| abstract | - Francoist Spain, also known as Fascist Spain, refers to the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco took control of Spain from the government of the constitutionally liberal democratic Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil War started as a coup by the Spanish military on the peninsula (peninsulares) and the Moroccan rif territory (africanistas) on July 17, 1936. The coup had the support of most factions sympathetic to the right-wing cause in Spain including the majority of Spain's Catholic clergy, the fascist-inclined Falange, and the Alfonsine and Carlist monarchists. The coup escalated into a civil war lasting for three years once Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany agreed to support Franco starting with airlifting of the africanistas onto the mainland. Other supporters included Portugal under Antonio Salazar, while the presentation of the Civil War as a "crusade" or renewed reconquista attracted the sympathy of Catholics internationally and the participation of Irish Catholic volunteers. Although the government of Great Britain was more sympathetic to the Francoists while the Popular Front government of France was anxious to support the Republic, both factions observed the non-intervention agreement of October 1936. The Second Spanish Republic was backed by the Stalinist Soviet Union from December 1936 and Mexico.
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