Fransisco Franco

     Fransisco Franco was a dictator, like Hitler, who held Spain under an iron group for nearly four decades. In fact, Hitler and Franco shared many similarities especially in their rise to the top.
    Franco was born on December 4, 1892, in a northwestern port city in Spain. His family, for generations, had been in the navy proudly serving their country. But after suffering a brutal defeat at the hands of the Americans in the Spanish-American War in 1898 the Spanish were forced to cut down on their navy. As a result, Franco enlisted in an Infantry Academy and passed with rather low grades. However, Franco's fortunes would quickly change when he went to Morroco to help deal with the local resistance. In just a few years, Franco had taken full command of the Spanish Foreign Legion. Additionally, once he turned thirty-five he became the director of the General Military Academy. Franco had enjoyed a steady rise to the top but he was quite ambitious and was ready to take advantage of the weak political leadership just as Hitler had.

    After King Alfonso XII was ousted by-election a new republic took control of the government. Yet they too were plagued by the very problems that Alfonso had faced. They were unable to improve conditions for the Spanish people. Franco saw this as his opportunity and began to plan a coup with other notable political leaders. He joined the Nationalist Party and seized control of multiple military units. After that, he was able to get the Nazis and the Italians to support him and began the fighting. This bloody period of time would be known as the Spanish Civil War. The Republicans, who were the opposition, held their ground for nearly three years. But the military strength of Franco was too great for them to handle and they eventually surrendered. 
    During his rule, he held nearly 50000 executions and limited most freedoms. He did relax his grip towards his later years. Interestingly, Hitler approached Franco for support but the Spanish demanded too much. Franco still ended up sending some 50000 volunteers to the Nazis. Once the Nazis started to lose, Franco declared their neutrality. Suprisingly, the United States provided economic and military support because Spain was anti-communist. Franco would continue to rule Spain until his death on November 20, 1975.



https://www.biography.com/dictator/francisco-franco

https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/spanish-american-war