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oai:keep.lib.asu.edu:node-2001132025-04-04T21:52:45Zoai_pmh:alloai_pmh:repo_items

200113 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.200113 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 2025-05 102 pages Erlich-Herzog, Daniel Sivak, Henry Benkert, Volker Barrett, The Honors College School of Politics and Global Studies School of International Letters and Cultures This thesis uncovers the difficulties experienced during the Spanish transition to democracy and describes some of their legacies. Most notably, it examines the decision to enter into a ‘Pact of Forgetting’, which mandated that Spaniards avoid scrutinizing what had transpired during the Civil War (1936-1939) and the dictatorship (1939-1975), and refrain from reflecting on or discussing their history. It aims to complicate the usual narrative of a successful and peaceful transition, and show that the decision to repress the past and abide by the amnesty agreement reached during the transition came to contravene international law and standards regarding human rights violations and the ‘right to truth’. To respond to the argument that the pact and the amnesty were necessary at the time, the case studies of South Africa, Argentina, and Chile are introduced to demonstrate, if nothing else, that there are multiple ways of dealing with the past. The thesis therefore asks if it is time to reconsider the Pact of Forgetting and ensure that the past is properly addressed. Spain Transition Pact of Forgetting Spain's Transition to Democracy: Past, Present, and the Pact of Forgetting