Democracy, Communism, and Economic Shifts in Post-War Europe
Democracy in Europe: The Welfare State
Economic growth in Western Europe was accompanied by the consolidation of democratic political systems. With the fall of the last dictatorships, this area of the planet comprised the largest number of democratic states. The most representative political forces grouped into: Conservatives (in favor of restricting the role of the state and free competition) and Social Democrats (supporters of reforms to benefit the most disadvantaged classes). Other minority parties also acted as pivotal players to form stable parliamentary majorities. The European model is distinguished by a larger social protection for citizens, to the point of calling it a welfare state. However, at the end of the 1960s, alternative movements arose in Europe as well.
Expansion of Communism: The Democracies of Eastern Europe
From 1945, the states of Eastern Europe formed political regimes. At first, they established “governments of national borders” and reconstruction programs were developed. A large distribution of properties was carried out without resorting to collectivization. Large enterprises, banking, and heavy industry were nationalized. It was the Cold War that made the countries of Eastern Europe evolve into an alignment with the Soviet Union. Since 1947, U.S. pressure exerted in Europe disturbed the Soviets. The Soviet Communists forced the democracies to gain power, impose the socialist path, and align with Soviet foreign policy. Countries controlled by the USSR had to join COMECON (a “common market” of the Soviet area). Similarly, through the Warsaw Pact (1955), the different armies were integrated under a single Soviet command.
The End of Growth: The Crisis of 1973
The economies of Western industrialized countries experienced a serious oil crisis from 1973 to 1974. Improvements in wages and higher production costs had reduced profits. It was increasingly difficult to ensure markets for products. This situation worsened with the oil crisis of 1973. OPEC decided to increase the price of oil, and this produced a rise in rates, a decline in sales, companies in crisis, and rising unemployment. Only the strongest companies survived. To reduce wage and tax costs, some companies moved to Third World countries. Thus began a process known as offshoring industry.
Franco: A Totalitarian Political Regime
Franco was the Caudillo of Spain. He concentrated all the powers of the Army and was Generalissimo. All parties, trade unions, and political associations were declared illegal. Only one party was allowed: the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista. The Central Nacional Sindicalista party depended on this. The Courts and democratic elections were abolished. All republican institutions were dismantled, and the Constitution of 1931 was abolished. He also decreed the abolition of statutes of autonomy for Catalonia and the Basque Country and prohibited all types of nationalist demonstrations.
The Fundamental Laws
The dictatorship tried to present an image of legality.
- The Labor Charter (1938) declared the working principles of the new regime but prohibited free trade unions and strikes.
- The Constitutive Act of the Spanish Cortes (1942) created consultative Courts.
- The Charter of the Spanish People (1945) was a pseudo-declaration of civil rights.
- The Referendum Law (1945) established referendums.
- The Law of Succession (1947) provided for a monarchy as the successor regime.