Francisco Franco was a Spanish dictator from 1939 until his death in 1975. He first came to prominence as a talented military leader and general in the Army of Africa. In September 1936, Franco became 'Generalissimo' of the Nationalist forces during the Civil War, leading them to victory over the Republicans by 1939. From then on he established a brutal, repressive, right-wing dictatorship which would last for over three decades until Franco's eventual death in 1975 from congestive heart failure.