Sobre la transición exterior

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sobre la transición exterior is the last book in a series of memoirs by Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelos , which deal with the events and background of the Spanish transition . The previous works are Papeles de un cesante (1999), Pláticas de familia (1878–2003) and Memoria viva de la transición (2003). The book contains the speech Calvo-Sotelo gave when he was admitted to the Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas at its meeting on November 16, 2005.

content

In his text written in the first person, Calvo-Sotelo distinguishes between the outer and the inner transition , which he has already written about in the two previous books. He looks back into the past, drafts a kind of “anthology of the neutralities” of Spain and names their milestones: The Franco-German War of 1870/71 and the First and Second World Wars. This long phase of Spanish neutrality found its turning point in 1953 in the agreement with the United States, in which he saw a first step towards “anchoring Spain in the western world”.

Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo's essay comes to life as soon as it approaches the transition, “because the narrator was also an actor or witness to the events he describes.” Those who started the transition from government “were related in politics little more than some Galilean fishermen. And the same applies to the PSOE in the opposition. ”Therefore,“ the transition, the entire, but more the outer transition, inevitably had a lot to do with improvisation ”, such that“ one can make the outer transition without protection on an unknown sea Had to start navigating, without nautical charts for orientation and with only one clear course: to integrate Spain into the international forums that it was not included in when it was founded, thanks to the anti-democratic nature of the previous regime. ”The entry into the internal market and“ The Atlantic Polemics ”are further chapters of this essay, since Calvo-Sotelo, as Prime Minister, was the one who drove and achieved Spain's entry into NATO .

Recalling the long and difficult negotiation process, he concludes “that Spain was not exactly received generously by its EU neighbors” and cites two key figures in this process: Alberto Ullastres , who negotiated the 1970 preferential agreement and Raimundo Bassols , “the real creator of ours Entry into the internal market. ”He also goes into“ the dubious cliché of the secular Spanish-French friendship ”.

He regards Spain's entry into NATO as “the core of the external transition, the pivot around which new Spanish foreign policy will revolve” . He analyzes the position of the UCD , of Adolfo Suárez and Marcelino Oreja , and examines the historical development of the international doctrine of the PSOE - from the era of Rodolfo Llopi to Felipe González - and the volatility of Spanish public opinion. He also reports on the attitude of the USA and the Soviet Union.

The work closes the chapter "The transition to the test", in which he states that it is regarded as a problem today, and he takes offense "the separation of the" cloth of Penelope "that we will never finish weaving", as a proponent of “questioning the transition without destroying it”. He ends with remarks about the new Europe and the need to illuminate it, which is a difficult task, among other things because "France does not want to accept that it should shoot the grave of De Gaulle very firmly."

reception

For Marcelino Oreja, Spanish politician and former President of the Council of Europe , this study is "a masterpiece on external transition and proves his [Calvo-Sotelos'] bold ambition to put Spain in its right place."

According to historians Pablo Pérez and Jorge Lafuente, Calvo-Sotelo "in this work sums up his idea of ​​Spain's external relations in his usual sententious, elegant and often ironic style". Its key point can be summarized as follows: “Spain has played its role on the international stage since the times of Charles III. gave up and did not regain it until the transition, in particular until joining NATO in 1982 and the European Communities in 1986 […] Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo , one of the people who devoted more energy to it, is an example of up to which Point the transition was a company that united continuity and change, and not only in the period of the 20th century or the terms dictatorship and democracy, but in a broader sense, the strategic position of our country on the international chessboard. The intellectual depth of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo's political approach, his immediate knowledge of European reality and his familiarity with our history were probably the reason for his broadened perspective and his rule at a higher level than political tactics concerned with seizing or maintaining power short term. "

literature

  • Pablo Pérez López, Jorge Lafuente del Cano: Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y la Transición exterior . In: Arbor. Vol. 190, No. 769, 2014

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sobre la Transición exterior, Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas, session of November 16, 2005, p. 17
  2. ↑ Sobre la Transición exterior, p. 20
  3. ^ Sobre la Transición exterior, p. 49
  4. ↑ See De Suárez a Gorbachov, testimonios y confidencias de un embajador, by José Cuenca Anaya, 2014, pp. 131–217.
  5. ^ Sobre la Transición exterior, p. 58
  6. ^ Sobre la Transición exterior, p. 55
  7. ^ Sobre la Transición exterior, pp. 56, 57, 80
  8. ^ Sobre la Transición exterior, p. 79
  9. ↑ Sobre la Transición exterior, pp. 80–81
  10. ^ Session “in memoriam” of the honorable academic, Mr. Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, Madrid, September 16, 2008, Real Academia de Ingeniería, p. 24
  11. ↑ Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y la Transición exterior: la prioridad europea , Pablo Pérez López, Jorge Lafuente del Cano, Arbor, Vol 190, No. 769 (2014)