Which general led the Nationalists to victory in the Spanish Civil War, ending in 1939?

Francisco Franco led the Nationalists to victory in the Spanish Civil War, which ended in 1939. The conflict began in July 1936 when military officers rebelled against Spain's elected Republican government. Franco, then a general in the Spanish Army, emerged as the Nationalist side's principal leader and was appointed head of state in October 1936.

The Nationalists united monarchists, conservatives, Falangists, and other right-wing groups. They received major military assistance from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republicans were supported by the Soviet Union and the International Brigades. Franco's forces gradually captured Republican territory, including Barcelona in January 1939 and Madrid in March.

The war ended on 1 April 1939, when Franco announced Nationalist victory. He then ruled Spain as an authoritarian dictator until his death in 1975. A common mix-up is confusing Franco with Miguel Primo de Rivera, another Spanish military dictator who ruled before the Civil War; Primo de Rivera died in 1930.