Neutral Nations of WW2: Spain
- 6 years ago
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Franco while pro-fascist and in considerable debt to Germany and Italy remained neutral at the start of the war, and it's very easy to understand why. By late 1939, Spain was shattered by three years of total war. Food shortages, disruption to commercial and industrial production, credit shortage with the loss of gold reserves to back its currency. Given that the Nationalists' justification for their insurrection had been the need to ensure stability and public order, they could hardly now prolong it. The country needed breathing room to rebuild and getting into another conflict wasn't what the nation needed. Germany was a willing trade partner since Spanish minerals were the only easily-available source for components of several modern armaments, including tank Armour and explosives, but remaining neutral allowed Spain to trade these resources with both sides, according to the war's changing circumstances.
Franco pledged support to the Axis if Germany could bring Britain to near collapse, but as we all know that never happened. Various plans were created to take over Gibraltar but the Spanish refusal to allow German troops through was the main reason that these plans were never put into practice. Then the question may be asked, why didn't Germany invade Spain? Hitler had spent three years observing and expressing frustration with the inefficacy of the Nationalists' military prowess, both in terms of its military strength, and of its poor leadership. Frequently, the German Condor Legion had to act as a spearhead for Franco, rather than as the technical advisers they had been intended as. Germany already had one useless ally overextending its resources and battlefronts in disastrous Balkan wars; it was already faced with defending a vast Atlantic seaboard from Denmark to the Pyrenees, and didn't need to expand its exposed borders further. By October of 1940 the last meeting to fix details of the alliance led to nothing. Franco demanded demanded heavy fortification of the Canary Islands as well as large quantities of grain, fuel, armed vehicles, military aircraft and other armaments as well as recognize Spanish claims to French territory in Morocco. While no alliance was created, a division of men was sent to aid the Axis dubbed the Blue Division, this Division was around 45,000 men in size. This division wasn't part of the regular Spanish army but was instead a division of volunteers from around Spain with some from Portugal as well, the only condition was that the division be used against the Soviet Union, not against the British or Americans.
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Want to watch more Neutrals of WW2? Click here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLURsyoSxdtCyGq5GSJdhOWFzBTzRIVVCQ
Franco while pro-fascist and in considerable debt to Germany and Italy remained neutral at the start of the war, and it's very easy to understand why. By late 1939, Spain was shattered by three years of total war. Food shortages, disruption to commercial and industrial production, credit shortage with the loss of gold reserves to back its currency. Given that the Nationalists' justification for their insurrection had been the need to ensure stability and public order, they could hardly now prolong it. The country needed breathing room to rebuild and getting into another conflict wasn't what the nation needed. Germany was a willing trade partner since Spanish minerals were the only easily-available source for components of several modern armaments, including tank Armour and explosives, but remaining neutral allowed Spain to trade these resources with both sides, according to the war's changing circumstances.
Franco pledged support to the Axis if Germany could bring Britain to near collapse, but as we all know that never happened. Various plans were created to take over Gibraltar but the Spanish refusal to allow German troops through was the main reason that these plans were never put into practice. Then the question may be asked, why didn't Germany invade Spain? Hitler had spent three years observing and expressing frustration with the inefficacy of the Nationalists' military prowess, both in terms of its military strength, and of its poor leadership. Frequently, the German Condor Legion had to act as a spearhead for Franco, rather than as the technical advisers they had been intended as. Germany already had one useless ally overextending its resources and battlefronts in disastrous Balkan wars; it was already faced with defending a vast Atlantic seaboard from Denmark to the Pyrenees, and didn't need to expand its exposed borders further. By October of 1940 the last meeting to fix details of the alliance led to nothing. Franco demanded demanded heavy fortification of the Canary Islands as well as large quantities of grain, fuel, armed vehicles, military aircraft and other armaments as well as recognize Spanish claims to French territory in Morocco. While no alliance was created, a division of men was sent to aid the Axis dubbed the Blue Division, this Division was around 45,000 men in size. This division wasn't part of the regular Spanish army but was instead a division of volunteers from around Spain with some from Portugal as well, the only condition was that the division be used against the Soviet Union, not against the British or Americans.