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1975, Kingdom of Spain, Francisco Franco Bahamonde. Proof Silver Medal. UNC-

Mint Year: 1975 Reference: KM-. Mint Place: Barcelona (B23)   Denomination: Medal - Francisco Franco Bahamonde Condition: A few scratches and light deposits, otherwise proof! Weight: 13.15gm Diameter: 32mm Material: Silver

Obverse: Facing head of Francisco Franco, flanked by anniversary dates (1892-1975). Legend: FRANSISCO FRANCO BAHAMONDE . CAVDILLO DE ESPANA . Reverse: Standing figure of Athena, holding wreated target and spear. Round shield with head of Meduse in background. Maker´s & privy marks below. Legend: PACI IMPOSVIT MORES

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish military leader who ruled as the dictator of Spain from 1939 until his death. He came to power during the Spanish Civil War while serving as the Generalísimo of the Nationalist faction.

Franco came from a military background. He became a highly decorated   soldier and won rapid promotions in the army. He rose to prominence   during the 1920s as a commander in the Spanish Legion and became the youngest general in Europe. He was then appointed in charge of Academia General Militar, Spain's   main military academy at Zaragoza. However, with the fall of the Spanish   monarchy and the establishment of the Second Republic in 1931, Franco, as a conservative and monarchist officer, was   marginalized from power by the Republican government. Franco managed to   return to prominence with the electoral victory of the conservatives in   1933. He was appointed Chief of Staff of the military and suppressed the anarchist uprising of 1934. In 1936, Franco and a group of Spanish military leaders conspired to overthrow the Popular Front–led   Republican government. The rebellion was only half successful and   evolved into a civil war, during which Franco emerged as the leader of   the Nationalists. He was able to secure the support of Italy and Germany while integrating the many heterogeneous rebel factions into the Movimiento Nacional. After winning the civil war, Franco had the Spanish Parliament dissolved. He then established a dictatorship and was de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain. His official posts were that of Head of State and Head of Government as the Caudillo (The Leader) and Prime Minister respectively.

Franco went on to rule Spain for nearly forty years. He was able to hold on to power by playing off the diverse political   factions of the state against one another and through his control over   the armed forces while firmly repressing enemies. This included the   systematic suppression of dissident views through censorship and   coercion, the imprisonment of ideological enemies in concentration camps,   the implementation of forced labour in prisons, and the use of the   death penalty and heavy prison sentences as deterrents for the opponents   of the regime. Pragmatism for the purpose of maintaining stability characterised Franco's economic and foreign policies. Despite his pro-Axis leanings during World War II, Franco orchestrated a rapprochement with the Western democracies, concluding economic and defense agreements with the United States during the Cold War against Communism. Franco initially pursued autarkic development strategies. Amidst economic difficulties in the late 1950s, a cabinet reshuffle brought into the government the Opus Dei technocrats who, despite Franco's distrust of liberalism, convinced the general to steer Spain towards a market economy. The reforms produced the Spanish Miracle,   a long run of record growth that has been described as "the time of the   greatest sustained economic development and general improvement in   living standards in all of Spanish history." Socially, Franco was a conservative and championed the cause of Catholicism. The consistent points of his policies, termed as Francoism, had at its core authoritarianism, nationalism, integralism, conservatism, and a frontal rejection of anticlericalism and leftist politics. Others have described him as a reactionary, who led the counter-revolutionary movement in Spain.

Franco's health declined during the 1960s. In 1969, he designated Prince Juan Carlos, grandson of Spain's former king, Alfonso XIII, as his official successor. In 1973, Franco relinquished his position as premier to Luis Carrero Blanco but continued to be head of state. He finally died at the age of 82 in 1975. After Franco's death, Juan Carlos became king and Spain began its transition to democracy. The transitional government forged the Pact of Forgetting; a political agreement between the right and the left to avoid having to deal with the legacy of Francoism in favour of national reconciliation. In 2007, the status quo was challenged by the socialist government, which sought to condemn the Francoist regime through the Historical Memory Law. The conservative opposition voted against the passage of the law. However, the   government was able to pass the bill; among other measures, the law   rejected the legitimacy of the Francoist regime and prohibited the use   of Francoist symbols. After the conservatives came to power in 2011, the government closed   the offices pertaining to the law, and also withdrew funding. Franco has been criticized in the rest of Europe, where the European Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution in 2006 that "firmly" condemned the "multiple and serious violations" of human rights committed under the Francoist regime. His mausoleum in the Valley of the Fallen is subject to much controversy in Spain; there have been various attempts to remove and relocate his remains.

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