I think it would be instructive to take a look at "Francoism", which is almost
fascism. By seeing how Franco's Spain differs from other forms of European
fascism and by looking at Franco's friends and enemies, we can get a better
sense of what fascism is and where it sits on the political spectrum in
relation to other ideologies. What follows is basically shortened version of a
wikipedia article titled "Spanish State"
Francoism was a frontal assault on Communism, Socialism and Anarchism. Although
Franco and Spain under his rule adopted some trappings of fascism, Spain was
not generally considered to be fascist because Franco had no revolutionary aim
to transform society. To the contrary, although authoritarian, his aims were
conservative and traditional. General Francisco Franco was a conservative in
all essential respects. In his strongly authoritarian regime, there was no room
for political opposition. The fascists became junior partners in the
government. Franco lacked any consistent political ideology other than fierce
anti-communism and initially sought support from various groups, such as the
Roman Catholic Church and The Falange, a fringe fascist inspired party. Unlike
other ideological-based parties, such as the Italian National Fascist Party and
the German Nazi Party, they were relatively heterogeneous instead of being an
ideological monolith. While it included fascist elements, t
he Spanish State was very authoritarian: non-government trade unions and all
political opponents across the political spectrum were either suppressed or
tightly controlled by all means, including violent police repression. Members
of the oppressed included trade unions, communists, liberal democrats and
Basque separatists. Trade-unions were outlawed, and replaced in 1940 by the
corporatist Sindicato Vertical. The Socialist party was banned in 1939, while
the Communist Party of Spain went underground. University students seeking
democracy revolted in the late '60s and early '70s, which was repressed. Franco
was obsessively concerned about a possible Masonic conspiracy against his
regime. Franco's Spanish nationalism promoted a unitary national identity by
repressing Spain's cultural diversity. Those traditions not considered
"Spanish" were suppressed. All cultural activities were subject to censorship,
and many were plainly forbidden (often in an erratic manner). Inequalities
in schooling, health care or transport facilities among regions were patent:
classically affluent regions fared much better and some regions didn't have a
university. He made Spanish the only official language of the State and
education, although millions of the country's citizens spoke other languages.
The legal usage of languages other than Spanish was forbidden. Publications in
other languages were generally forbidden, though citizens continued to speak
other languages in private. Catholicism in its most conservative variant was
made the official religion of the Spanish State. The Spanish State enforced
Catholic behavior mainly by using a law. Civil servants had to be Catholic, and
some official jobs even required a "good behavior" statement by a priest. Civil
marriages which had taken place under Republican Spain were declared null and
void and had to be reconfirmed by the Catholic Church of Spain. Divorce,
contraceptives and abortion were forbidden. From 1954 onwards h
omosexuality was a criminal offenses, although the enforcement of this was
seldom consistent. Francoism professed a devotion to the traditional role of
women in society. Official propaganda confined her role to family care and
motherhood. Women could not become judges, or testify in trial. They could not
become university professors.
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