Franco Dies: Spain's 36-Year Dictatorship Ends
Thirty-six years. Franco had outlasted Hitler, Mussolini, and four U.S. presidents — a dictator who somehow survived his own era. When he finally died on November 20th, his physicians had kept him artificially alive for weeks, his body failing through eighteen operations. King Juan Carlos I, Franco's handpicked successor, then did something Franco never expected: he dismantled the whole system. Within three years, Spain held free elections. The man who thought he'd secured his legacy forever had accidentally chosen the person who'd bury it.
November 20, 1975
51 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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