Pierpaolo Barbieriic, economic historian is the author of a new book looking at Adolf Hitler\u2019s role in the Spanish Civil War says lessons learned from that period in history could provides valuable insights for modern day Europe, specifically how economics trump politics and ideology when it comes to policymaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been over ten thousand books written on the Spanish Civil War, but it was clear when I started this project that Franco wanted to forget afterward how much he had depended on Hitler and Mussolini,\u201d says Pierpaolo Barbieri, author of the book Hitler\u2019s Shadow Empire: The Nazis and the Spanish Civil War. \u201cI argue that the Nazis paid for this and intervened in Spain in such a decisive manner not because of ideology but because of economics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThings that look political have other motivations,\u201d he said. Eventually, Hitler became an ideologically driven madman. But his early intervention in Spain showed a more pragmatic and economically calculated style of leadership, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day it was Hitler\u2019s choice and he went with the racial empire over the economic empire, but it wasn\u2019t always so,\u201d Barbieri said.<\/p>\n
Barbieri, executive director of Greenmantle, a macroeconomic and geopolitical consultancy, says it\u2019s also economics in large part which has caused turmoil in contemporary Spain. \u201cThe youth of Spain has a right to be angry. But the path forward doesn\u2019t mean doing away with everything,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Podemos isn\u2019t the answer,\u201d Barbieri said of Spain\u2019s new left-wing political party formed last year. \u201cThey are a bunch of new guys with a lot of old ideas inspired by the governments in Venezuela and Argentina.\u201d<\/p>\n
The way forward, he says, is renewal, not upheaval. Sound policies in the 1970s and 1980s that led Spain to growth and European integration. That should be the guide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe a more plural and integrated Europe will emerge from this crisis. Now we see Spain recovering very fast; in March Spain created more jobs than the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Argentine-born author says his next project will consist of looking at why Latin America has not become more integrated in spite of having \u201cbroadly the same levels of development, close cultural ties and histories.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be one economic unit, we can aim towards emulating the best part of the european integration project. Together we are stronger than divided,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pierpaolo Barbieriic, economic historian is the author of a new book looking at Adolf Hitler\u2019s role in the Spanish Civil War says lessons learned from that period in history could provides valuable insights for modern day Europe, specifically how economics … Continue reading ![\"Pocketbooks](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Pocketbooks-Count.jpg\")
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