the root causes of sociological francoism are found in the prolonged state of repression that existed during the forty years of the franco dictatorship (1936–1975), and the fear of a repetition of the spanish civil war and a clashing of the so-called two spains. a further reason for its durability is the positive role attributed to francoism in the spanish economic boom (the spanish miracle, 1959–1975), while avoiding reference to the mass spanish emigration or the period of economic recession that prevailed during the ten years following the transition (1975–1985). all of this led the spanish social majority, including even those identified with the anti-francoist opposition, to perpetuate the conservative and survivalist behaviours that were learned and transmitted from generation to generation since the 1940s. these include self-censorship and the voluntary submission and conformity to authority – which in extreme cases could even be classified as servility (most commonly identified with the "silent majority") – which provided the regime with its cheapest, most effective and most ubiquitous form of repression.