What was spains role in world war 2

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Disfruta de nuestras lecciones personalizadas, breves y divertidas. Although it sought to avoid entering the war, Spain did make plans for defence of the country.

Initially, the mass of the Spanish army was stationed in southern Spain in case of an Allied attack from Gibraltar during and However, Franco ordered the divisions to gradually redeploy in the mountains along the French border in case of a possible German invasion of Spain as Axis interest in Gibraltar grew.

By the time it became clear that the Allies were gaining the upper hand in the conflict, Franco had amassed all his troops on the French border and received personal assurances from the leaders of Allied countries that they did not wish to invade Spain. Invasion plans of Nazi Germany and probable routes of British invasion [14] [15]. Before Franco and Hitler's October meeting in Hendaye , there had been Spanish-German planning for an attack, from Spain, upon the British territory of Gibraltar which was, and is, a British dependency and military base.

At the time, Gibraltar was important for control of the western exit from the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the Suez Canal and Middle East, as well as Atlantic patrols. The Germans also appreciated the strategic importance of north-west Africa for bases and as a route for any future American involvement. Therefore, the plans included the occupation of the region by substantial German forces, to forestall any future Allied invasion attempt. The plan, Operation Felix , was in detailed form before the negotiations failed at Hendaye.

By March , military resources were being ear-marked for Barbarossa and the Soviet Union. Operation Felix-Heinrich was an amended form of Felix that would be invoked once certain objectives in Russia had been achieved.

In the event, these conditions were not fulfilled and Franco still held back from entering the war. The first step in the operation would have been the conquest of Gibraltar. That was another great opportunity we missed.

As the war progressed and the tide turned against the Axis, the Germans planned for the event of an Allied attack through Spain. There were three successive plans, progressively less aggressive as German capability waned:.

This was planned in April as a reaction to a proposed British landing on the Iberian peninsula near Gibraltar. German troops would advance into Spain to support Franco and expel the British wherever they landed. Ilona was a scaled down version of Isabella , subsequently renamed Gisella.

Devised in May , to be invoked whether or not Spain stayed neutral. Ten German divisions would advance to Barcelona and, if necessary, towards Salamanca to support the Spanish army in fighting another proposed Allied landing either from the Mediterranean or Atlantic coasts.

Devised in June , Nurnberg was purely a defensive operation in the Pyrenees along both sides of the Spanish-French border in the event of Allied landings in the Iberian peninsula, which were to repel an Allied advance from Spain into France.

A Spanish volunteer of the Blue Division. The territory was restored to its pre-war status on 11 October Tangier joined with the rest of Morocco following the restoration of full sovereignty in According to a book, Winston Churchill authorised millions of dollars in bribes to Spanish generals in an effort to influence General Franco against entering the war on the side of Germany.

Despite lacking cash, oil and other supplies, Francoist Spain was able to supply some essential materials to Germany. There was a series of secret war-time trade agreements between the two countries. The principal resource was wolfram or tungsten ore from German-owned mines in Spain.

Tungsten was essential to Germany for its advanced precision engineering and therefore for armament production. Despite Allied attempts to buy all available supplies, which rocketed in price, and diplomatic efforts to influence Spain, supplies to Germany continued until August Payment for wolfram was effectively set against the Spanish debt to Germany.

Other minerals included iron ore, zinc, lead and mercury. Spain also acted as a conduit for goods from South America, for example, industrial diamonds and platinum. After the war, evidence was found of significant gold transactions between Germany and Spain, ceasing only in May It was believed that these were derived from Nazi looting of occupied lands, but attempts by the Allies to obtain control of the gold and return it were largely frustrated.

This article does not contain any citations or references. Please improve this article by adding a reference. For information about how to add references, see Template:Citation. The international station of Canfranc. On one side you had the Republic government. They were largely liberals and fought against the conservative Nationalist rebels.

The Soviet Union provided the Republicans with significant military assistance, although France and Britain were more wary about supporting them. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany both provided military aid, not only to support the Nationalists but also as a military testing ground for new weapons they hoped to later use. The rebels won in and General Franco was made Head of State. While General Franco leaned heavily ideologically to Nazi Germany and the Axis countries, he was careful to appease the Western allies for trading reasons.

The main way in which Spain entered World War Two was through volunteers. The side with which each man volunteered largely paralleled the side on which they had fought during the Spanish Civil War. Over 18, nationalist men volunteered to fight for the Axis Powers, on the condition they would be fighting on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union rather than against the Western Allies. Conversely, as a result of losing the civil war, many of the Republicans went into exile and fled to refugee camps in southern France.

It is estimated that over 60, Spaniards joined the French resistance alone. Just over 1, Spaniards largely the communist leaders fled to the Soviet Union and fought alongside the Red Army after the invasion in While volunteers technically assisted both the Allies and Axis during World War Two militaristically, General Franco also provided the Axis Powers with both economic assistance and useful intelligence. In , Franco signed the Protocol of Hendaya, which provided for close cooperation among the governments of Spain, Italy and Germany.