A Wolfram in Sheep's Clothing: U.S. Economic Warfare in Spain, 1940-1944

Leonardo Caruana and Hugh Rockoff

No 132, NBER Historical Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: One of the most sustained uses of economic warfare by the United States occurred in Spain during WWII. We provide an overview of this episode based on the secondary literature and new research in the Spanish archives. We focus on three key battles: (1) an oil embargo against Spain in the summer of 1940, (2) pre-emptive buying of wolfram (tungsten ore) during the middle years of the war, and (3) a second oil embargo in the first months of 1944. The first oil embargo, although launched when Germany was going from victory to victory, was successful in helping keep Spain neutral because it forced the Franco regime to rethink the costs of joining the war. Pre-emptive buying of wolfram was also successful. It forced Germany to pay more for and to consume less tungsten, a material crucial for hardening steel. Ironically, the second oil embargo, undertaken when the Germans were retreating on all fronts, was less successful. The major goal, halting shipments of wolfram to Germany, was not fully realized. Several special circumstances, in particular the naval blockade and the tendency of sanctions and incentives to push the Franco regime in the direction consistent with its long-run survival, help explain the successes.

Date: 2001-01
Note: DAE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published as Caruana, Leonard and Hugh Rockoff. "A Wolfram In Sheep's Clothing: Economic Warfare In Spain, 1940-1944," Journal of Economic History, 2003, v63(1,Mar), 65-99.

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/h0132.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: A Wolfram in Sheep's Clothing: Economic Warfare in Spain, 1940–1944 (2003)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberhi:0132

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/h0132

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Historical Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().