White Terror (Spain)
In the history of Spain, the White Terror (Spanish: Terror Blanco; also known as the Francoist Repression, la Represión franquista) describes the political repression, including executions and rapes, which were carried out by the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), as well as during the following years of the regime of General Francisco Franco.[7]: 89–94 In the 1936–1975 period, Francoist Spain had many officially designated enemies: Loyalists to the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), Liberals, socialists of different stripes, Protestants, intellectuals, homosexual people, Freemasons, Romanis, Jews, Black people, immigrants, Basque, Catalan, Andalusian and Galician nationalists.[9][6]: 52 [10]: 136
White Terror (Francoist Repression)
1936–1975
Spanish Republicans, Liberals, leftists, Protestants, intellectuals, homosexuals, Freemasons, Jews, immigrants, blacks, Romanis, and Basque, Catalan, Andalusian and Galician nationalists
The Francoist Repression was motivated by the right-wing notion of a limpieza social, a cleansing of society. This meant that the killing of people viewed as enemies of the state began immediately upon the Nationalists' capture of a place.[7]: 98 As a response to the similar mass killings of their clergy, religious, and laity during the Republican Red Terror, the Catholic Church in Spain legitimized the killings by the Civil Guard (national police) and the Falange as a defense of Christendom.[7]: 88–89 [11]
Ideologically hardwired into the Francoist regime, repression turned "the whole country into one wide prison", according to Ramón Arnabat,[12] enabled by the ironic trap of turning the tables against the loyalist defenders of the Republic by means of accusing them of "adherence to the rebellion", "aid to the rebellion" or "military rebellion".[12] Throughout Franco's rule (1 October 1936 – 20 November 1975), the Law of Political Responsibilities (Ley de Responsabilidades Políticas), promulgated in 1939, reformed in 1942, and in force until 1966, gave legalistic color of law to the political repression that characterized the defeat and dismantling of the Second Spanish Republic;[13] and served to punish Loyalist Spaniards.[14]
Historians such as Stanley Payne consider the White Terror's death toll to be greater than the death toll of the corresponding Red Terror.[15]
Aftermath[edit]
The last concentration camp, at Miranda de Ebro, was closed in 1947.[6]: 309 By the early 1950s the parties and trade unions made illegal by the Francoist State had been decimated by the Francoist police, and the Spanish maquis had ceased to exist as an organized resistance.[35]: 388 Nevertheless, new forms of opposition started, such as the unrest in the universities and strikes in Barcelona, Madrid and Vizcaya. The 1960s saw the start of the labour strikes led by the illegal union trade Workers' Commissions (Comisiones Obreras) linked to the Communist Party, and the protest in the universities continued to grow. Finally, with Franco's death in 1975, the Spanish transition to democracy commenced and in 1978 the Spanish Constitution of 1978 was approved.
After Franco's death, the Spanish government approved the Spanish 1977 Amnesty Law (Ley de Amnistia de 1977) which granted a pardon for all political crimes committed by the supporters of the Francoist State (including the White Terror)[6]: 324 and by the democratic opposition. Nevertheless, in October 2008 a Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzón, of the National Court of Spain authorized, for the first time, an investigation into the disappearance and assassination of 114,000 victims of the Francoist State between 1936 and 1952.[85] This investigation proceeded on the basis of the notion that this mass-murder constituted a crime against humanity which cannot be subject to any amnesty or statute of limitations.[86] As a result, in May 2010, Mr. Garzón was accused of violating the terms of the general amnesty and his powers as a jurist have been suspended pending further investigation.[87] In September 2010, the Argentine justice reopened a probe into crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War and during Franco's reign.[88] Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,[89] the Council of Europe[90] and United Nations have asked the Spanish government to investigate the crimes of Franco's reign.[91]