The European Rescue of the Franco Regime, 1950-1975 explores how the governments of the founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community, acting collectively via the European Communities, assisted in the consolidation of the Franco regime. It explains how the Six (the Nine after 1972) implemented a set of policy measures that facilitated the subsistence of the Franco regime, proving that trade with the Six improved Spain's overall economic performance, which in turn secured Franco's rule. The Six provided the Spanish economy with a stable supply of essential raw materials and capital goods and with outlet markets for the country's main export commodities. Through these mechanisms the European Communities assisted Spanish economic development and supported the stabilization of the non-democratic political regime ruling Spain. The Franco regime was never threatened by European integration and the Six/Nine managed to isolate meaningful Community negotiations with Spain from mounting political disturbance. The European Rescue of the Franco Regime, 1950-1975 shows that without unremitting material assistance from Western Europe, it would have been considerably more challenging for the Franco regime to attain the stability that enabled the dictator to maintain his rule until he died peacefully at 82 years old.

About the Author
Fernando Guirao is Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration History at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona (with an ad personam chair since 2013), Deputy Director of the Barcelona Center for European Studies, and member of the European Union Liaison Committee of Historians and of the editorial board of the Journal of European Integration History. Guirao has been visiting scholar at the universities of Nantes (2016), Seoul National (2009), Oxford (1997), LSE (1995), and Yale (1992-94).

Reviews
Through its well-focused analytical framework and highly detailed description, this volume is an important read for anyone interested in Spain's modern political and economic history, developmental details of the European Union, and, more generally, international political economy regarding trade relations in Europe. * T. D. Lancaster, CHOICE *
Fernando Guirao builds on his earlier work on post-1945 Francoist foreign and economic policy to make a convincing argument that Spain more than held its own in negotiations with the EEC, and indeed set the terms for those talks to some degree...The transformation of the Spanish economy from a poor, closed system to an open, growing and increasingly consumerist society was too alluring for the EEC to be concerned with politics. Guirao's economic research and his use of statistics and charts to show the economic promise and results of this situation reinforce a clear, well written, and important argument. * David A. Messenger, University of South Alabama, Journal of Modern History *
The author has a knack for telling the tale while at the same time offering a useful guide to the complex decision making of the evolving European institutions. The book is also remarkable for the sheer number of new primary evidence pieces uncovered...In addition to skillfully covering the detailed back and forth on trade negotiations, it also provides a truly novel interpretation of events. It is this dual contribution that makes this book particularly valuable and engaging. This volume is not only essential for students of Spain but also has critical insights for those interested in the interplay between seemingly weak countries and supra-national bodies...The book is a tour de force. * Oscar Calvo-Gonzalez, The EH.Net *


Awards
Winner of Joan Sarda Dexeus Award 2021 for the Best Book of Economics and Business.



Book Information
ISBN 9780198861232
Author Fernando Guirao
Format Hardback
Page Count 496
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 894g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 165mm * 35mm