Franco’s female political prisoners: Tomasa Cuevas

Franco’s female political prisoners: Tomasa Cuevas

Although the victory of the Nationalist army on 1st April 1939 at the hands of leader General Francisco Franco[1] officially put an end to the Spanish Civil War[2] (1939-1939), the violence was far from over.

Now formally instated, the Francoist dictatorship, which had begun establishing control over the country since the start of the Civil War, was faced with the task of rebuilding the nation. This would be done through a combined focus on the regeneration and implementation of National-Catholic values through legal reform, propaganda, and public morality, and the elimination of the so-called enemies of Spain – particularly communists, republicans, and masons – through social denigration, mass imprisonment, torture, and execution. For women, Francoism meant a return to the ideals of Christian motherhood, with the downfall of the nation attributed to female emancipation.