History ETDs

Publication Date

12-21-1976

Abstract

In 1927 Spain established a national monopoly over the petroleum industry. This was part of a general program of economic nationalism which was being pursued by the Dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera. The nationalization meant that the government would have to confront the two multinational oil companies that had operations in Spain. The companies disapproved of the nationalization and resisted it strongly, using both their own resources and those of their home governments. The conflict between the government of Spain and its national oil company, Campsa, on the one hand and the foreign oil companies and their home governments on the other is both a specific historical incident and an example of a larger historical problem--the conflict between national governments and multinational corporations. This paper studies the nationalization of the petroleum industry in Spain from both these points of view. The regime of Primo de Rivera and its economic nationalism were products of nineteenth-century Spanish history, the failure of the country to modernize on its own, and the subsequent dominance of foreign capital over many sectors of the economy. Chapter one examines these developments. The international petroleum industry underwent its own process of evolution and after World War I was heading in the direction of cooperative joint control among the multinationals. This process, which had important consequences for the Spanish nationalization, is studied in chapter two. Chapter three reviews the economic policies of the Dictatorship with special emphasis on the role of oil. The creation of the monopoly not only furthered the goal of reclaiming the economy for Spaniards but was a key part of a second goal--economic development. Chapter four analyzes the decrees which created the monopoly and the initial steps taken to set it up. The expropriation of the oil companies and their resistance is studied in chapter five, and chapter six evaluates the performance of Campsa from 1928 to the present. The real importance of this topic lies not in the nationalization itself, but rather in the light it sheds on the larger problem of the conflict of interests between national governments and multinational corporations, especially in a Third World setting. In this case the multinationals were unable to achieve their maximum goal of destroying the monopoly. This was not due to any inherent weakness on their part, but rather to a particular confluence of circumstances, the most important being the refusal of their home governments to challenge the existence of the monopoly. On every point on which the governments supported the oil companies, the companies won. The real value of the Spanish nationalization is that it illustrates the power of multinational corporations and their ability to resist a government which challenges their interests.

Level of Degree

Masters

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Robert William Kern

Second Committee Member

Peter John Bakewell

Third Committee Member

Janet Roebuck

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

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