SPANISH HISTORY-Francoist Dictatorship

1939 to 1945: Spain stays out of the 2nd World War.

1947: Franco announces the restoration of the monarchy when he dies or retires (Law of Succession).

1953: Spain and the US sign a co-operation agreement providing for the establishment of bases for joint use.

1955: An agreement between the US and the Soviet Union enables Spain to enter the United Nations with other fifteen nations.

1956: Sidi Mohamed ben Yusef, the Moroccan Sultan, reaches an agreement with Franco to end the Spanish protectorate over Morocco.

1958: The Spanish government hands over Tarfaya (an area in the South of Morocco) to Morocco. The Moroccan Government also claims Ifni.

1962: HRH Prince Juan Carlos marries the royal princess Sofia de Grecia.

1963: The Co-operation Agreement with the United States is extended for five years more.

1968: Spain grants Equatorial Guinea its independence (October 12th).

1969: The territory of Ifni is handed over to Morocco. The border with Gibraltar is closed. Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon is formally invested as Crown Prince, one day after Franco names him as successor with the title of King.

1970: The Friendship and Co-operation Agreement with the US is renewed for five years.

1973: The head of the government, Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated in the bombing attack by ETA, the Basque separatist organization (December 20th).

1975: In collective pastoral -the first since 1937- the bishops state that the guaranteeing of 'the rights of assembly, association and expression' are 'obligatory'.

The US and Spain announce an agreement of principle on the military bases, which establishes American military aid for Spain (October 4th).

A decree declares the regional languages -Catalan, Basque and Galician- to be national languages.

The Cortes approve the end of the Spanish presence in Spanish Sahara and the transfer of the territorial administration of the colonial Government (November 18th).

General Franco dies (November 20th).

King Juan Carlos takes the oath as King of Spain at a joint session of the Cortes and the Council of the Realm.

A chapter of Spanish history was forever closed and the doors of freedom and hope were opened for the Spanish people.