Post-fascism in Spain

francoism after fascism (1945-1975)

Abstract

The concept of "post-fascism" has not generally been used to refer to General Franco's dictatorship in Spain after the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945. However, it can help to better define and explain the complex nature of the political regime in the three decades leading up to the dictator's death in 1975, during which processes of socio-economic change and the continuity of political-institutional structures overlapped. It allows us to link the historical experience of fascism with the evolution of the Spanish and European right-wing in the second post-war period, from neo-fascism to the extreme right, and with the wave of military dictatorships in Latin America, which had Francoism as one of their main ideological referents.