The horizon that opened in April 1939 was not only one of postwar recovery but, above all, one of Victory. Franco created a regime in his own image, but with the ambition of using mass organizations to attract the majority of Spaniards. However, the prisons and concentration camps were full, and the country was traumatized by its violent past and miserable present. Millions of Spaniards—even many who believed themselves to be victors—were condemned to live in an environment of extreme hardship and deep division. It was the great defeat of all. The poverty associated with autarky, the bloodshed of the conflict, and deep societal fractures facilitated the construction of an immoral and discriminatory atmosphere. Those who could identify as victors seemed to benefit at first, but in the harsh and prolonged postwar period of famine, that was never clear or definitive.
International conflict was a structural element throughout the postwar period. Franco's attitude toward World War II shifted over the course of the conflict, though he always maintained an ambiguous neutrality from which he sought to extract maximum advantage. Spain's neutrality in the war was primarily due to the country's lack of economic and military preparedness to participate. This material misery, coupled with the division among the dictatorship's elites on the matter, made it easier for Franco to focus on governing the ruins of the country that Spain had become, a country that would be an international pariah during the first years of the post-WWII period.
The new landscape, along with the beginning of the Cold War, made it easier for the United States to change its stance toward the Francoist regime which, due to its geographical position and anti-communist government, it viewed as potentially useful for the objectives of the “free world”. The definitive consecration of Francoist Spain occurred in 1953 with the signing of the concordat with the Vatican and the bilateral agreements with the United States. The gradual international consolidation of the Franco regime enabled the brutal final offensive that crushed the maquis — the anti-Francoist guerrillas — and also extinguished the hopes of thousands upon thousands of the defeated, both within the country and in exile. The internal exiles focused their efforts on rebuilding some semblance of family normalcy. This was the great achievement of the postwar period and the Victory: the retreat of Spaniards into their private world.
ORB
