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Spanish Civilian Labour for Germany During the Second World War?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2013

Eric Golson
Eric Golson*
Affiliation:
Research Fellow, University of Oxford and Teaching Fellow, London School of Economics. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

For political reasons, the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco limited the number of civilian Spanish workers sent to Germany during the Second World War. Despite agreeing to send 100,000, the number of workers never exceeded 9,550. Their impact on the German war economy was small. This paper demonstrates that, in limiting worker transfers, Franco went against his own economic incentives, considering that the Spanish government was taking a commission from the workers’ remittances. By limiting the number of workers sent, Franco satisfied the Allies’ pressure to minimise cooperation with Germany. In support of this argument, this article offers updated estimates for the number of workers, their skill levels and remittances. It also provides the first estimates of Spanish costs and income from the programme.

Resumen

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el dictador español Francisco Franco limitó, por razones políticas, el número de trabajadores civiles españoles enviados a Alemania. Aunque se pactó el envío de 100.000 trabajadores a Alemania, el número actual nunca superó los 9.550. Consecuentemente, el impacto de trabajadores españoles en la economía de guerra alemana fue bajo. Este artículo muestra que, limitando las transferencias de trabajadores a Alemania, Francisco Franco estaba actuando en contra a sus propios incentivos económicos, ya que el Gobierno de España recibía una comisión de las remesas. Al limitar el número de trabajadores, Franco cedió a la presión aliada, que estimulaba minimizar la cooperación con Alemania. Para dar soporte a este argumento, éste artículo ofrece estimaciones actualizadas del número de trabajadores, sus calificaciones y sus remesas. El artículo también brinda las primeras estimaciones del coste y beneficio de este programa para el Gobierno español.

Keywords

SpainGermanylabour transfersexchange controlworld war IIEspañaalemaniatransferencias del trabajocontrol de cambiosla segunda guerra mundial

JEL classification

N14: Europe: 1913– N54: Europe: 1913– N34: Europe: 1913- N44: Europe: 1913–
Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 145 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Instituto Figuerola de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 2013 

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Footnotes

*

Received 5 August 2011. Accepted 21 January 2013. The author has benefited greatly from the comments of three anonymous referees, whom he wishes to thank, together with Professors Mark Harrison and Neville Wylie, Niels Krieghoff and Acácia Pedrazza Reiche, the seminar participants at the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies at the London School of Economics; the Economic History Department at the London School of Economics; the Economic History Society Annual Conference (Durham) and the Third European Congress on World and Global History (London). The author gratefully acknowledges the support of the Economic History Society through an EHS Anniversary Fellowship (2011-2012).

References

SOURCES

Archives of the Banco de España (BdeE), IEME, Libros 22861, 22862, 22866 and 22868 «Rentas de Trabajo».Google Scholar
Archives of the Ministerio de Asunto Exteriores y de Cooperación (AMAEC), file R2225/1 CIPETA, file R2225/2 CIPETA Transferencias, file R2225/5 Trabajadores Españoles en Alemania, file R2225/6 CIPETA, file R2225/7 Trabajadores Españoles en Alemania, file R2225/9 Delegation/Negotiations, file R3364/11 Correspondence.Google Scholar
Archives of the General de la Administración (AGA), file T-16256, File T-16262.Google Scholar
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), College Park, Maryland, record Group 107 Secretary of War, Boxes: 160/920-921, record Group 242 Captured German Records, Microfilm: T-77/243, T-77/885, T-84/466.Google Scholar
Imperial War Museum, Duxford (IWM-D), foreign documents FD847/46.Google Scholar

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