abstract
| - The Spanish State refers to a period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975 when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco. The regime emerged from the victory in the Spanish Civil War of the rebel Nacionales coalition led by General Franco. Besides the internal support, Franco's rebellion had been backed from abroad by Fascist Italy and Imperial Germany, while the Second Spanish Republic was increasingly backed by Communist Russia. After winning the Spanish Civil War, the Nacionales had established a single party authoritarian state under the undisputed leadership of Franco. World War II started shortly afterwards, and though Spain was officially neutral, it did send a special Division of troops to Russia to aid the Germans, and its pro-Axis stance led to it being isolated after the collapse of the Axis powers. Spain was declared a monarchy in 1947, but no king was designated; Franco reserved for himself the right to name the person to be king, and deliberately delayed the selection due to political considerations. The selection finally came in 1969, with the designation of Juan Carlos de Borbón as Franco's official successor. With the death of Franco on November 20, 1975, Juan Carlos became the absolute King of Spain. He immediately began the process of a Spanish transition to democracy, ending with Spain becoming a constitutional monarchy articulated by a parliamentary democracy.
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