The Dictator's Playbook

(dramatic music) -

Announcer

August, 2017, in Valladolid, Spain, a mass grave is revealed. (dramatic music) It is just one of more than 2,000 mass burial sites across the nation. According to Amnesty International, Spain has the highest number of mass graves in the world after Cambodia. -

Announcer

This is the legacy of General Francisco Franco, victor of the Spanish Civil War. (dramatic music) After taking control of the country in 1939, he secures his hold on the nation by unleashing a wave of violence against his countrymen. (dramatic music) There were probably 20,000 people executed after the civil war, after the end of hostilities. It's a regime of terror. -

Announcer

Within six years, Adolf Hitler will take his own life. (dramatic music) Benito Mussolini will be swinging from his heels. (crowd cheering) But, Franco will rule Spain with ruthless efficiency for almost 40 years. Franco was someone who had never lost a minute's sleep over the crimes that were committed in his name. -

Announcer

What drove this General to wage war on his people, destroy his country's new democracy, and establish Europe's longest dictatorship? (crowd cheering) -

Woman

Dictatorships have had an incredible impact in the past century. These dictators ended up learning from one another. -

Man

They're all different, but many use the same tactics. -

Woman

The use of terror. Propaganda. - Control the elites. Create an enemy. - Cult of personality. -

Man

Use violence. -

Man

These are tools that dictators use to stay in power. (dramatic music)