TsT22. 2012.

Dossier

♦ Rafael Castro
Knowledge Transfer in Developmentalist Spain: The Case of French Technical Consulting Firms
Abstract:
This research examines the role of French technical consulting firms in Spain during the era of state-led development. Our study reveals that French technical consulting firms specialized—primarily through technical assistance contracts—in providing services to sectors traditionally favored by French investment, situated between the first and second industrial revolutions, such as mining, railways, steel, chemicals, and electricity.
The French presence in this field was based on experience and market knowledge, as well as a better adaptation of their services to Spanish companies. This study also serves to reinterpret primary sources from Spain and France in light of new definitions provided by historians of technology and helps clarify concepts that lack a clear definition.

♦ José Luis García Ruiz and Leonardo Caruana
History of an Employer-Sponsored Mutual Insurance Company During the Franco Regime: MAPFRE Mutua Patronal (FREMAP), 1966–1975
Abstract:
The situation regarding workers’ compensation insurance varies greatly across Western European countries, but where specific coverage exists, direct state intervention predominates. In Spain in 1966, it was decided that workers’ compensation insurance for workplace accidents and occupational diseases would be administered by nonprofit mutual insurance companies, established by employers but operating under the supervision and control of the Ministry of Labor—a situation that was highly unusual in the European context. This paper presents the history of MAPFRE Mutua Patronal (known as FREMAP since 1991) during the first ten years of its existence, which coincided with the final stage of the Franco dictatorship, highlighting the role played by its chief executive, Carlos Álvarez Jiménez, a well-known figure in the management of Christian-oriented companies. The successful development of FREMAP, a market leader since 1984, helps explain why, during the democratic era that followed the Franco regime, insurance coverage continued to be provided through the system established in 1966.

♦ Christopher Kopper
The National Socialist Transport Policy and the Claim of Modernity: Reality or Fiction?
Abstract:
The National Socialist highway (Autobahn) construction program surpassed all pre-war programs of this type in both scope and scale, but it did not trigger an equally impressive mass motorization of German society. The unexpected fragmentation of power in the realm of transportation policy contributed to delaying the growth of road freight transport and reduced the impact the Autobahn might have had as a “driver” of motorization, if you’ll pardon the pun. The Autobahn’s builders had no real interest in shifting traffic from rail to road and neglected, in the Autobahn project, the technical parameters and requirements for long-distance road transport. Even Volkswagen, a model of success in driving mass motorization after World War II, had to contend with unrealistic expectations. The financial calculations for an affordable, mass-market car were based more on wishful thinking than on sound estimates.

♦ Florentino Moyano Jiménez
Coal: The Rise and Fall of the Catalan and Spanish Gas Industry. The Case of the Reus Gas Works (1854–1969)
Abstract:
This article aims to analyze the evolution of the price of coal delivered to the gasworks in the Catalan city of Reus during the period 1854–1969. The case of the company Gas Reusense provides insight into the social and political factors that influenced the price and supply of coal in the gas sector. During the 19th century, the need for British coal shaped gas production due to the low quality and excessive costs of domestic coal.
In the 20th century, protectionism in the Spanish coal sector sidelined British coal. Using the example of Gas Reusense, this study aims to show how this change affected the company and what strategies gasworks adopted during periods of coal shortages. We also see how, during the 1960s, the Reus gasworks gradually declined until it ceased operations, as technological changes in gas production replaced coal with petroleum derivatives.

♦ Giovanni Favero
The Metamorphosis of a Regional Space: The Case of Veneto, 1750–1950
Abstract:
This study examines the changes that took place in the economic structure of the Veneto region from the fall of the Venetian Republic through the post-World War II period, focusing on the construction and evolution of transportation infrastructure in relation to political events in the area. Statistical sources and available historical literature are used here to study the transition from a system composed of distinct economic areas—roughly coinciding with the basins of the major rivers that converge in the Venetian Lagoon—to a polycentric “corridor” connecting the major cities of the plain. This change was made possible by the road and rail network built during the 19th century, but in turn, the resulting decentralized spatial model influenced the evolution of the tram network during the 20th century and explains the unique effects of the policy choice in favor of road transport after World War II.

Historical Heritage

♦ Antonio Burgos, Juan Carlos Olmo, and María Paz Sáez
French Engineer Paul Sejourné and His Connection to Southeastern Spain
Abstract:
French engineer Paul Sejourné (1851–1937) played a prominent role in the construction of the Linares–Almería railway line in the late 19th century. His work resulted in numerous engineering and architectural structures, which today constitute a valuable heritage site.
Based on a study of the original technical documentation, supplemented by various recent location and survey work conducted along the aforementioned line, it has been possible to reconstruct Paul Sejourné’s professional career in southeastern Spain. The article also describes the main characteristics of the structures he helped build, highlighting their importance as heritage sites.

Reviews

♦ Mercedes Arroyo
Alexandre Fernández, Urban Progress in Spain: Water, Gas, and Electricity in Bilbao and the Cantabrian Cities, 1840–1930
♦ María Ortiz-Villajos
José Luis Malo de Molina and Pablo Martín Aceña, A Century of History of the Spanish Financial System
♦ Alberte Martínez
María del Carmen,The Royal Gas Works of Madrid
♦ María Cristina Cravino 
Pedro Pírez, The Shadows of Light: Electricity Distribution, Urban Layout, and Poverty in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region
♦ Leornado Caruana
Gabriel Tortella, José María Ortiz-Villajos, and José Luis García Ruiz, *History of Banco Popular: The Struggle for Independence*
♦ Alexandre Macchione Saes
Alcides Goularti Filho and Paulo Roberto Cimó Queiroz, Transportation and the Development of the National Economy: Contributions to the History of Transportation in Brazil
♦ Pedro Oliver Olmo
Miguel Muñoz Rubio (Editor), Labor Organizations and Repression on the Railroad: An International Perspective