Spanish Francisco Franco Medal

Dentuck

Unusual and probably seldom seen outside of Europe, this thick medallion honors the late
Caudillo of Spain, Francisco Franco. It's another one of those trinkets you can buy on any street
in Madrid.



Franco was born in 1892. His career was as a professional soldier and political leader; he organized
the July 1936 revolt in Morocco that launched the Spanish Civil War. He was proclaimed
Commander in Chief and El Caudillo of the conservative Falangists in 1936 and 1937. At the
end of the Civil War (1939) Franco was dictator of Spain, and in 1947 he was named regent of Spain
for life. In 1969 the Cortes approved his proposal for a restoration of the monarchy, with Prince Juan
Carlos of Bourbon to take the throne on his death. When Franco died in 1975, the Bourbon
monarchy was restored as he had directed. Juan Carlos became King of Spain on November 22nd.

From the dictatorship of El Caudillo, King Juan Carlos I has maneuvered his nation from dictatorship
and European estragement to constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, and recent
acceptance into the European Union.

As noted in the Library of Congress Country Studies:


"Until his death in November 1975, Franco ruled Spain as "Caudillo by the grace of God," as his coins
proclaimed. In addition to being generalissimo of the armed forces, he was both chief of state and
head of government, the ultimate source of legitimate authority. He retained the power to appoint
and to dismiss ministers and other decision makers. Even after he grew older, began to lose his
health, and became less actively involved in policy making, Franco still had the final word on every
major political decision.
...
Franco initially derived his authority from his victory in the Civil War. The armed forces gave his
regime security; the Roman Catholic Church and the National Movement gave it legitimacy. The
National Movement was the only recognized political organization in Franco's Spain. It was not a
political party, and it did not have an overt ideological basis. Its membership included monarchists,
Falangists, conservative Catholics, members of the armed forces, as well as business groups with
(vested interests in continuity), technocrats, and civil servants. Although there was some overlap
among these groups, they had distinct, and often contradictory, interests. The force that fused them
together was their common loyalty to Franco. Franco was particularly skillful in manipulating each of
these "families," giving each a taste of power, but not allowing any group or individual to create an
independent base from which to challenge his authority.
...
Above all, Franco endeavored to remove all vestiges of parliamentary democracy, which he
perceived to be alien to Spanish political traditions. He outlawed political parties, blaming them for
the chaotic conditions that had preceded the Civil War. He eliminated universal suffrage and
severely limited the freedoms of expression and association; he viewed criticism of the regime as
treason.

In spite of the regime's strong degree of control, Franco did not pursue totalitarian domination of all
social, cultural, and religious institutions, or of the economy as a whole. The Franco regime also
lacked the ideological impetus characteristic of totalitarian governments. Furthermore, for those
willing to work within the system, there was a limited form of pluralism. Thus, Franco's rule has been
characterized as authoritarian rather than totalitarian."


A fascinating and controversial man, memorialized on an attractive Spanish medal. This
commemorative piece has a suspension loop at top and has been attached to connecting rings and a
keychain. It is thicker and measures slightly larger than an old-fashioned European crown (about
1-9/16" in diameter), with a raised rim.

The medal features a raised high-relief portrait of Franco in profile, with the legend Francisco Franco
* Caudillo de España. The reverse bears the coat of arms with a haloed eagle, a crowned shield with
the royal pillars, the lion of Leon and the Tower of Castile, etc., and the national motto used under
Franco, Una, Grande, Libre.