Spain (Imperishable Morning)

Spain (Spanish: España), officially the Third Spanish Republic (Spanish: Tercera República Española) is a sovereign state located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, Basque Country, Catalonia, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal.

Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, three exclaves in North Africa, Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera that border Morocco, and the islands and peñones (rocks) of Alborán, Chafarinas, Alhucemas, and Perejil.

History
The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. For three years the Nationalist forces led by General Francisco Franco and supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy fought the Republican side, which was supported by the Soviet Union, Mexico and International Brigades but it was not supported by the Western powers due to the British-led policy of Non-Intervention. The civil war was viciously fought and there were many atrocities committed by all sides. The war claimed the lives of over 500,000 people and caused the flight of up to a half-million citizens from the country. In 1939, General Franco emerged victorious and became a dictator.

The state as established under Franco was nominally neutral in the Second World War, although sympathetic to the Axis. The only legal party under Franco's post civil war regime was the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS, formed in 1937; the party emphasized Falangism, a form of fascism that emphasized anti-Communism, Catholicism and nationalism. Given Franco's opposition to competing political parties, the party was renamed the National Movement (Movimiento Nacional) in 1949.

After the Second World War, Spain was politically and economically aligned with the Kingdom of Italy, and joined the Roman Pact in 1955. In the 1960s, Spain registered an unprecedented rate of economic growth which was propelled by industrialisation, a mass internal migration from rural areas to cities and the creation of a mass tourism industry. Franco's rule was also characterized by authoritarianism, promotion of a unitary national identity, the favouring of a very conservative form of Roman Catholicism known as National Catholicism, and discriminatory language policies.

With Franco's death in November 1975 and the nation in turmoil, the Second Spanish Civil War broke out between the Fascists (aided by the Roman Pact), Basque and Catalonian rebels, Galician secessionists, and the Republicans (supported by Chile, Mexico and International Brigades). The civil war lasted for seven years, and ended with a Republican victory. The Calatonian, Basque, and Galician rebels were also victorious, and had successfully ceded from Spain. The loss of the Fascists in the Second Spanish Civil War was one of the many factors that contributed to the decline of the Roman Pact.

With the approval of the new Spanish Constitution of 1982 and the restoration of democracy, the State devolved much authority to the regions and created an internal organisation based on autonomous communities. The independence of Basque, Catalonia, and Galicia were recognised as well, and diplomatic relations with them were established.