ABSTRACT
The Francoist victory of 1939 meant not only the destruction of cultural Catalanisation but also the reversal of democratisation that had accelerated in the 1930s. The long-lasting Franco regime is marked by distinctive phases. The first of 1939–1944 is marked by extreme violence and mass executions. The end of the Second World War represented a major blow to the Franco regime and it was forced into making some modest reforms as well as those that there were simply cosmetic. Throughout the Franco regime, the Catalan economy retained its primacy within Spain and became a pole of attraction. Over the course of the twentieth century, Catalonia tripled its population. All subsequent cultural expressions and voting patterns were testimony to the territory’s transformation and social complexity. By late Francoism Catalonia had become the centre of cultural revival and also maintained its role as Spain’s main industrial city. Though regional government was restored and nationalists held power, a growing sense of crisis around the prospects for the Catalan language, together with the consolidation of Madrid, the comparative decline of Barcelona and Catalonia and the disruption produced by economic crisis, impacted on Catalan self-confidence.
