Francisco Franco – the victor of communism. On the 50th anniversary of the death of the Generalissimo

Exclusive. With almost thirty-five years of distance since Ukraine gained independence and in the conditions of the current brutal war with the Russian aggressor, the vast majority of our compatriots are accustomed to perceive the collapse of the Soviet Union as an accomplished inevitable fact, without which the progress of the peoples enslaved by Moscow to freedom would have been impossible. The communist regime in the Kremlin fell, unable to withstand military and economic competition with the Western world. But was the West in the second half of the last century supposed to become the way we perceive it, without even thinking about it?

Not a fact.

Among the armed conflicts in Europe that preceded World War II, the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 occupies an important place. Supporters of left-wing ideas, having overthrown the monarchy, tried to repeat the social experiments of the Moscow Bolsheviks in the far west of Europe. And they began to do a lot, especially in the humanitarian sphere, combating traditional Catholic spirituality and imposing a secularism that was unusual for the Iberian countries.

However, the communists and their allies underestimated the healthy conservative worldview of the Spanish people, whose basis was the peasantry. The introduction of leftist ideas was also completely unacceptable to the nationalist army, which did not remain aloof from processes that were detrimental not only to Spain but to all of Christian Europe.

And finally, the leading generals of the Spanish army, including Emilio Mola, José Sanjurjo, and Francisco Franco, got together (“juntos” in Spanish /pronounced “hýntos” – hence the “damned” word “junta”; let’s remember how the Muscovites and their agents called the Ukrainian government back in 2014/) and agreed on decisive action against the leftist government in Madrid, which sought to spread the “revolutionary” ideals of the Bolsheviks to Western Europe.

But at the very beginning of the rebellion, General Sanjurjo unexpectedly died in a plane crash, which was a significant loss for the uprising. The following year, General Mola also died in another plane crash. As a result, General Francisco Franco became the sole leader of the Spanish right, and his supporters began to be called Francoists.

Much has been written about the events of the Spanish Civil War, in which neither side was distinguished by humanism, however, it was Franco's supporters, who relied on the army and conservative peasantry and were people of the true, old-regime officer's honor, who tried to restore the traditional order based on the ideas of the nation, monarchy, and Catholicism.

The war lasted almost three years, until at the end of March 1939, the troops loyal to the national tradition entered Madrid. “Four columns are marching,” Emilio Mola observed at the beginning of the uprising, “and the fifth column is waiting for us in Madrid.” The unwavering position of the nationalists of the capital, who did not want to submit to the Stalinists, became, if not the decisive, then a very important factor that determined the outcome of the Civil War. Francisco Franco became the ‘caudillo’ – the leader of the Spanish nation and remained so until his death, which occurred exactly 50 years ago.

So, the story of General Franco, who later received the highest military rank of Generalissimo, forces us to reconsider some established stereotypes. First, the expression "fifth column" is often used in a negative context to refer to enemy agents in one's environment. Many of our observers still call the leaders of Moscow's policy in Ukraine that way. But, maybe, on the contrary - let's call our people in the Kremlin camp that way?! And will the time come when the ideals of freedom nurtured by Golden-Domed Kiev, with the assistance of truly worthy sons of Muscovy, will reach its impassable swamps?

Secondly, you can often hear the cliché that all dictators end the same way. Hello, gentlemen, do you know history? Isolated examples do not create a general picture. And Generalissimo Franco, who was undoubtedly a dictator, is not the only one who ruled the state for decades and died a natural death.

It is also worth mentioning Antonio Salazar, the leader of Portugal, who ruled the country for almost forty years and who brought it from backward to economically developed. Or our Yevhen Petrushevych, who was officially called the "dictator of the ZUNR" and, despite all his numerous mistakes, is still a respected figure in the history of Ukraine.

Thirdly, Francisco Franco, sensing his imminent departure to the Lord, bequeathed to establish democracy in Spain (provided that the monarchy was restored, which was done). And shortly after the end of the Civil War, he ordered the construction of a common mass grave for its victims, on which he would write: "Here lies Spain."

And the caudillo did not know how ungrateful the future leaders of Spain would be to the savior of the country from communism, who would remove the body of the generalissimo from the Valley of the Fallen and dismantle the monuments in his honor. As we see, the ideals of nationalism and Christianity are not in honor in today's Europe.

But the main thing that is worth noting on the fiftieth anniversary of the death of F. Franko is that he once led the generals who fought against Bolshevism; and in modern Ukraine there is more than one general who worthily waged and is waging a war against the current Moscow post-and-neo-Bolsheviks. Isn't it time to involve them in key government positions in the long-awaited Ukrainian government of national unity? Who would be able - like the Francoists once did on the other side of Europe - to overcome corruption, raise the economy, and restore dignity to the nation and state?!

It's just a matter of time.

Moscow is to be destroyed!

Andriy Kurbsky, columnist Newsky.