Politics, Media and FC Barcelona

Such shared hostility remained as the teams continued to play each other over the next decade or so. Overall, "the strife and struggles between the two clubs from 1905 onwards accurately mirror the main contests of 20th  century Spanish history mainly through clear cultural differences" (Ball, 22).  If the differences in 1905 "were the logs at the base of the fire, the ensuing political mayhem of General Franco's reign ignited them into full blaze" (Escecson, Lupica & Muthana).
             When Franco came to power he used football as a propaganda tool for the new regime. After capturing Madrid on March 28th  to end the War,  El General asimo  set about unifying the newly formed Spanish state. Franco was in control of everything including the Media, and he didn't fight fair. He frequently used repressionist policies of murder, torture and political pressure to suppress any anti-Nationalist sentiment (Ball, 22). Since Catalonia had fought his centrist policies, controlling or defeating the spirit of the region became a particular focus of Franco's. Franco enforced strict prohibition of regional languages, and demanded that FC Barcelona be translated to its Spanish equivalent, Barcelona CF. Symbolically, such a change was a cultural indication that Catalan society was not tolerated in the new Spanish State. Franco wanted to disrupt the operations of FC Barcelona because it was the symbol of Catalonian pride. Sometimes he would even rig matches so that Real Madrid, Barcelona's arch-rival from the capital city, would win. Franco had no real passion for the game itself, only a fixation on refocusing the State's image on Castile through its most historic team. The story of the 1943 semifinals of the General asimo's Cup (formerly the King's Cup) more directly relates to the game of football. Barcelona was seemingly in control after the first leg, which they had comfortably won 3-0 at home (Ball, 25).