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.
Interacting Francoism: A tale of 20th-century dictatorships Part I - Systems 1. An analytical characterization of totalitarian language: The case of Francoism in context 2. The birth of total war in terms of air defence: The meaning of the Spanish Civil War 3. Undesirable foreigners in democracy and dictatorship: Comparing the changing status of Spanish exiles in France (1936–1945) Part II - Interacting Surveillance 4. Investigation, surveillance and control: Spain in the era of total intelligence and fascist Europe (1914–1939) 5. Constructing modern surveillance: Military intelligence in the punitive system of early Francoism 6. Varguism and Francoism in connection: The “policing” of diplomacy (1936–1939) Part III - (Inter)national Interactions 7. Women’s organizations, gender equality and dictatorships: Celebrating International Women’s Year (1975) in Poland and Spain 8. Republican crimes, Soviet origins? Francoist mythology and violence in the Russian and Spanish revolutions 9. Who’s speaking? Eastern European exile in Franco’s Spain and the Cold War propaganda battle Part IV - Interacting Everyday Life 10. Heroic models in daily life: Soviet children and the Spanish Civil War 11. The supply question in Total War: Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) 12. “A pyre of ration cards”: Practices of everyday resistance during Francoism in context
José M. Faraldo is associate professor in the department of Modern and Contemporary History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). He worked from 1997 to 2002 at the European University Viadrina, in Frankfurt/Oder (Germany) and from 2004 to 2008 he was research fellow and project coordinator at the Center of Research on Contemporary History, (Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, ZZF), in Potsdam (Germany). He has published extensively on the subject of nationalism, communism, resistance against fascism and communism, exiles from dictatorships and the archives and legacy of the communist secret police. Most recent books: Contra Hitler y Stalin. La Resistencia en Europa (1936-1956), Madrid: Alianza 2022; Collapsed Empires. The Consequences of 1917 in Europe and the Mediterranean, Zurich: Lit Verlag 2020. Gutmaro Gómez Bravo is associate professor in the department of Modern and Contemporary History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He is a member of the Civil War and Francoism Research Group. His broad areas of interest are political violence, penal and penitentiary systems, social history and repression. He is the author of various monographs Esclavos del Tercer Reich. Los españoles del campo de Mauthausen. Madrid, Catedra 2022 (with Diego Martinez); Hombres sin nombre. La reconstrucción del socialismo en la clandestinidad (1939-1970). Madrid., Cátedra 2021; (ed) Asedio. Historia de Madrid en la Guerra Civil. Madrid, Ediciones Complutense 2018; Geografía Humana de la represión franquista. Del golpe a la guerra de ocupación. (1936-1941), Madrid, Cátedra 2017.
