Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

«Morir de hambre»: autarquía, escasez y enfermedad en la España del primer franquismo

2006; University of Alicante; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.14198/pasado2006.5.12

2386-4745

Miguel Ángel del Arco Blanco,

Medicine and Dermatology Studies History

The 1940s, together with the civil war years, may be regarded as one of the most difficult and challenging periods for Spanish society in the whole of the twentieth century. Not only because it was a divided society, marked by the deep rift occasioned by war, exile and repression, but also because of the poverty in which a large part of the population lived. The long years of the 1940s have remained ingrained in the collective memory as a time of shortage, hardship and generalized poverty. But just how dire was this tragic period? This article examines the socio-economic conditions of the period of autarky, using an alternative source of information from that offered by the Franco regime: reports by British diplomats referring to the 1940s. In this way, we seek to present a more accurate picture of the socio-economic reality of the early years of the Franco regime. After describing and analysing the economic policy of autarky, we focus on two aspects of the tragic living conditions: hunger and disease. Through reliable and disturbingly vivid accounts, we discover that the hardships experienced by the poorer classes were more extreme than previously believed. Precisely because of this desperate situation, such people would be constrained to pursue their own survival rather than attempt to oppose the regime. In short, the critical economic situation, socio-economic repression and political demobilization arising from the effects of the autarkic economy, were ultimately to become determining factors in the solidity and continuity of the Franco regime.