Why Spain was neutral in World War II

During World War II, Germany and Italy demanded Franco's return by allowing the Germans to attack British Gibraltar via Spain and force Spain to join the Axis powers. However, Franco, in view of the domestic famine, the urgent need for grain and oil aid from the United States and the Allies, and the lack of optimism about the final victory of the Axis powers, vacillated between the Axis powers and the Allies, trying not to get involved in the conflict, so that Spain's damage during World War II was minimized.

The forces are not enough, and Britain and the United States also want to pull them together.

World war ii. Spain and Portugal are neutral countries. ButWorld War IMedium, Spain is a neutral country,Portugal was the Entente

In the First World War.

Portugal was a member of the Entente camp.

In January 1915, the Portuguese Parliament voted to form an alliance with Britain and France, but did not directly participate in the war against Germany, only against the British Army.

and the Navy to assist. On March 9, 1916, Germany declared war on Portugal, and in the same year, Portugal sent an expeditionary force of 367 men to the French front to fight in the war. During the war, the Portuguese army "fought" a total of 17 times (only 6 times they exchanged fire with the Germans, a total of 103 wounded and 9 killed).

From these data, it is not difficult to see that Portugal's participation in the First World War was only symbolic.

In World War I and World War II, Spain and Portugal did not remain neutral, but participated in the war, invading other countries.

World War I and World War II interned Spain, he was mixed with Germany, and he was also fascist, but in the later period he remained neutral.

Well, during the First and Second World Wars, Portugal was neutral, but Spain was not.

Even if he remained neutral, he would have been beaten. Another is also because both countries are too small. At that time, Spain was actually biased towards the German side. And Portugal did not enter the war because of its small size.

The country is small, and its strength is weak and cannot withstand the toss.

Although Franco won the Spanish Civil War with the help of Germany and Italy, Spain remained neutral until the end of World War II, although Spain showed signs of turning to the Axis powers at any time.

Although before the war, Germany and Italy helped Franco to stage a coup d'état and establish a fascist regime. However, Spain was not a strong country, and it was located on the north coast of Gibraltar, and if Spain entered the war, Britain would definitely defeat Spain with all its might to defend the Strait of Gibraltar. Spain, of course, would not be stupid enough to be a pawn of Germany and Italy.

However, in order to repay Germany and Italy, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Spain formed the 250th "Blue" Infantry Division to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union with the German army in the form of volunteers.

In fact, in Europe in World War II, there was no strategic space for Spain at all. Germany swept across the continent and conquered Yugoslavia and Greece, while Italy invaded North Africa in an attempt to take the Mediterranean Sea for itself. And what else does he get by entering the war in Spain?

To the north is Germany's puppet Vichy France, to the south is German-Italian North Africa, and to the east is Italy's Mediterranean. Spain simply does not have a chassis to take.

It is completely irrational to throw one's own people into an unprofitable all-out war (and a world war) just to repay the favor. Franco isn't stupid.

The only thing Spain wanted was the Strait of Gibraltar, so in 1940 Spain sent troops to occupy Tangier, but it remained neutral and did not go to war with Britain. In order to maintain Spain's neutrality, Britain also continued to provide economic aid to Spain.

Politics is about interests rather than sentiment. In fact, it also proved Spain's prescience not to enter the war. Because Franco had written a long letter to German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, meaning that if Germany could come up with a proof that Germany and Italy would win, Youbanya would immediately join the German and Italian bloc.

It is a pity that Germany cannot produce this evidence.

The time when Spain was most assertive was in '40 and '41, when Spain was"Non-belligerent"This means that Spain's volunteers joined the German army, and Spain's invasion of Morocco and its announcement of the resumption of the Strait of Gibraltar were only conflicts between Spain and these countries, and did not mean that Spain joined the struggle for hegemony between Germany, Italy and Britain. World War II is the name given to later generations, and at that time in Europe, the war was only Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France fighting for European hegemony).

By 1943, the fascists were losing and retreating, and Franco saw that the fascist camp could not win, so he changed Spain from a non-belligerent country to a neutral country. Spain's policy of non-war allowed the fascist regime in Spain to survive to the end.

Although Spain was certainly politically closer to the Italian fascist regime than to the Western democracies, Franco had avoided a formal alliance with Germany and Italy. Franco emphasized Spain's neutrality during World War II, but he knew how to judge the situation, do business with both sides of the war, and allow Allied and German intelligence agencies to operate in Spain.

Since 1941, as many as 10,000 Spaniards have fought on the Eastern Front with the German army, and their official status is the Volunteer Army. This unit, known as the "Blue Division", was formed immediately after the German invasion of the Soviet Union and had five regiments. In the second half of 1943, Hitler's defeat was assured.

As the diplomatic pressure on Spain increased, Franco abandoned the Blue Division, withdrew and disbanded the force. But he still allowed the real Spanish volunteers to continue fighting for Germany. The Western allies, of course, saw through Franco's tricks.

However, after the victory over Hitler, the Western Allies needed Spain to act as their own ally in the Cold War. Franco's caution was not in vain: he remained in power until the eve of his death in 1975.

Although Spain did not participate in the war, it did send expeditionary forces to participate in the Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad. Therefore, some people also listed it as a "half Axis power" at the same time as the regime of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia

%30 The reason is that 50% of Franco wants to participate in Germany after settling the civil war, and the form of World War II is no longer optimistic about Germany, and the form of the theaters has shifted to the side of the allies.

The Spanish Civil War ended before World War II began.

Spain itself is weak, and the damage caused by the civil war is even worse, Brother Rot's main energy is used to stabilize the domestic situation and resume production after the war, he is not not not supporting Germany, but Spain is not like other weak German allies far away from the Allies, Britain occupies Gibraltar, as the gateway to the Mediterranean, Britain has a large army and fleet and strong fortresses there, once the war against Britain and France, the British army from the south and the French army from the north, can cut off Spain in a few weeks (not that I underestimate the Spaniards, Even if the war starts after the defeat of France, Spain's strength may not be able to fight only against the British garrison in Gibraltar), so Brother Rotten did not participate in the early stage of the war.

Needless to say, after that, the war situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for Germany, and Brother Rotten is naturally unwilling to send him to death.

Looking at the entire Second World War, there were only six European countries that were not really pulled into the water: Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Ireland and Turkey. In the Americas, Argentina is the only country that has remained neutral.

During World War II, Spain was governed by Franco's regime, and its political philosophy was also fascism, and it also seized power with the direct military support of Germany and Italy. However, after the outbreak of World War II, Spain declared neutrality and did not enter the war, but favored the fascist bloc.

During World War II, Franco in Spain was on the side of Hitler.