The Nationalist zone, also known as the Francoist zone, is the term used in to refer to the area of Spain controlled by the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalists themselves referred to it as the National zone.
From 1936, it was recognized as the legitimate representative of the Spanish State by supporting European countries, such as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy—in communications with its government, the German ambassador also used the term White Spain to refer to the Nationalist zone.Diario de Cádiz, "1936 Germany and Italy break relations with Madrid and recognize Franco's government," (in Spanish) accessed 30 June 2025. In February 1939, near the war's end, it was also recognized by the governments of France and the United Kingdom.
The extent of the Nationalist zone varied throughout the war as fronts shifted. Its existence ended when General Francisco Franco's forces gained complete control of the country, initiating the Francoist dictatorship.
Concept and terminology "National zone" or "Nationalist zone" are traditional terms used by Francoist historiography, though much of rejects the term "national" in favor of terms like "Nationalists," "rebels," or "Francoists."El País, "Rebels, Nationalists, or Francoists; not nationals," accessed 30 June 2025. Thus, terms such as "Francoist zone"The term Francoist is considered the most appropriate by various authors from 1937 onward, following Franco's assumption of absolute leadership after Mola's death. or "Nationalist zone" are now commonly used. Other authors, such as Hugh Thomas, refer to it as "Nationalist Spain," or Ramón Tamames as "National Spain."
The term "Nationalists" or "nationals" for the faction in the civil war was coined by Joseph Goebbels, the German propaganda minister, following a visit by a clandestine Spanish delegation led by Captain Francisco Arranz to request military aid from Nazi Germany after the Coup in Spain on 24 July 1936. The term aimed to lend legitimacy to German military aid to the Spanish rebel military.Juan Eslava Galán, Una Historia de la Guerra Civil que no va a Gustar a Nadie, Ed. Planeta. 2005. pp. 9–12In July 1936, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels instructed the German press on how to report the Spanish Civil War. They were not to refer to Franco's troops as "rebels," nor describe the insurgent military movement as a "coup" or "rebellion." Republicans were to be called "Bolsheviks." German participation in the war was not to be mentioned. The Nationalist leaders, labeled "" by the Bishop of Salamanca Enrique Pla y Deniel (who used the term "crusade" for their campaign), immediately endorsed and adopted the term.
Political evolution Following the provisional phase represented by the National Defense Junta formed after the death of General Sanjurjo in an aviation accident, who was to lead the military directorate to govern the country after overthrowing the Popular Front government, the rebel generals and leaders decided to appoint a single military and political leader. From 1 October 1936, General Franco became the "Generalissimo" of the rebel forces and the "Head of the Government of the State." After the failure to capture Madrid (between November 1936 and March 1937) and with the prospect of a prolonged war, the "Generalissimo" Franco, with the help of his brother-in-law Ramón Serrano Suñer, began shaping the political organization of the "New State." The first step was the Decree of Unification in April 1937, merging all political forces supporting the "national uprising," particularly the Falangists and Carlists, who had contributed significantly with their militias, into a single party called Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS. The next step was organizing the "New State," a task assigned by the "Generalissimo" to his first government, appointed on 30 January 1938, replacing the Junta Técnica del Estado.
The construction of the "New State" was accompanied by the destruction of everything related to the Republic. In the rebel zone, unlike the Republican zone where the revolution had unfolded, a "counter-revolution" was carried out, involving "systematic repression of individuals, organizations, and institutions that, in any way, real or even imagined, could be linked to that revolutionary Republic, or in the hands of revolutionaries, which they claimed to combat."
"In this path [of building the 'New State' and eliminating everything related to the Republic], Franco had the support and blessing of the Catholic Church. Bishops, priests, and religious figures began treating Franco as a divine envoy to restore order in the earthly city, and Franco came to believe he indeed had a special relationship with divine providence."
National defense junta The death of General Sanjurjo, exiled in Estoril, on 20 July due to an accident shortly after the takeoff of the plane piloted by Falangist Juan Antonio Ansaldo, which was to take him from Lisbon to Pamplona to lead the uprising, left the rebel generals without their intended leader. To partially address the lack of a single leader, four days after Sanjurjo's accident, on 24 July, the rebel generals and leaders formed the National Defense Junta in Burgos, chaired by the highest-ranking and most senior general, Miguel Cabanellas, head of the Zaragoza Organic Division, and including General Saliquet, General Mola, General Dávila, Colonel Montaner, and Colonel Moreno Calderón (with General Franco joining later). Its Decree No. 1 stated that it assumed "all the powers of the State" and, through subsequent decrees, extended the state of war declared by the rebels in each location to all of Spain (serving as the basis for subjecting opponents to summary court-martials), outlawed Popular Front parties and unions, and banned all workers' and employers' political and union activities "while the current circumstances persist" (Decree of 25 September).
The most urgent task was achieving military command unity. "With the failure of the swift military coup, Mola’s envisioned establishment of a Directory fell apart, especially with the death of the person who could have led it undisputedly [General Sanjurjo]. This raised the question of a possible monarchical restoration, which the military conspirators had not planned. (...) But any action inevitably required first choosing a single leader." It appears that General Franco (who had established his headquarters on 26 August at the Palacio de los Golfines in Cáceres, where Falangists organized a mass rally acclaiming him as leader and savior of Spain) requested a meeting of the rebel generals to address this issue. According to other historians, the proposal came from General Alfredo Kindelán.
General franco, "generalissimo" and "caudillo"
On 21 September, a meeting took place at a farm near Salamanca attended by the generals of the National Defense Junta, along with Generals Orgaz, Gil Yuste, and Kindelán. They discussed the need for a single command of the rebel forces and appointed General Franco for the role, as he led the army poised to enter Madrid (the Army of Africa was about to capture Maqueda, just 100 kilometers from the capital) and had secured aid from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Other potential candidates were ruled out (Cabanellas for being a Mason; Queipo de Llano for being a republican; Mola for the failure of his columns’ advance on Madrid). Additionally, Franco was "the most cautious, least ideologized, and most neutral in terms of regime," according to historian Santos Juliá. However, while military command was settled, political leadership remained unresolved. All generals voted for Franco except Miguel Cabanellas, who abstained and later remarked:
Franco then made a "masterstroke": ordering the columns advancing on Madrid to divert to Toledo to relieve the Alcázar, lifting the two-month siege of around a thousand civil guards, Falangists, and infantry academy cadets under Colonel Moscardó, who held "women and children of known leftist militants as hostages." "With their liberation, Franco gained immense political capital: the Alcázar was the symbol of Spain’s salvation, resurrecting like a martyr from the tomb to which its enemies had consigned it." "The capture of the Alcázar amplified Franco's legend. Moscardó’s famous phrase no news at the Alcázar, repeated before Franco and numerous journalists two days after its liberation, was widely propagated. Franco was the savior of the besieged heroes, the symbol of an army determined to win the war at any cost."
On 28 September 1936, the day the Alcázar de Toledo was relieved, a second meeting of the generals in Salamanca decided the political leadership. Franco was chosen, named not only "Generalissimo of the national land, sea, and air forces" but also "Head of the Government of the Spanish State, while the war lasts." Franco accepted both appointments, stating: "You place Spain in my hands... I must take on all powers." However, when Decree No. 138 of the Junta de Defensa Nacional was published the next day, a significant change was made: the phrase "while the war lasts" was removed, and Franco’s appointment as "Head of the Government of the Spanish State" included "who will assume all powers of the new State." By using "Spanish State," the issue of the future regime after capturing Madrid and ending the war (expected in weeks or months) was sidestepped, but the republican apparatus was dismantled, and power passed dictatorially to Franco. The decree of 29 September 1936, became the basis of the "Generalissimo’s" legitimacy for the next 39 years.
On 1 October 1936, in the , Francisco Franco took office as Generalissimo of the rebel army and Head of the Government of the State. This confirmed the administrative and military unity of the rebels,
The day before, the Bishop of Salamanca Enrique Pla y Deniel published a pastoral letter titled "The Two Cities", presenting the war as "a crusade for religion, homeland, and civilization," providing new religious legitimacy to the rebel cause. Thus, the "Generalissimo" was not only the "leader and savior of the Homeland" but also the "Caudillo" of a new "Crusade" defending the Catholic faith and the pre-Second Republic social order. Cardinal Primate Isidro Gomá sent Franco a congratulatory telegram for his appointment as "Head of the Government of the Spanish State," and the "Generalissimo" replied, stating that "he could not receive better aid than Your Eminence’s blessing" and asking for prayers to "enlighten and give me strength for the arduous task of creating a new Spain, whose happy outcome is already guaranteed by the patriotic collaboration so kindly offered by Your Eminence, whose pastoral ring I kiss." Bishop Pla y Deniel lent Franco his episcopal palace in Salamanca for use as his General Headquarters.
The first law promulgated by the "Generalissimo" Franco created the Junta Técnica del Estado (replacing the National Defense Junta), chaired by General Dávila (replaced in summer 1937 by the more efficient monarchist General Francisco Gómez-Jordana). It included a General Secretariat of the Head of State, led by Franco's elder brother Nicolás Franco. This administrative body, with seven Commissions acting as traditional Ministries, continued the social restructuring begun by the Junta de Defensa Nacional, addressing issues "from the counter-agrarian reform, returning estates to their former owners, to the purge of disloyal officials... The clear intention was to reverse all republican legislation, restoring things to their prior state."