The death of Franco elevated Don Juan
Carlos de Borbón to the throne. Until Franco’s death, Juan Carlos
had remained in the background and seemed to follow the dictator’s plans of
appointing him his successor as head of state with the title of King of Spain. Once in
power as king, Juan Carlos facilitated the development of the current political
system, as his father, Don Juan de Borbón,
had advocated since 1946.
The transition was an ambitious
plan that counted on ample support both within and outside of Spain. Western
governments, headed by the United States,
now favored a Spanish constitutional
monarchy, as did many Spanish and international liberal capitalists.
Nevertheless, the transition
proved challenging, as the spectre of the Civil War (1936–1939)
still haunted Spain. Francoists
on the far right
enjoyed considerable support within the Spanish Army, and people
of the left
distrusted a king who owed his position to Franco.
The realization of the democratic
project required that the leftist opposition restrain its own most radical
elements from provocation, and that the army refrain from intervening in the
political process on behalf of Francoist elements within the existing
government.
Juan Carlos began his reign
without leaving the confines of Franco's legal system. As such, he swore
fidelity to the Principles of the Movimiento
Nacional, the sole legal party of the Franco era; took possession of
the crown before the Francoist Cortes
Generales; and respected the Ley Orgánica
del Estado (Organic Law of the State) for the appointment of his
first head of
government. Only in his speech before the Cortes did he indicate his
support for a transformation of the Spanish political system.
Photo Legacy: Making your memories last forever http://www.photolegacy.com
Research courtesy of Wikipedia
Images courtesy of The US National Archives under The
Commons Agreement on Flickr
Photograph of President William
J. Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton with King Juan Carlos and
Queen Sofia of Spain, 04/29/1993
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