Francisco Franco
From RationalWiki
Francisco Franco was a rightist and fascist who came to lead the victorious nationalist forces and defeated what remained of the government forces, the anarchists in Catalonia and the local nationalist movements in other parts of Spain. He then ruled Spain from the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939 until his death in 1975. Early in his rule, he allied with the Nazis in Germany and the Fascists in Italy, but did not formally ally with the Axis and officially remained neutral during World War II.
Despite this and the oppression he inflicted on the people of Spain, during the Cold War he became an ally of the United States against the Soviet Union. In many ways, US military aid helped keep his regime stable. However, Spain was kept out of membership in NATO, until finally invited to join in 1988 many years after the death of Franco and just as the Cold War was winding down.
Towards the end of he rule he accepted King Juan Carlos II as his successor; contrary to expectations, King Carlos turned out to be a democrat and has since turned Spain into a democratic republic, with himself as a constitutional figure-head.
