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Keywords

Francisco Franco, Spanish History

Abstract

History is not a whim, Francisco Franco declared to a youth group in January 1945. "It was not chance that many centuries before other nations Spain had forged its nationality and obtained its personality, nor that the undertakings of its sons had amazed the world with their heroic deeds." Six years had not yet passed since the end of the Spanish Civil War. World War II was drawing to a close, Spain faced an uncertain diplomatic and political future as one of the last of Europe's ultra-rightist political regimes, and the Spanish dictator was choosing to open his speech to youthful supporters with a history lesson. After declaring that there was nothing arbitrary about Spain's past greatness, he briefly detailed the historic conditions which had led to the military uprising of July 1936.

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