How Did Franco Win The Spanish Civil War?

It took three years for the left and right wing parties to settle down and proclaim the end of the Spanish Civil War. This disastrous war left behind 500,000 people dead and a country that had been damaged and internally divided. Francisco Franco, a Nationalist general, took control of Spain and was named “Caudillo de España”. He then ruled Spain through an authoritarian dictatorship. Franco was a careful and systematic leader, and his main goal after the war was to reconstruct Spain and make the nation powerful again. He was convinced that he could inaugurate a new era in Spanish History, one that would not only transform politics and culture but also achieve economic modernization and, importantly, increase the country’s international role and its standing among the powers. Franco wanted not only to rectify the nation but lead it in the direction of a more rightist and authoritarian system. Since Hitler had supported Franco during the Civil War, Franco returned his favour in 1937 when they signed a secret pact which stated “mutual consultation on issues of common interest and a benevolent neutrality in case of war.” So Franco’s decision on accepting Hitler’s pact and only aiding the Axis Power as “neutral” instead of fully going in
during World War II, was beneficial for Spain. During the Spanish Civil War, the right-wing party, Franco’s side, had been aided by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
So when World War II started Spain directly became part of the axis alliance, but Franco’s strategy pursued a long-term political agenda rather than immediate battlefield objectives. So when Mussolini and Hitler started to negotiate Spain’s entrance in the War, Franco backed out since. Hitler kept on trying to make Spain part of the war but Franco told him that Spain had to concentrate on reconstruction and avoid foreign ambitions for the time being since the nation was too weak to go to the battlefield, and that it would not be ready to face any further war for five years, a remarkably optimistic
assessment. Since Franco had received support from the Axis power during the Civil War, Franco decided to return the favour by being allied to the Axis. Franco made an offer to Hitler that exchanged Germany’s military and economic assistance, since the country was weak and needed to recover, for Spain’s presence in the war, but Hitler denied it since it was to much to ask. So since Hitler didn't accept the offer, Franco decided not to be allied to the Axis anymore and become neutral. “When one talks with the most reasonable people about the advantages of neutrality, they always mutter: “Yes, in fact we cannot make war, we are ill prepared”. This means they do not judge the war to be infamous, but judge themselves in a bad position to take part.” This quote from a Spanish general perfectly describes the situation Spain was in and why being neutral was the best decision they could have made because even though there was an extremely bad situation going on, there was nothing they could do since they had already been on a War for the past 3 months and they wear too weak to contribute. By being neutral Spain could rebuild all their economic, political and social aspects, become more powerful and achieve all the goals Franco had for the nation. Franco played smartly by not being an ally to the Axis since anything that would happen to it would have been influential for Spain.