Posted on 03/01/2017 10:29:11 PM PST by nickcarraway
Spain's Supreme Court dismissed [press release, in Spanish] a petition on Tuesday that sought to exhume the body of former dictator Francisco Franco and move the remains to a different location. Baltasar Garzón, a former judge, proposed [Reuters report] to the court in November 2015 that the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen), Franco's resting place, be turned into a memorial for victims of the dictator's regime. He requested that Franco's remains be moved to another location decided by his family. The petition also requested [Proceso report, in Spanish] that bodies buried at the site be exhumed and identified and for any Francoist symbolism in cities and towns to be suppressed. Garzón's petition also included a request for a public apology to victims of the dictatorial rule. Garzón and his lawyers said they plan to appeal the decision to the country's Constitutional Court, and if necessary, the European Court of Human Rights.
In November 2008, the Spanish Supreme Court charged then-judge Garzón with abuse of power after opening an investigation [JURIST report] into the war crimes through his 2008 order requiring the exhumation of 19 mass graves in Spain. Garzón had claimed the indictment was politically-motivated, compromised judicial independence and sought to impose a specific interpretation of the 1977 amnesty law. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed concern [JURIST report] over Garzón's trial, indicating that judges should not be criminally charged for investigations performed within the scope of their judicial duties. He was later cleared [Reuters report] of any charges. The dictatorship of Francisco Franco [History backgrounder] lasted from 1939 to 1975, coming into power with the help of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. In 2014 a UN expert urged [JURIST report] Spanish authorities to trust their democracy and "not postpone measures for justice, truth and reparation for the victims of human rights violations" committed during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War and the Franco era.
Francisco Franco really is still dead.
Franco saved Spain from a Red terror that would have killed most of the country and proved to be a good ally for us during the cold war. He had the good sense to turn the country back over to the people when he died instead of keeping the dictatorship going.
Was Chevy Chase in some way connected with this request?
…well, I guess you did something right.
Mr. niteowl77
Still critically dead.
Just finished “The Last Crusade” a book recommended by a fellow FReeper.
Fascinating subject and previously absent from my reading interests
I’m now looking for other good recommendations on the Spanish Civil War if any of you have suggestions???
Many of the ‘on line thumbs up recommendations’ are from the pro Communist / Socialist point of view. Read one that was horrible ...Helen Graham, “A short Introduction to the Spanish Civil War”
In another search I saw there are about 15,000 books written on the subject ! Most in Spanish.
Any recommendations welcome .... THX
"They were given a posthumous execution: their remains were exhumed, and they were hanged, beheaded and their remains were cast into a pit below the gallows. Their heads were placed on spikes above Westminster Hall the building where the High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I had sat."
This is from: List of regicides of Charles I
The standard history in English is by Hugh Thomas. It is highly detailed, comprehensive, and...thick.
A more sprightly work, and very balanced, is Antony Beevor’s “Battle for Spain”
>Just finished “The Last Crusade” a book recommended by a fellow FReeper.
>Fascinating subject and previously absent from my reading interests
>I’m now looking for other good recommendations on the Spanish Civil War if any of you have suggestions???
“The battle for Spain” by Antony Beevor is a good general history of the war however it’s still tainted by the author eating commie propaganda whole from time to time. If you can read between the lines it’s pretty decent.
“The Cypresses Believe in God” by Jose Maria Gironella.
The whole trilogy is very good, but especially volume one (deals with the run- up to the war, 1932-35) which is terrific.
I'm told Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell is eye-opening and brilliant. Orwell went over there to fight in the Civil War to fight Franco's Nationalists as part of the Anarchist contingent, and watched the Soviet-controlled "Republicans" killing their own Anarchist allies rather than the Nationalist troops. The Republican force was just doing what Communists always do, which is to kill off your allies when you think you're going to win, so you can seize power without opposition.
Gosh, it's so sad the Communists wound up losing.
Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia is a must-read, and it is fairly short. A socialist, he went to fight with the Anarchists, and almost lost his life at the hands of his nominal “allies”, the Communists, in a purge. This time was certainly influential to his later anti-totalitarian fiction. Also has good accounts of front line life.
Dang it, you beat me to it.
You get the sense that the Spanish Socialists are acting like their days in control are numbered, and they’re trying a late, symbolic push to discredit the nationalist-brand before they return to the political sidelines?
Absolutrly, categorically WRONG. Franco wanted to turn Spain back into an absolute monarchy and appointed Prince Juan Carlos as his successor. Franco did not envision any role for the people in this. As it happened, Juan Carlos wasn't interested in being an absolute monarch. But that wasn't what Franco wanted.
Franco removed the crown from the eagle’s head on Spain’s flag while in power; he resorted to restoring the monarchy as death approached, but in his 35 years in power he left the monarchy out of power - they had in some ways contributed to the problems that boiled to the surface during the war.
Franco understood that democracy was flawed (from a Catholic standpoint) because the communist government was legally elected in 1936 (as was Obama in 2008); that government then stood by as the country descended into anarchy, and Franco was only one of four generals (and not the original leader) that rose to restore power. When he realized churches were being burned and properties seized with tacit approval by the communist government, he acted - and never intended to let people vote again.
This just in,...Francisco Franco is still dead....
Lol. I laughed when I saw the headline and thought of the same thing. Funny the things we never forget. FRancisco Franco is still dead.
I thought someone might want to dig him up to make sure.
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