White Terror (Spain)

White Terror (Spain)

In Spain, White Terror (also known as Represión Franquista) refers to acts of politically motivated violence, rape, and other crimes committed by the Nationalist movement during the Spanish Civil War and during Francisco Franco's dictatorship. The mass executions started at the beginning of the civil war on July 1936 and continued after the war until 1945.

Most historians agree that the death toll of the White Terror was much higher than that of the Red Terror, as the White Terror occurred over a much longer period, continuing after the war. While most estimates of the Red Terror range from 38,000 to 72,344 lives (the collective work: Victimas de la guerra civil: 50,000, Hugh Thomas: 55,000, and Julián Casanova: fewer than 60,000) most of the estimates of the White Terror, such as Paul Preston's 200,000 range from 150,000 to 400,000.