ABSTRACT

This chapter analyses the attitudes and behaviour of Spanish entrepreneurs during the Fascist era, or, in a broader context, between the two world wars. This period in Spanish history was marked by a continued political crisis, beginning with the breakdown of the constitutional monarchy (1917–1923), followed by a military dictatorship (1923–1930), which led to a democratic Republic (1931–1936), that ended in Civil War (1936–1939). Spain, like the rest of Europe, went through a deep crisis between the two wars, though the Spanish situation developed out of altogether different circumstances. The failure of a peaceful transition from constitutional liberalism to democracy led the country to a long dictatorship that separated Spain from the more developed and democratic Europe since 1945. Sometimes Spanish entrepreneurs have been blamed for that, because of their tendency to rely on the military to regain control of the situation.