Spain and the Marshall Plan
The leader of the Nationalist forces, General Franco, headed theauthoritarian regime that was in power in Spain after the Civil War (May,1978). Francisco Franco became a general in 1926 and in 1934 became thecommander of the Spanish army. Two years later, he led a revolt against theelected government of Spain. That revolt turned into the Spanish Civil War,which he won with the help of Hitler and Mussolini. After winning the war,Franco became leader of the now one-party Spain, which he ruled until hisdeath. Franco's dictatorship caused Spain to lose out on foreign aid fromthe United States after World War II-a loss that cost Spain a great deal.Until he died in 1975, Franco ruled Spain " by the grace of God," as hissupporters proclaimed (May, 1978, p. 142). In addition to being thetyrannical head of the armed forces, he was also chief of state and head ofgovernment, the ultimate source of legitimate authority. He reserved thepower to appoint and to dismiss ministers and other major decision makers.Franco's life was spent as a professional soldier, and his conception ofsociety showed this. Famous for his iron political nerve, Franco believedthat he was the one designated to save Spain from the chao
Imprisonments andexecutions decreased sharply. Malnutrition and poor medical care hurt an entire generation of Spaniards. The Marshall Plan aimed to provide theeconomic and financial aid that is crucial to economic and politicalstability. During the 1940s and much of the 1950s,Franco's government pursued a policy of autarky, which is economic self-sufficiency without foreign trade or investment. In 1946 the United Nations (UN) called on Spain's representatives towithdraw their ambassadors from Madrid; Spain was not included in the listof countries that would benefit from the Marshall Aid program, and when theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949, Spain wasexcluded. Today, Spain isa democracy and an economically stable nation. In the late 1940s, the Cold War was fully-fledged and the United Statesforeign office saw Spain as a potential ally in the struggle with communism(Garza, 1987). After the war, Spain's economy continued growing at a very poor rate. Spain's quickexperiment with democracy was replaced by an authoritarian regime underFranco, who would rule Spain as dictator for the next 36 years. Spain was at a major disadvantage due to its exclusion from the MarshallPlan. Between250,000 and 500,000 political refugees left the country. had a strong responsibility to help the free nations work to shape theirown destiny, along their own path. The planhad two fundamental aims: preventing the spread of communism in WesternEurope and stabilizing the international order to promote and maintaindevelopment of political democracies and free-market economies. Spain adopted a policy of neutrality during World War II (1939-1945).
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