:34:31,366 The city won't fall. 547 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,533 The republic basically concentrates its forces 548 00:34:34,566 --> 00:34:38,466 in Madrid, and as long as it can prevent 549 00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:42,400 Madrid being encircled, it can survive. 550 00:34:47,266 --> 00:34:52,699 (narrator) Soon Franco's drive to take Madrid gets even harder, 551 00:34:52,733 --> 00:34:57,433 as his enemies gain a powerful new ally. 552 00:34:57,466 --> 00:35:00,900 The Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin has agreed 553 00:35:00,933 --> 00:35:04,566 to arm the republic and its left-wing government. 554 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,633 (Helen Graham) When it's clear that Franco 555 00:35:06,666 --> 00:35:09,733 began to be able to take Madrid, 556 00:35:09,766 --> 00:35:13,100 the Soviet Union offers to support the republic. 557 00:35:13,133 --> 00:35:16,300 (narrator) What was meant to be a quick coup d'etat 558 00:35:16,333 --> 00:35:19,566 is now a full-blown civil war. 559 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,333 [speaking Spanish] 560 00:35:37,500 --> 00:35:41,300 (narrator) He has conquered large swaths of Spanish territory 561 00:35:41,333 --> 00:35:45,333 but Franco's domination is far from complete. 562 00:35:45,366 --> 00:35:48,233 In many of the regions he now controls, 563 00:35:48,266 --> 00:35:51,733 half of his fellow citizens are against him. 564 00:35:51,766 --> 00:35:55,633 He is determined to vanquish them all. 565 00:35:55,666 --> 00:35:59,800 While the Nationalist Army continues its battles, 566 00:35:59,833 --> 00:36:03,366 Franco sets out to eliminate civilian opposition 567 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,433 in the land he has seized. 568 00:36:06,466 --> 00:36:10,000 To do this, he employs another tactic of dictatorship. 569 00:36:13,433 --> 00:36:16,166 (Guy Hedgecoe) Franco wanted to defeat the Left, 570 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:18,500 but he also wanted to eliminate them. 571 00:36:18,533 --> 00:36:21,033 He wanted to make sure 572 00:36:21,066 --> 00:36:24,600 that there was no vestige left of that ideology. 573 00:36:29,366 --> 00:36:32,500 (narrator) Franco creates the Supreme Court of Military Justice-- 574 00:36:32,533 --> 00:36:35,033 a vast bureaucracy dedicated 575 00:36:35,066 --> 00:36:39,033 to prosecuting those who oppose him. 576 00:36:39,066 --> 00:36:45,266 And you were open to prosecution if you had any connections 577 00:36:45,300 --> 00:36:48,366 with republican politics or sympathies. 578 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:52,000 So people can be brought before military courts 579 00:36:52,033 --> 00:36:55,466 for activities that go back to 1934. 580 00:36:55,500 --> 00:37:00,400 They apply the military code to their enemies 581 00:37:00,433 --> 00:37:03,733 by accusing those who defended the republic 582 00:37:03,766 --> 00:37:07,100 of the crime of rebellion 583 00:37:07,133 --> 00:37:09,266 which is what the Francoists have committed. 584 00:37:12,733 --> 00:37:16,533 (Helen Graham) There must be a social cleansing of all the elements 585 00:37:16,566 --> 00:37:19,000 in society who have allowed the republic to exist 586 00:37:19,033 --> 00:37:21,833 and who are now our enemies. 587 00:37:21,866 --> 00:37:25,600 Silvia Navarro's grandfather was one of those enemies. 588 00:37:25,633 --> 00:37:27,666 [speaking Spanish] 589 00:37:44,700 --> 00:37:48,533 (narrator) Jose Antonio Marco Viedma 590 00:37:48,566 --> 00:37:50,333 was a prominent businessman 591 00:37:50,366 --> 00:37:52,400 in the city of Calatayud... 592 00:37:52,433 --> 00:37:54,633 and a republican. 593 00:38:12,500 --> 00:38:16,733 (Alfredo Gonzalez-Ruibal) All dictators use violence against their people. 594 00:38:16,766 --> 00:38:19,766 In the case of Spain the scale 595 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,133 of intersocial violence is unique. 596 00:38:23,166 --> 00:38:27,966 Most victims, like 99%, were Spaniards, 597 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,633 and this is interesting because Franco was actually 598 00:38:31,666 --> 00:38:36,100 perceiving at least half of Spain as not properly Spanish. 599 00:38:36,133 --> 00:38:39,666 So you can inflict this terrible violence to your own people, 600 00:38:39,700 --> 00:38:42,733 if you consider they are not actually your own people, 601 00:38:42,766 --> 00:38:44,466 that they are, in a way, foreigners. 602 00:38:47,933 --> 00:38:52,166 (narrator) City by city, town by town, 603 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:56,733 Franco's forces arrest not just Popular Front leaders 604 00:38:56,766 --> 00:39:00,800 and party faithful, but anyone with republican sympathies. 605 00:39:00,833 --> 00:39:03,700 (Helen Graham) it's not just a tactic for a military campaign, 606 00:39:03,733 --> 00:39:08,066 it's a form of political readjustment, 607 00:39:08,100 --> 00:39:11,533 removing the kind of people that made the republic possible, 608 00:39:11,566 --> 00:39:13,833 this would be never possible again. 609 00:39:13,866 --> 00:39:17,200 It's a form of social engineering, 610 00:39:17,233 --> 00:39:19,733 (narrator) As the war progresses, 611 00:39:19,766 --> 00:39:23,600 Franco intensifies his attacks on civilians. 612 00:39:23,633 --> 00:39:27,133 His allies in the German and Italian air forces 613 00:39:27,166 --> 00:39:29,500 begin to obliterate towns and villages. 614 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,400 Guernica, Durango, 615 00:39:36,433 --> 00:39:41,133 Barcelona, Madrid. 616 00:39:41,166 --> 00:39:43,600 (Helen Graham) The idea was that you would terrorize 617 00:39:43,633 --> 00:39:45,733 and demoralize a civilian population 618 00:39:45,766 --> 00:39:48,800 and this would be a crucial instrument of war. 619 00:39:48,833 --> 00:39:53,200 It's the war against civilians, waged with the new technology. 620 00:39:53,233 --> 00:39:56,966 (narrator) 1939. 621 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:01,766 As Spain tears itself apart, Europe braces for war. 622 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,533 [crowd cheering] 623 00:40:04,566 --> 00:40:07,333 Conserving its resources for the coming conflict, 624 00:40:07,366 --> 00:40:11,700 the Soviet Union withdraws its support of the Republic. 625 00:40:11,733 --> 00:40:16,400 By February, what's left of the Popular Front's army collapses. 626 00:40:19,900 --> 00:40:22,933 [loud cheering] 627 00:40:22,966 --> 00:40:26,300 (narrator) March 27. 628 00:40:26,333 --> 00:40:29,566 Franco's forces parade through Madrid. 629 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:41,533 After the loss of half a million lives, the civil war is over. 630 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:47,566 Three years after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, 631 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:51,800 Francisco Franco is the dictator of all Spain. 632 00:40:55,033 --> 00:40:57,466 In the nationalist regions, 633 00:40:57,500 --> 00:41:00,566 victory celebrations echo into the dawn. 634 00:41:03,133 --> 00:41:05,533 In what were once republican regions, 635 00:41:05,566 --> 00:41:08,466 people are fleeing for their lives. 636 00:41:08,500 --> 00:41:13,000 (Paul Preston) Large numbers of people had fled Madrid. 637 00:41:13,033 --> 00:41:16,400 I mean, thousands upon thousands of people fled to the coast 638 00:41:16,433 --> 00:41:18,600 hoping to be able to get away. 639 00:41:25,566 --> 00:41:28,900 Victory gives Franco the opportunity 640 00:41:28,933 --> 00:41:33,566 to complete his transformation of Spanish society. 641 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:35,833 (Helen Graham) The war is not really ending 642 00:41:35,866 --> 00:41:38,366 with the end of the battlefield phase, 643 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:43,666 but becoming basically a war against the defeated. 644 00:41:43,700 --> 00:41:47,666 (narrator) He launches another wave of targeted arrests and killings 645 00:41:47,700 --> 00:41:51,166 of anyone with connections to the old government. 646 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:53,466 (Dan Slater) It's very much to send a signal 647 00:41:53,500 --> 00:41:55,966 to anyone who opposed the church, 648 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,933 anyone who was a socialist, anyone who joined 649 00:41:58,966 --> 00:42:00,933 the organizations of the political left. 650 00:42:04,533 --> 00:42:07,000 (narrator) Beyond Spain's borders, 651 00:42:07,033 --> 00:42:10,433 the Second World War burns across Europe. 652 00:42:13,966 --> 00:42:17,700 To the outside world, Spain is officially neutral. 653 00:42:17,733 --> 00:42:21,966 But within, the dictator's war against his people 654 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:23,966 is just getting started. 655 00:42:27,933 --> 00:42:31,066 In the course of 3 years, 656 00:42:31,100 --> 00:42:33,600 nearly one quarter of a million people 657 00:42:33,633 --> 00:42:38,866 are imprisoned... 28,000 are executed. 658 00:42:38,900 --> 00:42:42,500 (Alfredo Gonzalez-Ruibal) This was essential in Franco's strategy 659 00:42:42,533 --> 00:42:45,333 because he had to completely exterminate 660 00:42:45,366 --> 00:42:47,733 all opposition to his regime 661 00:42:47,766 --> 00:42:50,800 so that he could rule for the next 40 years. 662 00:42:53,500 --> 00:42:57,233 As he transforms Spanish society, 663 00:42:57,266 --> 00:43:00,200 he turns to another tactic of dictatorships. 664 00:43:03,900 --> 00:43:07,866 Indoctrination is largely a process of preventing people 665 00:43:07,900 --> 00:43:10,133 from hearing alternative narratives. 666 00:43:10,166 --> 00:43:13,300 It's a way of giving substance to fear 667 00:43:13,333 --> 00:43:16,200 and reminding people of the risks of life 668 00:43:16,233 --> 00:43:18,666 without the regime that is currently in power. 669 00:43:18,700 --> 00:43:20,800 People were obliged to think 670 00:43:20,833 --> 00:43:23,033 what the regime wanted them to think. 671 00:43:23,066 --> 00:43:25,900 There was total control of the education system, 672 00:43:25,933 --> 00:43:30,200 there was total control of the media. 673 00:43:30,233 --> 00:43:35,566 (Alfredo Gonzalez-Ruibal) Indoctrination in the Franco regime is quite unique 674 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,600 in that it systematically used 675 00:43:38,633 --> 00:43:41,566 the procedures of Catholic indoctrination. 676 00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:45,000 So there was even a catechism that was used 677 00:43:45,033 --> 00:43:48,200 to tell very young children about Franco, 678 00:43:48,233 --> 00:43:50,800 about the regime, about how good this was. 679 00:43:54,733 --> 00:43:58,966 (narrator) For Franco, indoctrination cannot begin soon enough. 680 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:03,233 In prison, if a republican woman is pregnant, 681 00:44:03,266 --> 00:44:06,033 she is allowed to carry her baby to term. 682 00:44:06,066 --> 00:44:08,166 Then the child is taken 683 00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:11,166 and placed in a properly Spanish family. 684 00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:14,000 (Emilio Silva) They went to the prisons 685 00:44:14,033 --> 00:44:18,233 and they kidnapped the babies from the republican woman, 686 00:44:18,266 --> 00:44:25,833 because they say the woman can provoke 687 00:44:25,866 --> 00:44:29,733 the transmission of the democracy for the children. 688 00:44:29,766 --> 00:44:34,800 And then take the children and put the children 689 00:44:34,833 --> 00:44:38,333 in Catholic institutions or Catholic families. 690 00:44:41,766 --> 00:44:45,600 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) They say that Franco is the man chosen by God, 691 00:44:45,633 --> 00:44:49,600 and that he's there doing God's will. 692 00:44:49,633 --> 00:44:53,133 The children at the time in religious and lay schools 693 00:44:53,166 --> 00:44:55,866 are being taught that Franco's life 694 00:44:55,900 --> 00:44:58,600 is like the life of Christ. 695 00:45:02,833 --> 00:45:06,966 Catholicism was key to the entire ideology of the regime. 696 00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:10,000 The idea was, we are going to torture you, 697 00:45:10,033 --> 00:45:12,333 we are going to kill you, 698 00:45:12,366 --> 00:45:15,800 but we are doing that because you are evil, 699 00:45:15,833 --> 00:45:19,433 and we are doing this because we need to redeem you, 700 00:45:19,466 --> 00:45:22,433 that it is for your own good, 701 00:45:22,466 --> 00:45:26,000 because we want you to go to heaven, and for that 702 00:45:26,033 --> 00:45:28,833 you have to be punished, you have to suffer. 703 00:45:28,866 --> 00:45:31,900 So there were these ideas of sin and redemption 704 00:45:31,933 --> 00:45:33,866 that was so Catholic, and that were so Spanish. 705 00:45:38,833 --> 00:45:42,300 (narrator) 1945. 706 00:45:42,333 --> 00:45:45,833 Hitler commits suicide. 707 00:45:45,866 --> 00:45:48,966 Mussolini is executed. 708 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:51,800 The Second World War is over. 709 00:45:51,833 --> 00:45:56,933 But Spain's dictator remains. 710 00:45:56,966 --> 00:46:02,000 Franco's fortunes are helped by a shift in the political winds. 711 00:46:02,033 --> 00:46:07,633 As the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union begins, 712 00:46:07,666 --> 00:46:13,100 Franco's extreme anti-communism makes him an ally of the West. 713 00:46:13,133 --> 00:46:16,666 (Helen Graham) By the 1950s, Eisenhower visits Spain, 714 00:46:16,700 --> 00:46:18,666 and Franco presents himself as 715 00:46:18,700 --> 00:46:21,466 the kind of sentinel of the west, 716 00:46:21,500 --> 00:46:25,100 this anti-communist warrior who can keep the continent safe. 717 00:46:27,866 --> 00:46:31,266 Franco has free rein to continue his state of terror. 718 00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:38,633 There were hundreds of thousands of Republicans 719 00:46:38,666 --> 00:46:42,300 that were in jail. 720 00:46:42,333 --> 00:46:45,200 (narrator) But there are pockets of resistance. 721 00:46:45,233 --> 00:46:49,033 University student Nicolas Sanchez 722 00:46:49,066 --> 00:46:51,600 is one of the resistors. 723 00:46:51,633 --> 00:46:54,400 After taking part in a peaceful demonstration, 724 00:46:54,433 --> 00:46:57,933 he is arrested and sentenced to 6 years in prison. 725 00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:03,933 To deal with prisoners like Nicolas Sanchez, 726 00:47:03,966 --> 00:47:07,266 Franco uses a classic dictator's tool. 727 00:47:12,333 --> 00:47:15,833 (Fathali Moghaddam) Well, there's 2 functions of gulags. 728 00:47:15,866 --> 00:47:19,666 One is creating fear. 729 00:47:19,700 --> 00:47:24,000 A second function of these gulags is 730 00:47:24,033 --> 00:47:27,800 that they want certain people out of the way 731 00:47:27,833 --> 00:47:31,666 and they want to use them as examples 732 00:47:31,700 --> 00:47:37,933 of what could happen to you if you step out of line. 733 00:47:37,966 --> 00:47:41,533 (Nicolas Sanchez) There were also concentration camps that were used 734 00:47:41,566 --> 00:47:46,000 to build fortifications, railroads, 735 00:47:46,033 --> 00:47:49,233 dams-- that was heavy work. 736 00:47:49,266 --> 00:47:52,600 (narrator) Franco uses slave labor to build 737 00:47:52,633 --> 00:47:55,900 a massive monument to the victory of his regime. 738 00:47:55,933 --> 00:48:01,533 He calls it the Valley of the Fallen. 739 00:48:01,566 --> 00:48:04,366 (Alfredo Gonzalez-Ruibal) Most of the people who worked 740 00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:07,433 in the Valley of the Fallen were political prisoners. 741 00:48:07,466 --> 00:48:10,966 For each year they worked in the Valley of the Fallen, 742 00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,733 they did not have to spend 5 years in prison. 743 00:48:13,766 --> 00:48:15,933 They were given the choice, 744 00:48:15,966 --> 00:48:18,733 but it is not that they liked to be there, 745 00:48:18,766 --> 00:48:21,833 it is that the other option was much worse. 746 00:48:21,866 --> 00:48:26,366 (narrator) In 1959, after almost 20 years of hard labor, 747 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:29,533 the dictator's tribute to himself is finished. 748 00:48:32,033 --> 00:48:35,733 The monumental scale is an indication of their 749 00:48:35,766 --> 00:48:38,700 overweening desire to control the societies that they rule. 750 00:48:41,533 --> 00:48:46,566 But it is a reflection of an aspiration to some kind of 751 00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:49,833 eternal influence in the future of their own countries. 752 00:48:49,866 --> 00:48:52,966 (narrator) Not only is the monument complete, 753 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:58,333 so is Franco's domination of Spanish politics and society. 754 00:48:58,366 --> 00:49:03,400 To hold a political opinion is to commit a crime. 755 00:49:03,433 --> 00:49:06,300 (Alfredo Gonzalez-Ruibal) That prevented people from entering politics, 756 00:49:06,333 --> 00:49:09,366 because politics were associated with conflict and with war. 757 00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:13,333 The main success of this strategy was 758 00:49:13,366 --> 00:49:16,233 associating politics with danger, 759 00:49:16,266 --> 00:49:20,200 and it was very successful until at least the late 1960s. 760 00:49:20,233 --> 00:49:23,666 (narrator) Franco has achieved what he set out to do. 761 00:49:23,700 --> 00:49:28,566 He has frozen Spain in time. 762 00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:34,766 His regime secure, he cultivates the image of 763 00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:39,833 a benign international statesman and paternal sovereign. 764 00:49:39,866 --> 00:49:42,133 (Paul Preston) In later life, this dictator, 765 00:49:42,166 --> 00:49:44,200 this mass murderer, was projected 766 00:49:44,233 --> 00:49:46,400 as the kind of grandfather of his people. 767 00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:54,066 (narrator) After almost 30 years in power, 768 00:49:54,100 --> 00:49:56,700 the patriarch faces one last challenge: 769 00:49:56,733 --> 00:50:00,700 who will rule Spain when he dies? 770 00:50:00,733 --> 00:50:04,866 1969. 771 00:50:04,900 --> 00:50:08,800 Franco announces that Juan Carlos, the grandson 772 00:50:08,833 --> 00:50:12,666 of King Alfonso XIII, will be his successor. 773 00:50:12,700 --> 00:50:15,933 The dying dictator hopes the new king 774 00:50:15,966 --> 00:50:18,966 will keep Spain locked in the past. 775 00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:23,366 But when Franco dies on November 20, 1975, 776 00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:26,666 his regime dies with him. 777 00:50:26,700 --> 00:50:31,966 Now king, Juan Carlos defies Franco's final wish. 778 00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:35,233 He moves to dismantle the dictatorship 779 00:50:35,266 --> 00:50:37,866 and restore Spain to democracy. 780 00:50:41,566 --> 00:50:45,733 Less than 2 years later, Spaniards hold 781 00:50:45,766 --> 00:50:49,800 their first democratic election in more than 40 years. 782 00:50:49,833 --> 00:50:55,233 The results mirror the election of 1936. 783 00:50:55,266 --> 00:51:00,366 The left wing wins by a narrow margin. 784 00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:06,666 Franco's attempt to obliterate socialism has failed. 785 00:51:06,700 --> 00:51:10,233 But the consequences of his dictatorship 786 00:51:10,266 --> 00:51:13,566 haunt Spain to this day. 787 00:51:20,066 --> 00:51:24,100 Over the past 10 years, Spaniards have confronted 788 00:51:24,133 --> 00:51:27,233 Franco's crimes against humanity. 789 00:51:27,266 --> 00:51:30,400 (Guy Hedgecoe) According to Amnesty International, 790 00:51:30,433 --> 00:51:33,733 Spain has the highest number of mass graves 791 00:51:33,766 --> 00:51:36,766 in the world after Cambodia. 792 00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:39,400 So there are all these unmarked graves around the country, 793 00:51:39,433 --> 00:51:42,766 and this issue has not been resolved. 794 00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:46,500 (Emilio Silva) In Spain we have the names and the orders of names 795 00:51:46,533 --> 00:51:53,633 of 114,000 civilians missing in mass graves. 796 00:51:53,666 --> 00:51:57,066 For example, in Malaga, 797 00:51:57,100 --> 00:51:59,166 in the south of Spain, 798 00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,966 in the cemetery, there is 799 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:06,166 a group of graves with 4,300 people. 800 00:52:08,833 --> 00:52:12,833 (Paul Preston) There is considerable disquiet, 801 00:52:12,866 --> 00:52:16,000 discomfort, resentment about the fact 802 00:52:16,033 --> 00:52:19,366 that there's never been any real process 803 00:52:19,400 --> 00:52:21,466 of seeking justice for those who were murdered 804 00:52:21,500 --> 00:52:25,100 during the civil war. 805 00:52:25,133 --> 00:52:32,133 (Emilio Silva) And I think our history is part of the black box of Europe. 806 00:52:32,166 --> 00:52:37,233 And we have to recover the black box. 807 00:52:37,266 --> 00:52:44,266 And we have to show the sounds, sort of, in this black box. 808 00:52:44,300 --> 00:52:47,433 (Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez) The legacy is the emptiness 809 00:52:47,466 --> 00:52:51,033 that he caused in the Spanish society, 810 00:52:51,066 --> 00:52:53,466 all the wealth, the human wealth 811 00:52:53,500 --> 00:52:57,100 and the material wealth that the Spanish Civil War 812 00:52:57,133 --> 00:53:01,200 and the brutal dictatorship cost on the Spanish society. 813 00:53:01,233 --> 00:53:03,500 So how do you evaluate that? 814 00:53:03,533 --> 00:53:06,766 How do you fix that? 815 00:53:06,800 --> 00:53:10,733 I don't have an answer. 816 00:53:12,900 --> 00:53:15,433 (narrator) Next time on "The Dictator's Playbook." 817 00:53:15,466 --> 00:53:17,833 (Lain Grahame) Idi Amin made a mark for himself. 818 00:53:17,866 --> 00:53:19,633 (Mahmood Mamdani) He tapped into something big. 819 00:53:19,666 --> 00:53:21,466 (Alicia Decker) He represented a fresh start. 820 00:53:21,500 --> 00:53:23,500 (Mahmood Mamdani) A future for Uganda. 821 00:53:23,533 --> 00:53:25,566 (Alicia Decker) Critics have written Amin off as a buffoon, 822 00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:27,433 but he was far more cunning. 823 00:53:27,466 --> 00:53:29,800 A soldier, charismatic. 824 00:53:29,833 --> 00:53:32,133 Distracting people from their repression. 825 00:53:32,166 --> 00:53:34,033 (Mariam Mufti) In the 8 years he was in power, 826 00:53:34,066 --> 00:53:36,800 almost 300,000 people were massacred 827 00:53:36,833 --> 00:53:39,700 He was ruthless, which good soldiers are. 828 00:53:42,700 --> 00:53:44,133 [orchestra plays in minor tones] 829 00:53:51,833 --> 00:53:54,200 (man) To order "The Dictator's Playbook" on DVD, 830 00:53:54,233 --> 00:53:56,500 visit shopPBS.org 831 00:53:56,533 --> 00:53:59,500 or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. 832 00:53:59,533 --> 00:54:01,600 This program is also available 833 00:54:01,633 --> 00:54:03,633 on Amazon Prime Video. 834 00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:08,000 [synthesizer fanfare]