Yes, the pictures were of none other than General Francisco Franco, the Spanish leader who saved the Iberian peninsula from Sovietisation (Stalinisation) process. Just for the record, my own view of the General is that he was the less of the two evils in the Spanish Civil War, but having said that, I was somewhat shocked to see his image being so publically shown in modern-day Catalonia.
In particular, I found the pictures of the General attending the Old Latin Mass absolutely fascinating:
Yes, General Franco was a devout practising Catholic, and on his deathbed, some of his final words are said to have been that he devoted his life to saving Catholic Spain from Sovietisation (Stalinisation) process. For me, on one hand, I don't view the General as a saint, but on the other hand, I don't swallow the politically 'correct'-type revisionist account of him being a monster.
However, I must reiterate that I was shocked to see such pictures being shown publically in the heart of Barcelona. Moreover, some of the other pictures on display showed soldiers and people who appear to be attending the same Old Latin Mass as the General, and if these people are the General's soldiers and supporters, the pictures really are fascinating, as they are humanising rather than demonising the people:
Thus, after seeing these pictures, I'm left with the question of whether the memory of General Franco is no longer a massive problem for Catalonians, or, less likely, that they now offer some kind of begrudging respect to the leader who saved the Iberian peninsula from Sovietisation (Stalinisation) process.
Incredible photographs Pat. I know very little about Spain and the Spanish civil War. All I have read is Homage to Catalonia: George Orwell.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it would be a difficult choice to choose between Franco and Sovietisation. Rather like choosing between Hitler and Stalin.
I'm afraid I have to disagree Dave, Stailin and Hitler killed millions in mass schemes of murder, Stalin far more than Hitler as it happens.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, Franco can be far more accurately compared to Tito who held the old Yugoslavia together in the same way that Franco held Spain together, although Franco's forces probably killed significantly less people than Tito's.
One interesting story that I've read is that British army helicopters flew the then young General Franco and other officers round the Canary Isles, to help the early organisation of the inserruction, when General Franco's most famous words were 'Enough is enough" in response to the Republican government's role in the assassination of the conservative politician, Calvo Sotelo. The trouble is that politically-'correct' revisionist accounts of the Spanish Civil War don't mention things like this.