tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post2167213388260213085..comments2023-11-18T08:09:26.056+13:00Comments on Abandoned Footnotes: Francisco Franco, Robust Action, and the Power of Non-CommitmentXavier Marquezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10099356104979121153noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-25840583064128439202023-11-17T23:15:25.685+13:002023-11-17T23:15:25.685+13:00This was a really enlightening essay--I've alw...This was a really enlightening essay--I've always felt the skills that let you get high in politics and the skills that let you effectively govern aren't necessarily linked, and this seems like a key example of the same.De Cometishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14607332528158406698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-22378656839481070002014-04-28T10:50:38.000+12:002014-04-28T10:50:38.000+12:00I concur on the brilliance, I found this most illu...I concur on the brilliance, I found this most illuminating (and infuriating to find Prestons book is no longer available on Kindle). It made me want to back and re-read the literature on William the Silent, who iirc also had a coalition of very disparate interests form around him, without or despite his own efforts.Die alte Aechzenerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18294141940637952687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-54072949101258147032014-03-09T20:08:49.810+13:002014-03-09T20:08:49.810+13:00Interesting story, Phil. I've read similar sto...Interesting story, Phil. I've read similar stories, especially about Franco's time in Morocco, when he acquired a reputation for ruthless brutality.Xavier Marquezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10099356104979121153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-87949073426115190472014-03-09T06:32:54.504+13:002014-03-09T06:32:54.504+13:00I was reminded of a story which my Spanish teacher...I was reminded of a story which my Spanish teacher told us about the Generalissimo (then still in power, just about). Supposedly he was reviewing the troops at an army base when a soldier threw a mess tin in his face and said "this is the kind of muck they give us to eat - see how you like it!" or words to that effect. Franco said nothing, wiped his face and carried on the review as if nothing had happened. Afterwards he gave orders: the commander of the base to be court-martialled, the cook to be sacked, the soldier to be shot. (I can still hear the tone of my teacher's voice as he reached the end of the story; he got quite excited.) I guess the point is that inscrutability and unpredictability are a powerful combination, but they're particularly effective when combined with remorseless brutality.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07009879034507926661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-15482954262928706532014-02-28T06:04:58.458+13:002014-02-28T06:04:58.458+13:00Thanks David! Had not thought of Fuenteovejuna, wh...Thanks David! Had not thought of Fuenteovejuna, which I read a long time ago. But Franco definitely attempted to draw on the Spanish monarchical/imperial tradition; he took a lot of the traditional prerogatives of the monarch, according to Preston at least.Xavier Marquezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10099356104979121153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-33385221723360326432014-02-27T23:01:08.466+13:002014-02-27T23:01:08.466+13:00Brilliant as ever! Franco's regime had a lot o...Brilliant as ever! Franco's regime had a lot of things in common with bonapartism (contradictory forces united around a common and hieratic leader) but many of this non- committed style probably is culturally based in the Imperial monarchist traditions. As you can find in classic Spanish literature (ie:«Fuenteovejuna») the emperor used to be represented as a mediator between noblemen and people but also as a judge of his own representatives and civil servants, a last opportunity defence for the ordinary people (bourgeois and peasants) in front of power. I think this traditional cultural shape, could be the model for his non-commitment Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-19237495540887301852014-02-13T20:42:36.732+13:002014-02-13T20:42:36.732+13:00Thanks Shaun. One point Preston makes is that Fran...Thanks Shaun. One point Preston makes is that Franco was in the right place at the right time: the nationalist coalition coalesced around the army, and Franco controlled the most effective part of it (the Moroccan army) and had the best contacts with the Germans and the Italians. But he didn't consciously set out to build his coalition. Padgett and Ansell make a similar point about Cosimo de' Medici - he didn't consciously set out to build his party, but it grew up around him as a result of the pattern of alliances etc.Xavier Marquezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10099356104979121153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-58798872047833769852014-02-13T13:38:04.298+13:002014-02-13T13:38:04.298+13:00A very interesting read. I'm convinced that be...A very interesting read. I'm convinced that becoming the crucial node in a network representing the various disparate elements of his support coalition was the key to Franco's longevity in power. Without this position, being vague wouldn't have worked (after all, many vague people fail to become dictators). It would be interesting to consider which strategies help one build such a network; it seems they could easily be quite different than Franco's strategy for maintaining his built network.Shaunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02786369549758932807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-21172493323838401042014-02-09T18:54:34.086+13:002014-02-09T18:54:34.086+13:00Thanks! I don't know anything about Bourassa, ...Thanks! I don't know anything about Bourassa, though I suspect these tactics are not uncommon among successful politicians.Xavier Marquezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10099356104979121153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-19791825138316965322014-02-09T18:53:00.418+13:002014-02-09T18:53:00.418+13:00Thanks for the pointer LFC.Thanks for the pointer LFC.Xavier Marquezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10099356104979121153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-83810911668740394132014-02-09T07:33:04.957+13:002014-02-09T07:33:04.957+13:00For another use of Padgett & Ansell, see D. Ne...For another use of Padgett & Ansell, see D. Nexon 'The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe,' e.g. 114ff. <br /><br />(I'm not altogether sure that P&A and Nexon are using 'multivocality' or 'multivocal signaling' in *precisely* the same way, but that's another matter and I cd be wrong about that.)LFChttp://howlatpluto.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-8933622105751614642014-02-05T13:38:04.077+13:002014-02-05T13:38:04.077+13:00A brilliant essay. I'm reminded slightly of lo...A brilliant essay. I'm reminded slightly of long-time Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa, who maintained a similar distance from both the nationalist and federalist wings of his coalition. There's a book, "The Trickster", that outlines precisely this sort of maneuvering.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35658622.post-32821337510713047312014-02-05T10:26:32.070+13:002014-02-05T10:26:32.070+13:00Very interesting! Certainly the Spanish king seems...Very interesting! Certainly the Spanish king seems to have learnt something, since he clearly has succeeded so far in convincing many people that a Monarchy is some kind of local optima.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com