ABSTRACT

The book presents various investigation into 20th-century European dictatorships, with its focus on Franco`s dictatorship and the Spanish Civil War. Francisco Franco’s dictatorship in Spain (1936/1939-1975/1978) was a modern form of authoritarianism, with a strong totalitarian period, like many other dictatorships of the time. Francoism occupies a place in history alongside other different dictatorships of its age, and a comparative analysis might prove to be a powerful tool in order to understand how, in the middle of the 20th century, such a repressive and authoritarian form of political control emerged.

One of the most forgotten fascisms, which at the same time was influenced by and influenced other dictatorships, there are many aspects of the transnational connections of Francoism that remain under-researched. Following this methodology, thus, an attempt is made to situate Francoism in the context of the other dictatorships of the time, in an attempt to transcend explanations centered on the nation. The chapters cover groundbreaking topics such as the Spanish Civil War as one of the first total wars or Spanish fascism in context as one of the main European totalitarianisms.

The chapters always have more than one dimension: they speak of interrelation, entanglement, collaboration and diffusion, and, in general, put the different dictatorships (essentially: Francoism, diverse Fascisms and Communism) in context and comparison.

chapter |14 pages

Interacting Francoism

A tale of 20th-century dictatorships *

part I|66 pages

Systems

chapter 161|21 pages

An analytical characterization of totalitarian language

The case of Francoism in context

chapter 2|22 pages

The birth of total war in terms of air defence

The meaning of the Spanish Civil War

chapter 3|21 pages

Undesirable foreigners in democracy and dictatorship

Comparing the changing status of Spanish exiles in France (1936–1945)

part II|58 pages

Interacting Surveillance

chapter 824|23 pages

Investigation, surveillance and control

Spain in the era of total intelligence and fascist Europe (1914–1939)

chapter 5|13 pages

Constructing modern surveillance

Military intelligence in the punitive system of early Francoism

chapter 6|20 pages

Varguism and Francoism in connection

The “policing” of diplomacy (1936–1939) *

part III|62 pages

(Inter)national Interactions

part IV|58 pages

Interacting Everyday Life

chapter 20210|21 pages

Heroic models in daily life

Soviet children and the Spanish Civil War

chapter 11|18 pages

The supply question in Total War

Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

chapter 12|17 pages

“A pyre of ration cards”

Practices of everyday resistance during Francoism in context