Viewing Francoist Propaganda Through Mass Media in the National Archives of Spain

Abstract

While most historians of Spanish history argue that Francisco Franco only used fascism during the late 30s and early 40s to gain favor with Hitler and Mussolini, the construction of The Valley of the Fallen in 1959 exposes the dictator?s long-term commitment to the use of a fascist style in the portrayal of the national state. As historians oversimplify the relationship between Franco and fascism, this church/monument and the national magazine Arriba!, demonstrate that the appeal of fascism to Franco laid not it is ideology, but rather in its propagandistic abilities to present a conservative regime as a modern power.