El socialismo español ante el cambio político posfranquista: apoyo internacional y federalización

Abstract

Before the first democratic elections in June 1977, a centralized nucleus, basically consisting of Andalusian and Basque Socialists, supported by the second generation of the exile, would constitute federations of the PSOE and UGT in most of the Spanish provinces. A few years later, would culminate the Socialist unit, with founded Congress in the case of Catalonia and USO, or through the absorption of fractions of other socialist and social-democratic formations of national or regional. With the achievement of Socialist Unity, the construction of the "party of the transition" received a decisive boost, though the federalization of the PSOE would until the Decade of the 1980s, at the same time was built the State of Autonomies.

The support of parties and European Socialist unions had a remarkable weight in the enhancement of the image of the Spanish socialists.  However, the visions that minimize the number of militants at the time of the death of Franco and interpretation based on political and economic support of the German social democracy are exaggerated. The support of Germans, along with diplomatic pressure of the British Labour Party and other European Socialist leaders, yes played a very important role until the first elections.  However, the logistical and ideological influence of the French during the Franco´s regime and Italian intellectuals from the 1977 elections was more remarkable than the Germans or the British.