Francisco Franco Bahamonde 4 December 1892 20 November 1975 was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 1939 to 1975 as a dictator assuming the title Caudillo This period in Spanish history from the Nationalist victory to Francos death is commonly known as Francoist Spain or as the Francoist dictatorship