Uchronia Thread: WI Franco Leads the Spanish Falange

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Thread: “WI: Franco leads the Spanish Falange”**

(OP) OswaldMosley : I’ve been getting into the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Four Siblings”, and I learned recently it was based on the 1963 film “Raza”, which was written by a former Falangist general named Francisco Franco (a remake of his 1942 propaganda film).

I dug into Franco’s background. He was considered a top general of Falangist leader Sanjurjo, and a brilliant commander, but largely saw himself apolitical. Post-war, he went into writing, both his memoirs describing Sanjurjo’s and eventually many novels that would be adapted by him into Spanish and Italian films. He traveled and was a key advisor to the formation of the European Continental Federation.

So, if Sanjurjo had died and Franco took over, what might’ve happened? Might Spain have joined the Allies?

SkaelingQueen : Alright, judging by your reverent, awestruck tone and having to explain all these historical personage in a forum which has a separate section for World War II, I’m going to assume you’re new, so here’s a brief rundown:

The “Franco Myth” is exactly that. He was never “apolitical” nor a particularly good strategist. He was an early supporter of the coup and an extremely staunch anti-communist. He was only moderate in the sense that he opposed invading the Free Soviet Republic and getting involved in the war. He stood back and let Mola take over during Dia de Reyes, was very aware of atrocities committed against Catalan and Basque people, and he only got away with his involvement due to a deal with the British to help rebuild Spain. The only reason he’s seen as a “moderate badass dude” was his writings, which greatly exaggerated his own reputation and whitewashed himself as a patriot who didn’t follow Sanjurjo’s extreme politics and only sought participation in the coup to push back on “radical communism” (again showing he was never “apolitical”).

All that said, it is an interesting question. Franco probably wouldn’t have participated in the war, or at least waited until the French State/Axis could win and provide proper support for a joint invasion of the SFSR. Even then, he wouldn’t have supported the Axis the way Sanjurjo did.

OswaldMosley: What exactly do you mean by that?

SkaelingQueen : A more opportunistic and/or cautious approach towards the Free Soviet Republic would probably mean a Franco-run Spain would likely remain a pro-Axis neutral power rather than signing onto the Stahlpakt. Other than that I can’t really see much changing in how the Spanish State is governed. Maybe he’s able to angle into the proto-AFS the way Salazar did, but that would need him to not end up at war with the UN, which would further require him not invading the FSR.

SolomaniCommissar: Half of Spain staying red longer and giving the ComIntern a foothold in the Mediterranean when the western front opens up totally alters the course of the war and the postwar. Lots to chew on, there.

RitterStahl : It’s a small thing, but there’s probably a big shift in the IVAs culture compared to OTL. The participation of the 1st Brigade in the defense of Bilbao and the evacuation to Tenerife are both major parts of the IVAs culture and “legend”, so preventing or delaying the fall of the Republic probably hugely changes things there. Fort Zalka[1] or its equivalent probably isn’t in the Canaries, and almost certainly has a different name. Hell, the Canaries might not even end up an AUR.

VientosDelPueblo: One thing that is often forgotten about Sanjurjo is that he actually wasn’t that radical or even that much of a Falangist. That’s another part of the Franco Myth and a particularly common one amongst pop-history. The guy himself was basically an average Alfonsite. The main radicals in the government were people like Mola and Serrano Suñer who ironically was Franco’s brother in law.

Furthermore after Sanjurjo’s stroke in ‘41, he became a puppet figure for those same radicals. Though ironically de Rivera actually called for peace with the Republic before his assassination, in fact he supported the PSOE and Falange merging. So for all their claims about saving the legacy of de Rivera they ignored what he actually wanted.

Addressing the scenario if Sanjurjo had died and somehow Franco took over he most likely would have joined the war anyway. His brother-in-law was a major figure pushing to side with Italy. All that would have resulted in another guilty sentence at the end of the war.

And good bloody riddance too.

PankartaGorria: If you have the same brain disease I do, the whole Christmas Struggle after Sanjuros stroke is actually really interesting. Every single faction that aligned with the coup, from the Carlists to the Falange to what was left of the Alfonsites all backstabbing and engaging in a political quadrille. Three goddamn months of snakepit politics leading up to the Falange and Mola winning out in January ‘42. That’s what sealed the fate of the Free Soviet Republic, IMHO.

SolomaniCommissar: Can’t help but wonder what postwar Spain and the ECF looks like without Franco in the wings. Probably wouldn’t be all that different considering all the structural forces going into the ECF, not to mention the 600 pound gorilla of Mosley.

On the notes of Catalonia and the Basque country, would a change in leadership even change things? From what I’ve read the Scouring was mostly regional commanders acting on their own initiative, with Sanjuro et al signing off on it after-the-fact. I seriously doubt Franco or any of the other “moderates” in the Spanish State’s government would reign them in any more than OTL.

VientosDelPueblo: Unless you somehow manage to kill Mola before even the Civil War, the Scouring is still going to happen. Paul Preston’s book The Spanish Holocaust pretty explicitly details how the Scouring came about from Mola’s terror during the Civil War, and his work in the Basque Country during the War itself was the main baseline for what happened in the FSR. So unless you kill Mola no matter who leads Spain there’s going to be the Scouring.

NetherwalkingAssassin : Well, there wasn’t exactly a dearth of such people in the Falange. I mean, even if Mola is somehow removed from the scenes, there’s Queipo de Llano and his ilk, who would probably carry a far more deadly and brutal version of the Scouring.

PankartaGorria: Bastards. Thank god for the Canarias, they were legitimately a lifeboat for Basque and Catalan language and culture until the Restoration Program started in the 50s. For all of modern Spain’s faults the government has really been consistent in wanting to turn over a new leaf and make things right about that.

[1] The IVA’s primary training camp and base-of-operations. Basically Red Mother Base. *[WPA]: Works Progress Administration *[NBI]: National Bureau of Investigation