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Spain’s revolution against Franco: The great betrayal

Core Argument

Alan Woods’s Spain’s Revolution Against Franco: The Great Betrayal sets out to demolish the official narrative of Spain’s ‘Democratic Transition’ as a peaceful, consensual achievement of wise statesmen. The central thesis is that the Transition was a carefully managed fraud — a ‘gigantic swindle’ — engineered by the Francoist elite in collaboration with the leaders of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) and Socialist Party (PSOE) to preserve the old regime’s power structures beneath a democratic façade. The real motor force of historical change, Woods insists, was the heroic struggle of millions of anonymous working-class men and women who risked their lives to overthrow the dictatorship. Their efforts were ultimately thwarted not by the strength of the old regime but by the treacherous actions of their own leaders.

The book argues that the Spanish working class, through a massive strike wave unparalleled in post-war Europe, had effectively broken the Francoist state by the mid-1970s. Between 1976 and 1978, 13.2 million working days were lost, involving 5.7 million workers — 60% of the working population. Yet this revolutionary upsurge was deliberately demobilised and betrayed by the PCE under Santiago Carrillo and the PSOE under Felipe González, who preferred secret negotiations with the monarchy and former Francoists to the messy business of working-class self-emancipation. Woods contends that the 1978 Constitution, the Moncloa Pacts, and the retention of the monarchy, Civil Guard, and unpunished torturers were not compromises forced by an unfavourable correlation of forces but the result of a conscious decision by left-wing leaders who had abandoned any belief in socialism.

The book’s second major argument concerns the method of historical writing itself. Woods positions himself as a participant-witness who lived through the events he describes, relying on his own experience and his role as political editor of Nuevo Claridad. The postscript directly addresses the anticipated hostility to his account, asserting that a version of events repeated ‘a thousand times over’ for forty years does not constitute truth. The work is framed as an act of historical recovery, written to restore nameless working-class heroes to their rightful place and to expose the imposters who harvested the fruits of others’ labour. This is a partisan work, written from within the movement and for it, not a dispassionate survey.

Overview

The book opens with a dedication and acknowledgements that establish its political and personal stakes. The dedication to Alberto Arregui (‘Manu’), who died as the manuscript was being completed, insists that the real heroes of Marxist theory are not celebrated intellectuals but unsung militants who gave their entire lives to the cause. The preface addresses three matters of nomenclature freighted with political significance: the distinction between ‘Spain’ and ‘the Spanish state’, the use of party names in clandestine conditions, and the orthographic treatment of Basque and Catalan place names. These apparently technical questions are used to underscore the underground conditions under which the struggle was waged and the lasting imprint of those conditions on historical memory.

The foreword establishes the book’s central metaphor: the suppression of historical memory is compared to the unmarked grave of Federico García Lorca, whose body has never been found. The Transition, Woods argues, was built on an imposed amnesia — a demand that the Spanish people forget the thousands killed in the Civil War, those who perished in Franco’s prisons, and decades of violent suppression of the workers’ movement. The retention of the monarchy, the Civil Guard, and the impunity of torturers under the new ‘democracy’ are presented as evidence that nothing fundamental changed.

The first three substantive chapters provide the historical context. ‘The Long Night of Francoism’ documents the brutality of the dictatorship: hundreds of thousands of republicans arrested, interned in concentration camps, murdered, or disappeared; the destruction of intellectual life; living standards that left two-thirds of the population without plumbing or electricity; and the first signs of workers’ revolt in the late 1940s. ‘The Reawakening — 1960-73’ traces the resurgence of the Spanish proletariat, focusing on the 1962 Asturian miners’ strike as a decisive turning point that triggered wage rises across industries and led to the emergence of the Workers’ Commissions (CCOO). The strike wave escalated dramatically: working days lost rose from 184,000 in 1966 to 21 million in 1979. ‘The International Context’ situates Spain’s class struggle within the 1973 world recession and the impact of the Portuguese Revolution of 1974, which panicked Spanish ruling circles who feared the army might break as in Portugal.

The book’s narrative core covers the period from Franco’s death in November 1975 to the consolidation of the new regime. ‘March 1976: The Floodgates Open’ describes the revolutionary upsurge that followed the dictator’s death, with Madrid coming close to a general strike in January 1976. The chapter on Vitoria is the book’s emotional and analytical centrepiece: a fifty-four-day strike controlled not by the PCE but by workers themselves through mass assemblies and recallable delegates, culminating in the police massacre of five workers at the Church of San Francisco on 3 March 1976. Woods argues this was the turning point where genuine working-class self-organisation confronted the elite project of capitalist restoration, and where the left leadership’s betrayal became decisive.

Subsequent chapters trace the mechanisms of that betrayal. ‘The Irresistible Rise of Adolfo Suárez’ shows how a political chameleon from the Francoist bureaucracy was elevated by bankers and the king to manage the transition. ‘Seven Days in January’ dissects the Atocha massacre and the PCE’s response, arguing that Carrillo’s conduct at the funeral convinced the bourgeoisie to legalise the party. Separate chapters on the PCE and PSOE document their abandonment of revolutionary politics: the PCE’s policy of National Reconciliation, its secret agreements with Suárez, and its acceptance of the monarchy; the PSOE’s transformation from a Marxist party to a vehicle for capitalist modernisation, funded by the German SPD and culminating in González’s theatrical resignation when the rank and file refused to drop the word ‘Marxism’ from the programme.

The later chapters cover the 1981 coup attempt, which Woods argues was not a rogue operation by Colonel Tejero but a Bonapartist manoeuvre organised by General Armada with the king’s knowledge. The final chapter systematically dismantles the Transition’s foundational myth, documenting the persistence of Francoist institutions, the impunity of torturers, and the corruption endemic from the Franco era. The book concludes that Spain requires a root-and-branch change of the entire system, and that the prior condition for progress is an honest analysis of past mistakes and a break with ‘consensus’ and alliances with the bourgeoisie.

Chapter Guide

  1. Dedication — A tribute to Alberto Arregui (‘Manu’), framing the book as a partisan work rooted in the lived struggle of the working class.
  2. Acknowledgements — Thanks to individuals who assisted in the book’s creation, including figures from the Spanish Marxist movement.
  3. Preface — Addresses nomenclature, distinguishing ‘the Spanish state’ as a precise analytical category from ‘Spain’, and explains the use of party names under clandestine conditions.
  4. Foreword — Establishes the central thesis that the Transition was a ‘gigantic swindle’ and frames the book as an act of historical recovery.
  5. The Long Night of Francoism — Documents the brutality of the dictatorship, the destruction of intellectual life, and the collapse of living standards.
  6. The Reawakening – 1960-73 — Traces the resurgence of the Spanish proletariat through the 1962 Asturian miners’ strike and the emergence of the Workers’ Commissions.
  7. The International Context — Situates Spain’s class struggle within the 1973 world recession and the impact of the Portuguese Revolution.
  8. The Death of a Dictator: The Church in Self-Preservation Mode — Examines the Spanish Church’s strategic distancing from the regime as a survival manoeuvre.
  9. March 1976: The Floodgates Open — Describes the revolutionary upsurge after Franco’s death, with 13.2 million working days lost between 1976 and 1978.
  10. Vitoria: The Turning Point — The fifty-four-day strike and police massacre of five workers on 3 March 1976, presented as the decisive confrontation between working-class self-organisation and capitalist restoration.
  11. The Irresistible Rise of Adolfo Suárez 1976-77 — Shows how a Francoist bureaucrat was elevated by bankers and the king to manage the transition.
  12. Seven Days in January: “A Superficial, Controlled Democracy” — Dissects the Atocha massacre and the PCE’s role in demobilising the mass movement.
  13. The Communist Party — Documents the PCE’s abandonment of revolutionary politics through the policy of National Reconciliation and secret agreements with Suárez.
  14. The Socialists: The PSOE — Traces the PSOE’s transformation from a Marxist party to a vehicle for capitalist modernisation, funded by the German SPD.
  15. The National Question — Argues that national conflicts are products of class rule, contrasting ETA’s terrorism with the mass movement of the Basque working class.
  16. The Strange Birth of a ‘Parliamentary Monarchy’ — Exposes the monarchy as a Francoist invention preserved through deception, with the 1978 Constitution enshrining an unelected king.
  17. The Turn of the Tide: The Sick Man of Europe — Dissects the economic crisis and the demobilisation of the workers’ movement through the Moncloa Pacts.
  18. Decline and Fall: Demoralisation — Documents the catastrophic collapse of working-class morale as left leaders pursued endless pacts with the regime.
  19. The 23 February Coup — Argues that the 1981 coup attempt was organised by General Armada with the king’s knowledge, not a rogue operation by Tejero.
  20. The Aftermath — Dissects the legacy of the Transition, documenting corruption, impunity for torturers, and the persistence of Francoist institutions.
  21. Deconstructing a Mythology — Systematically dismantles the Transition’s foundational myth, arguing that the 1978 Constitution was a betrayal.
  22. Postscript to the Reader of this Book — Defends the book as an act of historical truth-telling against the weight of repeated falsehood.
  23. Chronology — A chronological ledger of the Transition, contrasting mass struggle with institutional pacts.
  24. Glossary — Provides concise definitions of key organisations and individuals.

Key Concepts

Democratic Transition — The official narrative of Spain’s post-Franco transformation, which Woods argues was a ‘gigantic swindle’ that preserved the old regime’s power structures.

Vitoria massacre — The police killing of five workers at the Church of San Francisco on 3 March 1976, presented as the decisive turning point where genuine working-class self-organisation confronted capitalist restoration.

National Reconciliation — The PCE’s policy, adopted in 1956, of erasing the ‘artificial division’ between reds and nationals by forging alliances with monarchists and former Francoists.

Moncloa Pacts — The 1977 agreement that capped wage rises below inflation, devalued the peseta, and allowed bosses to sack workers, signed by PCE, PSOE and trade union leaders.

Operation Gladio — The clandestine CIA-led network forged after WWII, whose ‘strategy of tension’ involved false-flag terror attacks blamed on the left, exemplified by the Atocha massacre.

Bonapartism — A political form where a seemingly independent executive balances between warring classes; Woods applies this to King Juan Carlos’s role in the Transition.

Correlation of forces — The balance of class power at a given moment; Woods rejects the PCE’s claim that an unfavourable correlation forced compromise, arguing the working class had the strength to win.

Amnesty Law of 1977 — The legislation that forbade prosecution of dictatorship-era crimes, leaving torturers unpunished and creating what Woods calls ‘national amnesia’.

Permanent revolution — The Trotskyist theory that in backward countries, the bourgeois-democratic tasks can only be accomplished through working-class seizure of power; implicit in Woods’s critique of the PCE’s Popular Front strategy.

Clandestine conditions — The underground circumstances under which the struggle was waged, shaping personal relationships, party names, and historical memory.

Chapters

24 chapters