Garzón suspended - there is future yet for Europe

Mariette   Sun May 16, 2010 11:23 pm GMT
Let's don't be simplistic. Autarky was not self-imposed by Franco's regime but consequence of circumstances . It was provoked by isolation due to Franco's simpathy towards Nazism . France and UK , winners after the end of the WWII, agreed that despite they would recognize Franco as new Spanish leader, he had to pay for his links to the Nazis. This was hypocrital from the UK side because MI6 agents were involved in the coup d'etat commited by a faction of the military against the II Republic .

When the main international enemy of USA shifted from Nazism to USSR, right wing Spanish dictatorship was seen as a potential ally and then Spain was allowed to trade again with Western democracies . Is it a coincidence that Franco discarded the Falangists and their anti laissez-faire conception of economy and embraced the technocrats' economic ideas just when USA chose Spain as friend country? I don't think so. Pretended autarky was the excuse Franco's regime had to justify their international isolation, but nothing else. After USA, the rest of European countries relaxed their attitude towards Franco and Spain was allowed to join the UN and World Bank. This was the begining of Spain's economic modernisation, but it would have taken place before had the international embargo never existed. Look for example at other countries like Germany, they began to prosper before because they received funds from Marshall's plan just after the War ended and not in late 50's like Spain did. Many products entered in Spanish market as a novelty at that time directly from USA, and even nowadays some Spanish people refer to them using English words, for example "fli" for fly spray.