Internal policy (1939-1959)

The Post-War period was very hard for Spain, whose reconstruction was extremely slow. Franco used this period to consolidate the foundations of his new State by passing some essential laws:

• Fuero del Trabajo (1938): It was an act that regulated labour rights. It created the Sindicato Vertical as a trade union.
• Ley de Cortes (1942): This act created a sort of one-house Parliament whose decisions were strictly advisory.
• Fuero de los Españoles (1945):  It speaks about the rights of the Spaniards.It involved the birth of the “organic democracy”, which was the name Franco gave to his regime.
• Ley de Referéndum Nacional (1945): This act allowed Franco to call a referendum in order to vote for any of his proposals.
• Ley de Sucesión (1947): Due to this act Spain was considered a kingdom but without a king. Hence, Franco is appointed Caudillo de España. Franco had the power to appoint his successor.
• Ley de Principios Fundamentales del Movimento (1958): It  fixed the main principles of the national organisation

 

 

During this period Juan Carlos de Borbón arrived in Spain after the conversations  that Franco and Juan de Borbón held in 1948 on board of the Azor yacht .

This stage of Francoism involved a very hard repression where the followers of the defeated side in the war were executed without fair trials and many people were jailed. There were more than 30,000 executions in the early 1940s. More than 250,000 people were in prison due to their political ideas.