Tribute: General Franco and The Enemy of the Century

On the man and the cause that helped save Spain from the left in the 20th century.

The sword of Francisco Franco.

Shortly after the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, the left launched a vicious campaign of persecution against Christians, burning churches and religious buildings in cities like Madrid.

Later, Madrid would bear witness to the left-wing Republican government’s authorization and organization of death squads, which committed unspeakable acts of inhuman brutality against Christians and other political enemies. Only a civil war would see Spain liberated by Nationalist forces led by men like Franco.

The church of San Francisco de Borja de Madrid, a Catholic church and principal base for the Jesuits in Spain, was burned by rioters in May 1931. (Photo12/Ann Ronan Picture Library/Alamy)

After the last of the Republicans had surrendered in 1939, Franco laid his sword upon the altar of the Church of St. Barbara in Madrid, a city that had seen the birth of the left’s crusade and the peaks of its bloodshed.

Franco vowed that his hand would never take up the sword again unless Spain herself were to be threatened with an invasion. On that day, he prayed, “Lord, benevolently accept the effort of this people, which was always Thine, which, with me and in Thy name, has vanquished with heroism the enemy of Truth in this century.” Franco kept that promise to “God and History,” the only two things to which he held himself accountable.

My debut essay in The European Conservative is a tribute to Franco and his cause. The magazine is a leading English-language conservative quarterly of philosophy, politics, and the arts.

I think there are important lessons to be learned from 20th-century Spain, which, like much of the West, is beneath the heel of the left today. A reader on Twitter, whose account seems to have since disappeared, wrote that there is no permanent victory against the forces of the left, which are really just the forces of entropy. Men can only decide whether or not to submit to tyranny in their generation.

The nice people at The European Conservative permitted me to share the text of my article exclusively with my Substack subscribers. But you can and should buy their beautiful print magazine, which is available for sale now. I have two copies myself.

You can purchase a copy of the print edition at The European Conservative website and read the PDF of my tribute below, which includes images from the print.