España, Estados Unidos, Guerra Fría y Bases

Abstract

This work emphasizes the change that occurred in the diplomatic relations between the United States and Spain from 1945 until 1953. At the end of World War II the Spanish Government was a political target for international condemnation. This was due to the natura and character of Franco's dictatorship in Spain. it was a Government based on totalitarianism which resembled some characters of the Axis powers during World War II. As Franco did not undertake any liberal changes in his Government, Spain became an isolated country from the rest of the famüy of Western nations. But relations between the United States and the Soviet Union worsened during these first years of the Cold War. In 1950, the Korean War gave tne American Government a conclusive sign of the spread of communism in the worid. The United States already had military bases at many strategic points around the worId, but it did not have any in the Iberian Península. Spain seemed the perfect place to establish American bases in order to counter-attack a possible Soviet Invasión of Western Europe. By 1953 Spain was suffering economic difficulties at home and needed Intemationeri respectability for its political regime. With the signing of the Pacts of Madrid, Spain gained some respectability and economic aid, and the United States achieved the rights to undertake the construction of the military bases.