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Brazil, Argentina and Mexico are also part of the "we don't wanna take sides, we wanna sell to both sides". All were "friendly" to Germany, however. Quite a few other countries wanted in the war but lacked sea power to get to Europe or the Far East. The US and Britain controlled the oceans. Politics and money together =trouble.
Their the Spanish economy was a Shambles like the Southern and Border states of the USA after the Us Civil war. Like Ireland they Spain saw little benefit and likely further Damage to their economy and cities-"fledgling" Industries if they became involved..
@@kennyPAGC honestly, I've got HOI4, stellaris and EU4 and I love HOI4. But EU4 and Stellaris are just so complicated to use that I just quit after 20 mins
Yeah, and those same Communists who labeled him as a 'Fascist' and tried to have him arrested, whom he said that they "Lied at every opportunity!". Orwell, who wrote Animal Farm, about as anti-communist as you can get...
@@Dumbledore6969x Come back and comment when you know what you are talking about. You are obviously just a far left bigot, who thinks "totalitarianism" applies only to the far right. Read Stephen Keebler´s post and start to learn.
Hello, I am from Spain, (Barcelona), and there are many important things missing in this video. The video portrays this thing like it was just disagreement regarding the conditions for joining the war, but it wasn't even close that simple. Spain after the Civil War had a crippled economy, completely destroyed. One of the main things that saw an important depletion was food. Generally, Spain issued ration cards for the population as it was the only way to make everyone get something to eat. In this regard, it is important to mention that a big part of the food provided was made out of the wheat that Perón's Argentina dictatorship gifted Spain every year. Imagine entering the war, what would have happened with that supply. Maybe Franco's demand regarding French territory had a lot to do with ensuring the food supply from French agricultural lands. Another important factor is that Spain had no important Navy, Aircraft and Army. Simply, its military was not capable of holding ground in the long run. A German ambassador made some research and concluded that, being optimistic, Spain would only be able to fight for a month in its full capabilities, so you can imagine how the situation was. And, one of the even more important factors: British bribes. The British sprayed money all over Franco's regime to make them be 'pro allied' or, actually, simply not supportive of the war. Franco knew about it, and the size of this 'secret' (but well known) allied bribes goes as far as to say that the British had actual plans to start a military rebellion with Spain's bribed men. We can't say that everyone was bribed, but bribing the correct people with the correct amount of money magic can happen, as we all know. There are many other things, but not mentioning corruption in the rationing system, British bribes and things like these is just saying 25% of the story. Good video, anyways.
Reasons why general Franko distrusted Germany: In July of 1936 socialists and communists of Spain started the wave of terror, which Comintern was secretly planning and financing since 1932. On July 16, in Barcelona, the left began a real massacre: at least 700 priests were killed, the palace of justice was captured and routed, all judges and lawyers were shot. Churches, shops, and private homes burned. On July 17, the Communists announced the formation of their own armed forces. Spain government asked Germany for help, but received no answer. At that time Franko had no place in Junta, he was commander of the African Army in Morocco. Franco used his personal connections to get Junkers Ju-52 transporters to bring soldiers from Africa to Spain. Germany and Italy agreed to give him some credit to buy weapons and ammo. There were no free staff for him. Moscow helped republican forces with tanks, airplanes, cannons, light weaponry and ammo. Then Berlin began to push for the adoption by the nationalists of the Four-Year Plan " Montaña " - the establishment of direct control of the Third Reich over the Spanish mining industry. The Nazis threatened that in response to the rejection of the plan, Germany would no longer help the nationalists. In fact, they were preparing Spain the status of a German semi-colony. When Franco refused that plan, Germany stopped the flow of any military supplies from the Reich and refused to resume them for almost a year - until the beginning of 1938.
Franco’s army vs. Republicans army When we look into the tactical and technical data, we’ll see the armament of the Republic far exceeded the Francoist. For example, in the core of the nationalist fighter planes fleet were Italian biplane “Fiat CR.32” and German single-seat biplane “He 51”. Both types of fighters were not able to catch in the sky the Soviet SB bombers and I-16 fighters (republican). In armored vehicles, the Republican advantage was generally overwhelming! Only less than a hundred German Panzer II tanks had guns (20 mm caliber), and absolutely all 362 Soviet tanks were armed with 45 mm (or at least 37 mm) guns, moreover, about of Republican’s 70 armored vehicles (BA 3 and BA 6 type) also carried a 45 mm gun. And yet: 150 Italian-made tanks of Francoist army, in fact, were not tanks - their armor was thinner armor on Soviet-made armored vehicles, and the weight, respectively, was almost half that.
Reasons why general Franko was against Soviet Union: The USSR supplied the Republicans with weapons and food for free, HOWEVER (!) Moscow took for “temporary” storage about 73% (that is, 510 tons) of Spain's strategic gold reserve (incidentally, the fourth in the world at that time). The gold was exported by the authorized NKVD in Spain, Alexander Orlov, aka Leib Feldbin, aka Comrade Miguel, aka «Bank оf America» representative George Blackstone. The republicans sent the remaining 193 tons of gold to Paris to pay for supplies of arms and food, of which about 40 tons the Franco government was able to receive after the war ended. Thus, out of 700 tons of the country's gold reserves, the Republicans put to waste more than 94%! In response to demands to return gold, the USSR stated that it had gone to pay for the supply of weapons ... It should be noted that a number of Spanish ships, once in the Soviet Union, were also confiscated due to the “debts” of the Spanish Republic for the supply of weapons. For example, new large and high-speed «Cabo San Augustin» (built in 1931, deadweight 9900, speed 16 knots) had become “Dnepr”, and «Juan Sebastian Elcanо» (built in 1928, deadweight 6200, speed 16 knots) had become “Volga” .
I once heard that Franco stated that instead of there being just one war, there were 3 simultaneous ones. Germany vs USSR in which he supported the german cause, the so called Allies vs the so called Axis in which he considered himself neutral, and the USA vs Japan in which he supported the USA. I might be paraphrasing but still, I thought that was a very clever way to keep everyone happy without having to get involved. Edit: I don't have the source, it may very well be a rumor, so take this with a ton of salt
I think that was said by the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Mihai Antonescu (not to be confused with Ion Antonescu, who was effectively ruling the country). Note: When this was reportedly said, Romania had already participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union.
The British Commonwealth fought the Japanese on mainland Asia so remember that the Americans did not fight Japan alone. In fact, the majority of Japans forces were on mainland Asia fighting the Chinese for 4 years before America joined in not to mention they had a million men in Manchuria. The US never faced more than 20% of the IJA. The myth that America fought Japan alone is just that, a myth, an American one at that.
@Zeros DaBast Agreed, in this time Italian army was too bad to fight against powerful powers, but if they developed and trained their army for more than at least 5 years, they could do better, but Mussolini was too naive about that.
@@ქართველიშვილი-წ6ჯ not really, I think Mussolini gave germany the year that they would be "Fully ready" to start their fight (it was something absurd like 1943 or something)
I very much like the difference you made between neutral and non-belligerent countries. A very interesting concept as there are hardly any genuinely neutral countries in history.
A lot of people confuse neutrality with pacifism. For example Switzerland and Austria are neutral countries ergo they don't support either NATO nor Russia but they still spend a lot of money on their military. They actually spend more per capita on defense relative to their neighbors because of the fact that they are not under the protection of either power. Austria's position is rather curious as an attack on the EU would compel them to fight with NATO (as 90% of the nations are members) but if an EU and NATO member attacked let's say Russia over Ukraine they could stay out. EU and NATO have been speeding up Ukraine's integration process just so they could get a reason to deploy there, Russia of course sensing this is creating as much chaos as possible to delay the process. In that case under the EU's mutual defense clause Austria could be called to war.
You should make a video about portugal in the world War 2. I ve heard that Portugal influenced the war even being neutral. An English diplomat said that Portugal was more useful as neutral nation in ww2 than an Allie in ww1.
@Justin Case I know that story but I think that Germany would loose any way. Portugal joined the war In 1917 one year before the end of the war. In 1917 the war was already won for the allies. But in ww2 Portugal influenced Spain to stay neutral. If Spain joined the axis Portugal would have to join the allies. Portugal gave an military air base in the Azores Islands to facilitate moving airplanes through the antlatic. Portugal received many jews refugees. And portugal was the biggest trader of tungsten in Europe. Germany had to pay got the tungsten but Britain did not. Portugal was neutral but always helping a bit the allies. Portugal knew that if neighbor Spain turned to the axis, Germany would invade Portugal. Portugal did the most smart decisions for his people, even the Portugal being an dictatorship.
Hitler: shoots himself in a bunker with the Red Army closing in. Mussolini: Hanged by partisans and body publicly mutilated. Franco: Dies peacefully after ruling Spain for 30+ years. Apparently he did something right.
What us the Spaniards should thanks Franco regardless of ideology is of saving our country from the World War 2 and avoiding a fatal invasion, both by the Allies and the Axis forces. Franco was not fooled by the apparent invincibility of Germany after the fall of France, and he was well aware of how extremely weakened Spain had been after the civil war, so instead of directly refusing to enter the war on the Axis side, he proposed terms to Hitler that he knew he could not accept. In addition, if the Republican side had won, Spain would have become a puppet state of the USSR, and would have been invaded by the Axis from the north of the country at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. The Germans would not have been able to totally defeat the country, since the Spanish people would dedicate themselves to guerrilla warfare as we did with Napoleon, but probably the entire territory and the population would suffer the wrath of the Nazis. After the war, Franco dedicated himself to getting closer to the Allies and cooling tensions with them, and to opening Spain to the world, instead of completely closing the country and turning it into a kind of dystopian dictatorship as happened with North Korea and Albania. Even if they were two sides of the same coin, Hitler doomed his country forever, and Franco saved his own.
They weren't two sides of the same coin. They both held nationalist and imperialistic views (just as the Brits did), but Franco was a Catholic leader, under the limits of Christianity, whereas Hitler knew no limits to his Übermensch brutal ideology.
There are several reasons Spain didn't join the Axis in WW2. The first and most obvious reason is that they were already exhausted after fighting a brutal civil war for three years, at which point the last thing they needed was another war with multiple world powers bombing them and likely invading them some time in the next few years. The second reason is that their economy was in shambles and needed to rebuild their country, particularly they needed food and were only able to get what they needed through trade, much of which came from Latin America through Portugal. Finally their military was second-rate and poorly suited to fighting in WW2, even if they had joined the war, it is doubtful that their forces would have done much, Germany carried the Axis in Europe and did 85-90% of the heavy fighting. Mussolini assumed that Germany would win after France fell and seriously underestimated British capabilities and determination to continue fighting, unfortunately Italy was badl unprepared for the war and depended heavily on trade to get food and oil, and the British did their best to cut off any supplies coming by sea. Mussolini was a complete idiot when it came to war and Germany had to bail his sorry ass out multiple times, he ended up losing all of Italy's african colonies and a direct Anglo-American invasion of Italy commenced in 1943. Considering Italy's poor performance in the war and eventual fate, it's quite easy to see that Franco made the right choice staying out of the war.
MilkTrafficker Not to mention, Hitler signed the nation he loved in all his heart its own death warrant by declaring war on the USA and USSR, I believe that had he invaded the caucuses regoin first before doing the push to Moscow, he would have a higher chance of winning the Eastern front, then after a possible victory on the east, he can now put all of his focuses on Britian. And also had he not made an allaince with Japan, he would not have to declare war on the USA, thus would’ve saved his nation from further complete bedlam.
Spain was technically "neutral" in WWII even though Franco sent "DIVISION AZUL" composed of Spanish "volunteers" to fight alongside the Third Reich troops vs the USSR on the Eastern Front. When the tide turned around 1942-43 Franco withdrew them and returned to" neutrality", with apparently no one being any the wiser. One of the cleverest parlor tricks performed in WWII by a relatively minor player, who stayed in power until the mid 1970s. And, by all accounts, he is still dead....And Spain is now in NATO
Spain was non beligerant, not neutral, and the Division Azul wasnt the spanish army itself but rather spanish citizens serving as volunteers in the german army. Spain knew their side, but they also knew they were not prepared. also they had good commercial relations with UK and they pmuch depended on them as spanish economy was crumbling after the civil war, so it wouldnt make sense for Spain to declare war on them u can hate Franco all u want but he was extremely smart during WW2 and during the Cold War
Actually the blue division was a clever move by Franco to send off the most radical elements of his party to die in the East and ensure political stability within Spain.
Don't say "Volunteers" They were Volunteers. From the south yo the north, to the defeated to the fascist, allí of those Volunteers worked Togheter to destroy the soviet Union, and Oh boy, they killed a lot of those red heads haha!
:-) The Blue Division (Spanish: División Azul, German: Blaue Division), officially designated as División Española de Voluntarios by the Spanish Army and as 250. Infanterie-Division in the German Army, was a unit of Spanish volunteers who served in the German Army on the Eastern Front during the Second World War.[2] Blue Division casualties throughout the Soviet-German conflict totaled 22,700 (3,934 battle deaths, 570 disease deaths, 326 missing or captured, 8,466 wounded, 7,800 sick, and 1,600 frostbitten).[1] In action against the Blue Division, the Red Army suffered 49,300 casualties.[1
Actually, the Blue Division were fascist sympathisers who willingly enlisted, but there were also relatives of republicans who fought to minimise their time in prison. Despite supporting a wrong cause, all of them acted bravely in combat and didn’t abuse the Russian civilians.
@@anothernpc4943 so what? they were all still spanish volunteers enlisted in the Wehrmacht. they fought as german army, not as spanish army, the same way many exiled republicans fought for the Allies in France.
My gran_grand father fighted in SpanishCivil war so-called International brigade je fighted in same brigade like Hemingway...Yugoslavian students from Prague and Paris organised troops
EXACTLY!! ME TOO!! All I really know was that they were going through a brutal Civil War but, that ended not too long after the start of WW2... plus Franco also supported Hitler... I believe the 2 even met with eachother... so I'm curious to see why...
Because Spain played tactically Because Spain learned from Napoleon Bonaparte (presumably friends and once inside war and chaos) Because Spain watched cautiously the outcome of the war for both sides
@T bird and Reds if you say so!!. I have no idea of such theory or politic. I heard the cops story before. But never heard that Mexico was trying to destroy the US
As a Brit who moved to southern Spain a year and a half ago, I've found a recent interest in Spanish/Iberian history (including the civil war). Great work as always 👍🏻
GOOD On You Unbelievable That Communism Was Never Mentioned ; The Most Important Factor ... The Republicans Quickly Became pawns of Stalin : after All Spanish Gold was " given to Stalin ; stopped sending Aid " Franco Deserves A LOT of Credit ... HE STOPPED Hitler from Entering his Starving Country ... His Very Good Friend from WW 1 was Admiral Canaris Who Warned Him... And He Arranged to Conduct the Study as How Difficult It would be to Take Gibraltar ... ( British Myth ; especially early in the war ) Take from Vichy French North Africa ; 11 Miles !! If The Germans / Italians had taken Gibraltar A Within Weeks Of The " Fall Of France " ... War With the British DONE... Italian Subs And Their FAST Cruisers .... Heck send the Bismarck & Tirpitz With Constant Luftwaffe Escort & A Big Wolf Pack ... Sink & Drive the British OUT.. Block the Suez Canal ... Give the Brits OK Terms... Then Really Build Up Correctly For " Stalin the REAL Enemy "" Franco & Adm. Canaris Stopped Hitler .....
@Daddy Mcdada Because they're a neutral country that would've been invaded if they didn't complied. Hell the US has Nazi Scientists in their ranks after the war.
@@ousamadearudesuwa it was a difficult position, Germans helped in Spains civil war so you can’t fully dog them and because they hated the soviets, but were more aligned with Americans and brits. On top of that you’re broke from the home civil war which requires a great deal of attention to keep tensions in society stable during the aftermath.
On top of that, Franco arrived about an hour late at their meeting in Hendaya. True story. Typical Spanish incompetence, rubbish communication system…? Who knows.
@@thebrocialist8300 Turkish people aren't even real Turks but Cappadocian Greeks who were conqueroed by Seljuks. Also completely irrelevant but eventhough Palestinians are muslims, their land is only for them and not Israelis. We must remember that sefardis had an influence on the entrance of the moors into Spain.
Yes he experienced 'the horrors of war', since he was directly responsible for a number of those horrors. I agree his greatest strength was pragmatism.
franco was a monster. My father fought in the Spanish Civil War as a Republic. franco was a curse word in my household. Because of franco, l never meet my ancestors, l nearly lost my entire Spanish family because of that man. ( Small f for franco intentional! )
@@arthurrubiera8029 I'm an outside observer and I have concluded that Franco was basically a phychopathic killer who enjoyed killing. Politics was secondary to Killing.
Because of geography - Spain unlike Germany had pretty much same borders ever since the Reconquista - with Portugal and a natural France border. This is also the reason why Spanish, Portuguese and Brits got the largest colonies globally. Germany on the other hand, standing with so many neighbours in the north European plain would after the 19th century constantly try to grow and integrate as much territory as possible. Which at the end ironically led to it's uttermost shrinkage.
You forgot that Argentina was helping spain with grain after the civil war in mayor quantity than Portugal... missed that on the video which made it incomplete.
Well, not playing by choice is not the same as not playing because you can't. Spain did not have the financial resources nor an economy to participate sustain a war.
@@no_se_nada_de_nada Not being invades by Allies (To be honest I think it would be better if they did this instead of keeping the dictatorship, but it's just my opinion)
@@dredd1981 the hell do you mean??? Spain was before the richest nation in the world. Today Spain is one of the richest nations in the world and the 5th richest nation in the EU (this is after 2008). Before 2008, Spain was even richer. The 2008 economic crash and the ruling socialists stagnated Spanish economic growth but soon enough it will begin rising once more.
Admiral Canaris talked to Franco with the expressed intent of convincing Spain to stay out. Right or wrong, he apparently thought his discussion with Franco was decisive in Spain staying out of the war.
I highly recommend people read about Operation Mincemeat, the operation itself is an incredible story, which gives a huge insight into the intelligence operations conducted by both the SIS and the Abwehr in Spain.
Why would a country that was in the process of rebuilding after their own civil war would want to join in yet another way? From what I read a while ago there was a Spanish brigade blue division that fought in Russia on behalf of the Germans so not so neutral but not officially sanctioned either
One of the main reasons missing in this video is that Spain was busy in parts of Morocco (especially in the northern mountains) where the spanish army took heavy losses (estimates talk about up to 22000 casualities) facing a small Riffian force (3000 fighters) under Abdelkrim El-Khattabi (founder the the Republic of Rif) in the battle of Annual alone. Which happened in the 1920s. After that there were many reforms and changes in the Spanish politics and of course the most notable aftermath of the "catastrophy of Annual" as the spanish refer to it, is overthrowing the monarchy and the ascention of General Franco (Caudillo) as a spanish dictator. Franco was having a hard time dealing with internal issues in Spain and the parts colonized in Morocco and simply couldn't afford going into war and especially one as devastatious as the WW2.
i almost feel like francisco franco was a tragic hero. surely he was a brutal dictator, but for the most part he was tame compared to the real mad men of his era. and he did succeed in keeping Spain as a country and the Spanish king was never killed, exiled or forced to abdicate. this is a far better fate than other unfortunate countries that came out of WWII.
Franco was a pragmatist who kept Spain out of a pointless war. He played both sides in the interests of his country. He also industrialized the country and led a miraculous economic recovery. Most importantly, he got rid of the filthy communists.
@@downwiththethiccness9406 Thousands and thousands of Spaniards starving to death does not sound like much of a recovery, but a tyranny. Franco's dictatorship was perhaps the most oppressive since the Muslims invaded the South of Spain centuries before. The Second Republic were Social Democrats. Learn about the Spanish Civil War before posting
@@asturiasceltic3183 The social democrats who murdered their political rivals you mean? The ones who started a rebellion because the right won in 1933? The ones who murdered one another during the civil war because "you are leftist, but not the right kind of leftist"? Yes, democracy at its best :)
Spain was smart to stay neutral, they knew the Allied forces were not going to be defeated, even before the US entered the war. Allied forces were like a sports super team, Germany was carrying the Axis.
@@kevinlopes1343 It's possible. Despite the modern misconceptions, the U.S DID save Europe. People have this idea in their heads that Germany succeeded during Barbarossa then got stomped. They didn't. They fell back sure, but by the time the allies started succeeding in Africa, Germany was already pushing back again. It's a total toss up as to who would have won. But let's say Hitler didn't declare war on the U.S and the U.S just let bygones be bygones. Spain could have definitely been THE turning point in the war. I definitely see them taking north Africa. And with Hitler not only never sending millions to the eastern and southern fronts, but also getting REENFORCED with hundreds of thousands of men (possibly millions with a draft) that puts Germany, who was already pushing back, on the same level as Russia in terms of manpower. Plus that opens up tons of supply options with a taken Africa and an opened up Mediterranean.
On the sides of the Spanish Republic there were communist, socialist, liberals, anarchist, conservatives and centrist. The communist gained more influence when it became clear that the allies had abandoned the republic and the USRR became the only international support alongside Mexico.
The Republic was a standard bourgeois liberal democracy. They had socialists in parliament (like any other liberal parliament) but the state itself never went down the road of seizing/redistribute property or any of that shit. There were communist and anarchist partisans who nominally fought on the republican side of the war, but they fought each other nearly as much they fought the fascists. Read Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia for more information.
@@thebrocialist8300 The Stalinists took over the Republican side within three months of the atart of the Civil War. They did not "nominally fight on the republican side." They were also the ones who refused to co-operate with the Liberals, Anarchists and POUM. Indeed, they hunted them down and killed them.
Yes Hemingway & John Dos Pasos went as " Correspondents ; very pro " Liberal ; Dos Pasos Instantly Saw the '' Stalinist's Hard Core '; Assassinate Popular Union Leader... & Warned Hemingway BUT No He Would Listen.. Dos Pasos wouldn't Speak to him After.
Franco had just won the civil war. His neutrality enabled him to strengthen his victory, to get money from Britain, to remain friendly with the Axis by allowing volunteers to fight for it and maintaining trade. Franco had to consolidate his power and had to avoid incurring the wrath of the victor, be it the Allied forces or the Axis Power. And he made the smartest of the moves. Exactly that. Indeed the UK was irked and at the victory voiced its grudge... but "a curtain of iron" was falling in Easter Europe and Franco was a reliable anti-communist, and so Franco became viewed as an ally. It took time, but Spain integrated NATO. Franco is seen with shared feelings in Spain, with people lauding him and people loathing him.
In the end Franco allowed his friends to die and was unsuccessful in preventing the rise of liberal politics in Spain He was a staunch anti-communist, great nationalist and a champion of the catholic faith, he failed tremendously in that regard as today Spain is among the least religious, nationalist and most leftist state in Europe All Franco won in the end was a comfortable death, his fascist friends veiwed him as a coward and the allies who loathed him veiwed him as a temporarily useful idiot who's legacy could be trashed once he'd served his purpose to them, which is pretty much what happened
I am from Spain and I admire your videos, and let me say that some of the volunteers wasn't volunteers. In fact the generals of the barracks said that wanted three hundred men ready and if there wasn't three hundred men, the general choose them by azar
Spain had a terrible Civil War between the forces of the Military under General Franco and international volunteers. Franco received air support from Adolf Hitler that helped Franco to prevail. Hitler expected Spain would join Germany in WW II but Franco chose not to join. Spain and Portugal remained neutral in WW II.
It is very easy to answer this question simply because Franco and Hitler had the same ideologies and they got along very well, that is why they did not try to invade Spain
@@Ktaurus26 not really, Franco is fucked by Germany, America, Britain, Hitler, and Truman. He didn't liked the Nazis, but is grateful for them helping them win the Spanish Civil War.
Excellent historic educational video! 👍🏻 Thanks! 🙏🏻 I’d also like to mention that Hitler had the option of occupying of Spain by the force of military. But, he chose not to reply on his military power in order to get through Spain and Gibraltar for some reasons.
I can't say we educate you. But I think through these videos you may find History even more interesting and you will do research by yourself, and thus learning more :)
Spain was "Neutral" in the war. But Chuck Yeager stated in his first memoir that with Franco everything was negotiable. Yeager was shot down over France in late 1943. The underground smuggled him out over the Pyrenees into Spain. As Spain was "Neutral" Yeager should have been interned for the remainder of the war. However, as Yeager wrote, for a certain amount of "Texaco" (A certain negotiable amount of gasoline, or just plain greenbacks) He was allowed to return to England. Franco was a Fascist, but wasn't bogged down by unworkable dogma, unlike the Nazi's.
Franco was not a fascist, not every dictatorship is fascist or communist, dictatorships existed long before those ideologies. He put a monarch as his successor and catholic church had massive amounts of power during Franco regime. He was just a usual conservative dictator.
Also we need to take into account that until 1901 Spain was losing all of its Colonies in the Americas. With Cuba 🇨🇺 and Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 been the last ones. Imagine the constant drain of manpower and resources in the years before the the start of the 20th century in Spain to keep its Empire from crumbling all together. This is only 39 years or so before WWII.
This video was pretty informative. But I wonder what it would've been like to see Spain join either the Axis or the Allies. What would it have been like. Spain would surely been decimated as a country for sure. But I wonder what else would've happened. Nice job.
The war would have lasted 5 or 10 more years. The USA would have seen the real face of the USSR, betrayed the UK, allied with the Axis and now we would live in the 4th Reich.
You are making quality videos. I watch your videos willingly. it is noticeable that you love history. I am for sure that you behave neutral while you are preparing your videos. You deserved applause👏👏👏
Spanish man here. We didn't enter world war two because we had just exited our civil one, and we were beyond fucked to assist anyone. And yes, Franco was a very intelligent man who played both sides catering the axis and the allies alike when it was to our interest only, and perhaps our best militar ever after, of course, Hernán Cortés, who still stands as our greatest. Have a good day.
Curious question: How do Spaniards view their (formerly) fascist government? I'm opposed to fascism but I also understand that being from the U.S gives me freedom tinted glasses. From what I hear a lot of Spaniards consider Franco to be the best leader they've ever had and some consider him the absolute worst.
@@spiffygonzales5899 It was a war against mad assasin comunism. The second republic and the "Frente Popular" (a mixture of socialists, communists, anarquists etc etc the worst of the worst), crossed all red lines with civil rights, killing people that only went to the church, the church themselves with their priest inside, persecutions..., so something needed to be done. Last straw was the assasnination of the leader of the right wing, Calvo Sotelo, which marked the beginning of the rising when half the military said "not anymore, this is it". Spain still stands, even to this day, as the only nation that has defeated communism in the field, because our civil war was about that, to free ourselves from communist madness, and we won..., for now, because as you now comunism, after the fall of the wall only changed dress, to come later as the dreaded "Political Correctness" we have been suffering since early two thousands, and which goal is what they call here in Europe (The EU goverment is the people's enemy right now, something similar to your democratic party there in USA, which is the devil itself), "Agenda 2030", which objective is to eradicate private property eventually, which means, simply speaking, communism winning, and we won't tolerate that, again. By the way, if you truly from USA, you ee even your country falling to communist message (Political Correctness), that you have also been suffering since latest nineties. Have you seen your youth right now going mad and defending socialism and communism as the alternative?, you're about to fall, and if USA falls, so do every single free nation in the world..., so please don't do it, and if you must do what we once did in order to defeat communism..., then you must, otherwise it will be the end of actual freedom. Fascim, apart from being a derivation to communism, was also a direct answer to it. Franco and its fascist goverment gave us the pilars of all we enjoy today, (Seguridad Social, etc)and freedom with democracy after regimen. I mean, you cannot end a war, and a civil one which is the worst (you USA know about that too, right?), and install a democracy straight away, specially aftert your direct enemy was communist..., you have to do a very deep clean man, otherwise the cancer will grow again. This might ring you a bell: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson". You must react to communism taking over your country too man, for its being done since forty years ago. Watch this video carefully, everything explained by a very ex- KGB agent: ua-cam.com/video/Y9TviIuXPSE/v-deo.html Kind regards
@@spiffygonzales5899 the spanish right still likes him or is lukewarm to him. The spanish left depises him and isn't willing to attribute to him anything good spain achieved after the civil war. That's pretty much it.
WHOA!!! The Spanish Blue Divisions were actual divisions of the Spanish army, led by men who where officers in the Spanish army before leaving Spain, were Spanish army officers during WWII, and remained Spanish officers after the war. In the 70s, I used to get invited for dinner at the (Spanish) Army Officers' Club in Burgos with generals (of various ranks) who had fought in Russia. They used to joke about the day that they received their orders to 'volunteer' to fight in Russia.
I always thought it was strange Spain didn't support Germany. Also, if they were neutral, why did they allow downed Allied airmen to freely pass through their territory. They all should have been seized and held. If I was Germany, I would have been filthy about that.
They were already a war torn nation. Years of civil war. They were even less prepared for a war than Italy was. So they acted in their own best interests. Just as they should have.
Franco demanded territories that could not be delivered by Germany without alienating Vichy France and Italy... the official propaganda sold it as a victory of Francos statesmanship....
Franco made unreasonable demands that he knew Hitler couldn't accept in exchange of entering the war, precisely because he didn't want to join the axis.
It was a mix of things. Spain is a pain to invade in a lot of ways (just ask Napoleon), geographically its a nightmare to traverse by ground, has too much coast to block all ports and its terrain favors "guerrilla warfare" if you turn the population against you. Politically, its a very decentralized country, so even if you manage to capture Madrid, most regions have enough autonomy to declare local insurrections (thats why Franco's coup d'etat failed and derived in a civil war). Apart from this tactical considerations, both axis and allies discarded the possibility of invasion because the country was destroyed after the civil war, but the population was still armed. The risk of turning the whole territory into an anarchy mess was too high and the benefits of a succesful occupation were too low to be worth the trouble.
That's a very fair video - well done. Franco needed the help of Italy and Germany but, specific to Germany, he wanted nothing to do with them aside from consolidating his power. He intentionally demanded not just French Morocco but also all of Algeria and Tunisia when he met Hitler knowing Hitler couldn't do that having a cooperative Vichy France. It was that road block by Franco is what Hitler was referring to per preferring having 4 of his wisdom teeth pulled then sit through another meeting with Franco. The 'Republicans' gave all the gold bullion to the Russians - nothing was fee from the Soviet Union and the red vessels would sit off shore fully loaded until the corrupt and withering Republican govt. installed more GRU thugs. Franco saved Spain from what the reds did to all of eastern Europe after the war.
I understand that Germany offered Spain Gibraltar, But the offer was turned down, did not know of Spanish fighting for the allies, but you missed that in the war with the USSR, Spain's air force pre took of that and Spain made money in the sell of guns made in Spain during the war!.
As spanish i have to tell that Franco spoke about WW2: In Allies vs Axis we are neutral (cause he didn't nothing against them) In Axis vs Soviet Union we support Axis (the enemy that fought them in spanish civil war and his opposite ideology) In Allies vs Japan we support Allies because he was against Japan abuses in spanish population like monks and other people in Filipinas
Franco's actions not joining ww2 kept him in power for a long time and spain together with portugal (although semi-fascist) was the last fascist country until 1974 in portugal and 1975 for spain.
True but if with you include dictatorships then it worth mention the north and south korea Communist vs Anti-communist dictatorships that they have in the cold war (and North Korea still has), the Vietnam dictadorships also is the same case and the lots of military anti-communist coups sponsored with the USA in SouthAmerica.
That, and the post-war Soviet Union becoming the only other superpower vs the United States. Once the Cold War got underway, the U.S. government was far more willing to give support to strongly anti-communist Franco.
Even though Spain was fascist, it posed no threat because it wasn’t a superpower. The only true rivals of US were China and USSR, Iran, Cuba, Syria barely
It is said that the Spanish volunteers in Blue Division (who joined Germany to fight the communists with grudge they gained from civil war in Spain against communist ideology) were one of the few who fought till bitter end inside the Berlin HQ the Reichstag. Towards the end of war they had the choice, multiple times, to return back to Spain, but they remained knowing what to expect, dedicating their lives to fight the communists. Hitler himself praised the Blue Division soldiers for their character and performance. Tough guys. Reminds me of the Arditis of Italy from WWI which is another interesting story.
Hitler and Mussolini only studied high school, Franco went to a military academy and was a general, before the Spanish Civil War. Besides was very intelligent too. Hence, was able to better assess the risk of entering WW2 on the side of Axis powers. Germany and Italy sent volunteers to Spanish Civil war, Spain sent volunteers to Eastern Front. Franco’s Spain didn’t owe them more than that.
For Germany Spain was just more trouble than it was worth. Spain had very little to offer millitarily or economicly. The main benefit of them joining the war would be land acces to Gibraltar. Besides of that, Spain would have been depended on food imports from the rest of the axis, and likely Germany and Italy would need to send military forces into spain, to defend the spanish coast, because they wouldn't be able to defend their own very large coast line. The first allied landing against Italy on Sicily would like been in Spain if they joined the war. And if Italy with support from Germany couldn't stop those landings, it's very unlikely spain could have.
Spanish resources could have fueled german war industry, while a joint attack on Gibraltar would have cut the British off from the mediterranean, Atleast the western portion An axis lake in the western mediterranean would have allowed better supplied Germans to push east towards egypt and the suez In any case the axis holding Gibraltar, would have forced the British and the Americans to send supplies around africa to aid the allied outposts there against direct the japanese and german attack, also supply lend lease aid to soveit and Chinese forces The Germans could have easily targeted allied shipping in the southern Atlantic, this would cause enormous losses and the allies would have a hard time protecting all these convoys, due to vast distances involved A lot would have changed, fortunately Franco was a coward
When Italy made its exit from the war in 1943, Germany, in an effort to induct Spain as an active member into the Axis, supposedly offered up Greece (and perhaps Albania) to be occupied by Spanish forces. This would have, at least in name, given Spain equal status as an Axis partner while simultaneously providing it with a sense of glory and self-esteem as an "imperialist" power. Franco reportedly thought very seriously about this offer, as Spain would likely have had no problem keeping Greece under control, but in the end, he chose neutrality.
Not at all A war that devasteted my country, removed liberties and set a dictatorship along 40 years? in addition, here in Spain there were also camps with prisoners and executions (of political dissidents, but also of homosexual people for example). We had our piece of fascism without the need for WW2. A greeting from a Spaniard
It was difficult because of the genocide of religious people, execution of civilians, burning of churches, it was a mess. But way better than a WW destruction. Spain would choose it own way and develop itself. At least had political peace for 3 decades, something not seen since the XVIII century
As your subscriber, I love all your videos, I also have played WoT and it is a decent game. But, here's the thing, I didnt find it bcos of an ad, though I see they're your sponsor and you need to throw it out there. Btw, keep doing what you do.
13. Mr. Mander asked the Minister of Economic Warfare what action he is taking to prevent the export of large quantities of iron ore from Bilbao to Germany; and whether this question was taken into consideration when the recent loan of £2,500,000 (10 million USD) by Great Britain to Spain was made? Hansard Spain British Loan HC Deb 22 April 1941
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Can you also state the position of Portugal during WW2 please
Can you talk about China and civil war also fall of Qing?
What software aer you using to animate the maps?
Please subtitule in Spanish
Subtitule in Spanish please
Beacuse Spain was already destroyed.
"You can't be destroyed in a World War if you destroy yourself in a civil one"
outstanding move
Brazil, Argentina and Mexico are also part of the "we don't wanna take sides, we wanna sell to both sides". All were "friendly" to Germany, however. Quite a few other countries wanted in the war but lacked sea power to get to Europe or the Far East. The US and Britain controlled the oceans. Politics and money together =trouble.
“You can’t be destroyed in a World War if you destroy yourself in a civil one.”
China: um, about that...
Their the Spanish economy was a Shambles like the Southern and Border states of the USA after the Us Civil war. Like Ireland they Spain saw little benefit and likely further Damage to their economy and cities-"fledgling" Industries if they became involved..
Well, if you're already destroyed, you might as well join, as you have nothing to lose.
Because Germany did not unlock "Ally Spain" focus tree...
Woops that's HOI4...
even with the focus they never join..
As a EU4 player I want to get into HOI4 but I don't want to go through a similar painful learning curve again...
@@kennyPAGC it is far more easy to learn hoi4 than eu4 don't worry
@@kennyPAGC honestly, I've got HOI4, stellaris and EU4 and I love HOI4.
But EU4 and Stellaris are just so complicated to use that I just quit after 20 mins
@@kennyPAGC HOI4 is way easier to learn than EU4.
One notable fighter in the Spanish civil war was an author name, George Orwell. The author behind the dystopian novel 1984
His experiences there turned him against Communism.
peter west Lol not. He fought on the communist side and is a known socialist. He rallied against totalitarianism, but supported anarchist communism
Yeah, and those same Communists who labeled him as a 'Fascist' and tried to have him arrested, whom he said that they "Lied at every opportunity!". Orwell, who wrote Animal Farm, about as anti-communist as you can get...
@@Dumbledore6969x Come back and comment when you know what you are talking about. You are obviously just a far left bigot, who thinks "totalitarianism" applies only to the far right. Read Stephen Keebler´s post and start to learn.
@Mandragora Ouroboros Name a Communist regime that has not been a clone of Stalinism. That is the way it always ends up.
Hello, I am from Spain, (Barcelona), and there are many important things missing in this video. The video portrays this thing like it was just disagreement regarding the conditions for joining the war, but it wasn't even close that simple. Spain after the Civil War had a crippled economy, completely destroyed. One of the main things that saw an important depletion was food. Generally, Spain issued ration cards for the population as it was the only way to make everyone get something to eat. In this regard, it is important to mention that a big part of the food provided was made out of the wheat that Perón's Argentina dictatorship gifted Spain every year. Imagine entering the war, what would have happened with that supply. Maybe Franco's demand regarding French territory had a lot to do with ensuring the food supply from French agricultural lands. Another important factor is that Spain had no important Navy, Aircraft and Army. Simply, its military was not capable of holding ground in the long run. A German ambassador made some research and concluded that, being optimistic, Spain would only be able to fight for a month in its full capabilities, so you can imagine how the situation was. And, one of the even more important factors: British bribes. The British sprayed money all over Franco's regime to make them be 'pro allied' or, actually, simply not supportive of the war. Franco knew about it, and the size of this 'secret' (but well known) allied bribes goes as far as to say that the British had actual plans to start a military rebellion with Spain's bribed men. We can't say that everyone was bribed, but bribing the correct people with the correct amount of money magic can happen, as we all know.
There are many other things, but not mentioning corruption in the rationing system, British bribes and things like these is just saying 25% of the story. Good video, anyways.
Ok
Reasons why general Franko distrusted Germany:
In July of 1936 socialists and communists of Spain started the wave of terror, which Comintern was secretly planning and financing since 1932. On July 16, in Barcelona, the left began a real massacre: at least 700 priests were killed, the palace of justice was captured and routed, all judges and lawyers were shot. Churches, shops, and private homes burned. On July 17, the Communists announced the formation of their own armed forces. Spain government asked Germany for help, but received no answer.
At that time Franko had no place in Junta, he was commander of the African Army in Morocco. Franco used his personal connections to get Junkers Ju-52 transporters to bring soldiers from Africa to Spain. Germany and Italy agreed to give him some credit to buy weapons and ammo. There were no free staff for him. Moscow helped republican forces with tanks, airplanes, cannons, light weaponry and ammo.
Then Berlin began to push for the adoption by the nationalists of the Four-Year Plan " Montaña " - the establishment of direct control of the Third Reich over the Spanish mining industry. The Nazis threatened that in response to the rejection of the plan, Germany would no longer help the nationalists. In fact, they were preparing Spain the status of a German semi-colony. When Franco refused that plan, Germany stopped the flow of any military supplies from the Reich and refused to resume them for almost a year - until the beginning of 1938.
Franco’s army vs. Republicans army
When we look into the tactical and technical data, we’ll see the armament of the Republic far exceeded the Francoist. For example, in the core of the nationalist fighter planes fleet were Italian biplane “Fiat CR.32” and German single-seat biplane “He 51”. Both types of fighters were not able to catch in the sky the Soviet SB bombers and I-16 fighters (republican). In armored vehicles, the Republican advantage was generally overwhelming! Only less than a hundred German Panzer II tanks had guns (20 mm caliber), and absolutely all 362 Soviet tanks were armed with 45 mm (or at least 37 mm) guns, moreover, about of Republican’s 70 armored vehicles (BA 3 and BA 6 type) also carried a 45 mm gun. And yet: 150 Italian-made tanks of Francoist army, in fact, were not tanks - their armor was thinner armor on Soviet-made armored vehicles, and the weight, respectively, was almost half that.
Reasons why general Franko was against Soviet Union:
The USSR supplied the Republicans with weapons and food for free, HOWEVER (!) Moscow took for “temporary” storage about 73% (that is, 510 tons) of Spain's strategic gold reserve (incidentally, the fourth in the world at that time). The gold was exported by the authorized NKVD in Spain, Alexander Orlov, aka Leib Feldbin, aka Comrade Miguel, aka «Bank оf America» representative George Blackstone. The republicans sent the remaining 193 tons of gold to Paris to pay for supplies of arms and food, of which about 40 tons the Franco government was able to receive after the war ended. Thus, out of 700 tons of the country's gold reserves, the Republicans put to waste more than 94%!
In response to demands to return gold, the USSR stated that it had gone to pay for the supply of weapons ... It should be noted that a number of Spanish ships, once in the Soviet Union, were also confiscated due to the “debts” of the Spanish Republic for the supply of weapons. For example, new large and high-speed «Cabo San Augustin» (built in 1931, deadweight 9900, speed 16 knots) had become “Dnepr”, and «Juan Sebastian Elcanо» (built in 1928, deadweight 6200, speed 16 knots) had become “Volga”
.
Did u even listen?
I once heard that Franco stated that instead of there being just one war, there were 3 simultaneous ones. Germany vs USSR in which he supported the german cause, the so called Allies vs the so called Axis in which he considered himself neutral, and the USA vs Japan in which he supported the USA.
I might be paraphrasing but still, I thought that was a very clever way to keep everyone happy without having to get involved.
Edit: I don't have the source, it may very well be a rumor, so take this with a ton of salt
You once heard? From whom? Yourself?
sauce
No basis for that
I think that was said by the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Mihai Antonescu (not to be confused with Ion Antonescu, who was effectively ruling the country).
Note: When this was reportedly said, Romania had already participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union.
The British Commonwealth fought the Japanese on mainland Asia so remember that the Americans did not fight Japan alone.
In fact, the majority of Japans forces were on mainland Asia fighting the Chinese for 4 years before America joined in not to mention they had a million men in Manchuria.
The US never faced more than 20% of the IJA.
The myth that America fought Japan alone is just that, a myth, an American one at that.
At least Franco was smart enough to not involve in war with superpowers after devastating civil war, unlike his ally Mussolini
@Zeros DaBast Agreed, in this time Italian army was too bad to fight against powerful powers, but if they developed and trained their army for more than at least 5 years, they could do better, but Mussolini was too naive about that.
@@ქართველიშვილი-წ6ჯ not really, I think Mussolini gave germany the year that they would be "Fully ready" to start their fight (it was something absurd like 1943 or something)
@@jameslegrand848 I remember it, it's 1943 I think too, but he already brought Italy to war much earlier.
Zeros DaBast 👏👏 FAX
The comparison does not make sense,study a little bit more please.
I very much like the difference you made between neutral and non-belligerent countries. A very interesting concept as there are hardly any genuinely neutral countries in history.
A lot of people confuse neutrality with pacifism. For example Switzerland and Austria are neutral countries ergo they don't support either NATO nor Russia but they still spend a lot of money on their military. They actually spend more per capita on defense relative to their neighbors because of the fact that they are not under the protection of either power.
Austria's position is rather curious as an attack on the EU would compel them to fight with NATO (as 90% of the nations are members) but if an EU and NATO member attacked let's say Russia over Ukraine they could stay out. EU and NATO have been speeding up Ukraine's integration process just so they could get a reason to deploy there, Russia of course sensing this is creating as much chaos as possible to delay the process. In that case under the EU's mutual defense clause Austria could be called to war.
Neutrality has always been a myth. For instance, Sweden was secretly allies with the U.S. for the entire cold war.
Yup, as the video showed, volunteer citizens only serve to make the concept murkier.
Yes, it's hard to make a statement sometimes. In this case, Spain didn't want to lose immediately after a Civil War, and they couldn't afford a war.
Turkmenistan is the first self proclaimed (upon independence nonless) and truly neutral country to this day.
You should make a video about portugal in the world War 2.
I ve heard that Portugal influenced the war even being neutral.
An English diplomat said that Portugal was more useful as neutral nation in ww2 than an Allie in ww1.
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@Justin Case I know that story but I think that Germany would loose any way. Portugal joined the war In 1917 one year before the end of the war.
In 1917 the war was already won for the allies.
But in ww2 Portugal influenced Spain to stay neutral. If Spain joined the axis Portugal would have to join the allies.
Portugal gave an military air base in the Azores Islands to facilitate moving airplanes through the antlatic.
Portugal received many jews refugees.
And portugal was the biggest trader of tungsten in Europe. Germany had to pay got the tungsten but Britain did not.
Portugal was neutral but always helping a bit the allies.
Portugal knew that if neighbor Spain turned to the axis, Germany would invade Portugal.
Portugal did the most smart decisions for his people, even the Portugal being an dictatorship.
The U.S. used portugal for spies going in and out of France. Along with transmission of radio signals to the English coast line.
Não sabia que o sr que canta tão bem, era tambem bastante culto.
Hitler: shoots himself in a bunker with the Red Army closing in. Mussolini: Hanged by partisans and body publicly mutilated. Franco: Dies peacefully after ruling Spain for 30+ years. Apparently he did something right.
He was no fool that's for sure. May the great General Rest peacefully 🙏
He could have done the right thing and joined the allies rather than secretly trying to help the nazis? Guy was a germ.
@@sampats89 he should have joined the germans,that would be the right thing,you're a traitor to your race..
He also provided sanctuary to another truly great general, politician, and European nationalist, the indomitable Leon Degrelle.
@@kingconan9271 :O
What us the Spaniards should thanks Franco regardless of ideology is of saving our country from the World War 2 and avoiding a fatal invasion, both by the Allies and the Axis forces. Franco was not fooled by the apparent invincibility of Germany after the fall of France, and he was well aware of how extremely weakened Spain had been after the civil war, so instead of directly refusing to enter the war on the Axis side, he proposed terms to Hitler that he knew he could not accept.
In addition, if the Republican side had won, Spain would have become a puppet state of the USSR, and would have been invaded by the Axis from the north of the country at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. The Germans would not have been able to totally defeat the country, since the Spanish people would dedicate themselves to guerrilla warfare as we did with Napoleon, but probably the entire territory and the population would suffer the wrath of the Nazis.
After the war, Franco dedicated himself to getting closer to the Allies and cooling tensions with them, and to opening Spain to the world, instead of completely closing the country and turning it into a kind of dystopian dictatorship as happened with North Korea and Albania. Even if they were two sides of the same coin, Hitler doomed his country forever, and Franco saved his own.
Awesome
They weren't two sides of the same coin. They both held nationalist and imperialistic views (just as the Brits did), but Franco was a Catholic leader, under the limits of Christianity, whereas Hitler knew no limits to his Übermensch brutal ideology.
There are several reasons Spain didn't join the Axis in WW2. The first and most obvious reason is that they were already exhausted after fighting a brutal civil war for three years, at which point the last thing they needed was another war with multiple world powers bombing them and likely invading them some time in the next few years. The second reason is that their economy was in shambles and needed to rebuild their country, particularly they needed food and were only able to get what they needed through trade, much of which came from Latin America through Portugal. Finally their military was second-rate and poorly suited to fighting in WW2, even if they had joined the war, it is doubtful that their forces would have done much, Germany carried the Axis in Europe and did 85-90% of the heavy fighting.
Mussolini assumed that Germany would win after France fell and seriously underestimated British capabilities and determination to continue fighting, unfortunately Italy was badl unprepared for the war and depended heavily on trade to get food and oil, and the British did their best to cut off any supplies coming by sea. Mussolini was a complete idiot when it came to war and Germany had to bail his sorry ass out multiple times, he ended up losing all of Italy's african colonies and a direct Anglo-American invasion of Italy commenced in 1943. Considering Italy's poor performance in the war and eventual fate, it's quite easy to see that Franco made the right choice staying out of the war.
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MilkTrafficker Not to mention, Hitler signed the nation he loved in all his heart its own death warrant by declaring war on the USA and USSR, I believe that had he invaded the caucuses regoin first before doing the push to Moscow, he would have a higher chance of winning the Eastern front, then after a possible victory on the east, he can now put all of his focuses on Britian. And also had he not made an allaince with Japan, he would not have to declare war on the USA, thus would’ve saved his nation from further complete bedlam.
Except it wasn't Franco's choice, since he wanted to join. It was Hitler's choice.
Third point is false. The Spanish units in the Eastern front were more effective than most of the German army.
@@onlytolerantoflactose1531 These men had no reasons fighting the Russians. If Germany won the war, Spain would be the next sitting ducks.
Spain was technically "neutral" in WWII even though Franco sent "DIVISION AZUL" composed of Spanish "volunteers" to fight alongside the Third Reich troops vs the USSR on the Eastern Front. When the tide turned around 1942-43 Franco withdrew them and returned to" neutrality", with apparently no one being any the wiser. One of the cleverest parlor tricks performed in WWII by a relatively minor player, who stayed in power until the mid 1970s. And, by all accounts, he is still dead....And Spain is now in NATO
The tragic part is they cancelled his Parler account.
Spain was non beligerant, not neutral, and the Division Azul wasnt the spanish army itself but rather spanish citizens serving as volunteers in the german army. Spain knew their side, but they also knew they were not prepared. also they had good commercial relations with UK and they pmuch depended on them as spanish economy was crumbling after the civil war, so it wouldnt make sense for Spain to declare war on them
u can hate Franco all u want but he was extremely smart during WW2 and during the Cold War
Actually the blue division was a clever move by Franco to send off the most radical elements of his party to die in the East and ensure political stability within Spain.
Don't say "Volunteers" They were Volunteers. From the south yo the north, to the defeated to the fascist, allí of those Volunteers worked Togheter to destroy the soviet Union, and Oh boy, they killed a lot of those red heads haha!
:-) The Blue Division (Spanish: División Azul, German: Blaue Division), officially designated as División Española de Voluntarios by the Spanish Army and as 250. Infanterie-Division in the German Army, was a unit of Spanish volunteers who served in the German Army on the Eastern Front during the Second World War.[2]
Blue Division casualties throughout the Soviet-German conflict totaled 22,700 (3,934 battle deaths, 570 disease deaths, 326 missing or captured, 8,466 wounded, 7,800 sick, and 1,600 frostbitten).[1] In action against the Blue Division, the Red Army suffered 49,300 casualties.[1
the Blue Division were spanish citizens who fought as German Army volunteers. it was NOT the Spanish Army
Actually, the Blue Division were fascist sympathisers who willingly enlisted, but there were also relatives of republicans who fought to minimise their time in prison. Despite supporting a wrong cause, all of them acted bravely in combat and didn’t abuse the Russian civilians.
@@aggerktm nonsense many from division Azul were army members
@@anothernpc4943 so what? they were all still spanish volunteers enlisted in the Wehrmacht. they fought as german army, not as spanish army, the same way many exiled republicans fought for the Allies in France.
@@aggerktm War veterans of Civil War. Elite troops.
I have always wanted to know deeper about this. Thanks!
My gran_grand father fighted in SpanishCivil war so-called International brigade je fighted in same brigade like Hemingway...Yugoslavian students from Prague and Paris organised troops
Do they not have schools or libraries I your area....seriously...and this taught you...hahahahaha
Input where...jesus wept.
EXACTLY!! ME TOO!! All I really know was that they were going through a brutal Civil War but, that ended not too long after the start of WW2... plus Franco also supported Hitler... I believe the 2 even met with eachother... so I'm curious to see why...
Da Bome sure it was a great man !
Thank you Portugal for helping out Spain with the food. Dios los bendiga 😭♥️🇵🇹🇪🇸
My parents in Portugal suffered from hunger and poverty. They do not had shoes...
@@contra_plano all latinos were dirt poor back then,most of us are still poor as hell.You’re parents weren’t the only one’s so don’t feel left out
@@bloodredrainlatin Europeans aren't considered latinos, Latinos are people of Latin American decent
@@Pazuzu-tn7bv oh my bad,let me correct myself:Romans
@@Pazuzu-tn7bv latin europeans ARE latinos, why do you even think it's called LATIN america in first place?
Because Spain played tactically
Because Spain learned from Napoleon Bonaparte (presumably friends and once inside war and chaos)
Because Spain watched cautiously the outcome of the war for both sides
@T bird and Reds if you say so!!. I have no idea of such theory or politic. I heard the cops story before. But never heard that Mexico was trying to destroy the US
@T Bird and Reds imagine bulls running wild all over ny my dream bro JOKE That theory sounds like a minimum of 20 dollars of Maria, nice shet xDD
As a Brit who moved to southern Spain a year and a half ago, I've found a recent interest in Spanish/Iberian history (including the civil war). Great work as always 👍🏻
And Franco never liked the paganism of nazism. The only thing they had in common was being against communism.
GOOD On You Unbelievable That Communism Was Never Mentioned ; The Most Important Factor ... The Republicans Quickly Became pawns of Stalin : after All Spanish Gold was " given to Stalin ; stopped sending Aid " Franco Deserves A LOT of Credit ... HE STOPPED Hitler from Entering his Starving Country ... His Very Good Friend from WW 1 was Admiral Canaris Who Warned Him... And He Arranged to Conduct the Study as How Difficult It would be to Take Gibraltar ... ( British Myth ; especially early in the war ) Take from Vichy French North Africa ; 11 Miles !! If The Germans / Italians had taken Gibraltar A Within Weeks Of The " Fall Of France " ... War With the British DONE... Italian Subs And Their FAST Cruisers .... Heck send the Bismarck & Tirpitz With Constant Luftwaffe Escort & A Big Wolf Pack ... Sink & Drive the British OUT.. Block the Suez Canal ... Give the Brits OK Terms... Then Really Build Up Correctly For " Stalin the REAL Enemy "" Franco & Adm. Canaris Stopped Hitler .....
Exactly. He was ultracatholic, anti masonist and anticomunnist
Let Communism spread!
@@jetsprobe1949 not before we spead your guts first
@@jetsprobe1949 at least Fascists don't let their own people starve to death. Filthy commie
Hitler (About Franco)-“That man is unbearable! I’d rather tear my own nails out than negotiate with him.”
We... Tend to make that impression
@Daddy Mcdada Because they're a neutral country that would've been invaded if they didn't complied. Hell the US has Nazi Scientists in their ranks after the war.
@@ousamadearudesuwa it was a difficult position, Germans helped in Spains civil war so you can’t fully dog them and because they hated the soviets, but were more aligned with Americans and brits. On top of that you’re broke from the home civil war which requires a great deal of attention to keep tensions in society stable during the aftermath.
On top of that, Franco arrived about an hour late at their meeting in Hendaya. True story. Typical Spanish incompetence, rubbish communication system…? Who knows.
Love Spain From Turkey Mediterranean Brothers! 🇹🇷🇪🇸💪
Warrior Baha oueyyyyy
We’re not your brothers, Muhammad. Remember that little thing called the Reconquista? That means not welcome in Spanish. 🇪🇸
@@thebrocialist8300 Turkish people aren't even real Turks but Cappadocian Greeks who were conqueroed by Seljuks. Also completely irrelevant but eventhough Palestinians are muslims, their land is only for them and not Israelis. We must remember that sefardis had an influence on the entrance of the moors into Spain.
Turkics are not proper Meds.
@@thebrocialist8300 The Turks were not involved in the Reconquista. However, Hapsburg Spain did fight the Ottoman Empire.
Interesting how different but similar the Franco and Tito regimes were.
Good point. I always thought the same.
Franco, being a military man and experienced the horrors of war, taught him to be pragmatic according to situations.
Yes he experienced 'the horrors of war', since he was directly responsible for a number of those horrors. I agree his greatest strength was pragmatism.
Just about every individual in ww2 was a seasoned fighter, Europe had just seen ww1
franco was a monster. My father fought in the Spanish Civil War as a Republic. franco was a curse word in my household. Because of franco, l never meet my ancestors, l nearly lost my entire Spanish family because of that man. ( Small f for franco intentional! )
@@arthurrubiera8029
I'm an outside observer and I have concluded that Franco was basically a phychopathic killer who enjoyed killing. Politics was secondary to Killing.
@@arthurrubiera8029 I mean its a civil war, did u expect him to win it without killing anyone?
Because of geography - Spain unlike Germany had pretty much same borders ever since the Reconquista - with Portugal and a natural France border. This is also the reason why Spanish, Portuguese and Brits got the largest colonies globally. Germany on the other hand, standing with so many neighbours in the north European plain would after the 19th century constantly try to grow and integrate as much territory as possible. Which at the end ironically led to it's uttermost shrinkage.
You forgot that Argentina was helping spain with grain after the civil war in mayor quantity than Portugal... missed that on the video which made it incomplete.
Sometimes the best way to win a game is by not actually playing it
Basically Spain in WW2.
Well, not playing by choice is not the same as not playing because you can't. Spain did not have the financial resources nor an economy to participate sustain a war.
Spain win? Wut? What did they win? Territory? Money?
@@no_se_nada_de_nada Not being invades by Allies (To be honest I think it would be better if they did this instead of keeping the dictatorship, but it's just my opinion)
@@no_se_nada_de_nadaatleast spain dont got crisis after ww2
@@cheeko9052 they were in crisis already, that's why they didn't participate in the first place.
Because Spain was flat out broke, that's why.
Some things never change!
ua-cam.com/video/Zk_J4aqdqoo/v-deo.html
Except for tungsten, of course.
No, Churchill bribed Franco's generals not to enter the war.
@@dredd1981 the hell do you mean??? Spain was before the richest nation in the world. Today Spain is one of the richest nations in the world and the 5th richest nation in the EU (this is after 2008). Before 2008, Spain was even richer. The 2008 economic crash and the ruling socialists stagnated Spanish economic growth but soon enough it will begin rising once more.
Great video! 🙏🏼
Admiral Canaris talked to Franco with the expressed intent of convincing Spain to stay out.
Right or wrong, he apparently thought his discussion with Franco was decisive in Spain staying out of the war.
Admiral Canaria was a spy for the British.
I highly recommend people read about Operation Mincemeat, the operation itself is an incredible story, which gives a huge insight into the intelligence operations conducted by both the SIS and the Abwehr in Spain.
In addition to being a former world power, Spain knew the pains of war and did not want to engage in it.
Why would a country that was in the process of rebuilding after their own civil war would want to join in yet another way? From what I read a while ago there was a Spanish brigade blue division that fought in Russia on behalf of the Germans so not so neutral but not officially sanctioned either
Again, thanks for those amazing contents and very interesting topics! :)
Thank you for watching! It means a lot!
@@Knowledgia I think your name isn't means nothing, because every time I watch your videos I learn something new! * O *
One of the main reasons missing in this video is that Spain was busy in parts of Morocco (especially in the northern mountains) where the spanish army took heavy losses (estimates talk about up to 22000 casualities) facing a small Riffian force (3000 fighters) under Abdelkrim El-Khattabi (founder the the Republic of Rif) in the battle of Annual alone. Which happened in the 1920s. After that there were many reforms and changes in the Spanish politics and of course the most notable aftermath of the "catastrophy of Annual" as the spanish refer to it, is overthrowing the monarchy and the ascention of General Franco (Caudillo) as a spanish dictator. Franco was having a hard time dealing with internal issues in Spain and the parts colonized in Morocco and simply couldn't afford going into war and especially one as devastatious as the WW2.
Fake
Should've been the entirety of Spain.
The war in Morocco had been over for roughly 15 years when WWII began
About 50,000 men fought in Spain's Blue Division overall.
i almost feel like francisco franco was a tragic hero. surely he was a brutal dictator, but for the most part he was tame compared to the real mad men of his era. and he did succeed in keeping Spain as a country and the Spanish king was never killed, exiled or forced to abdicate. this is a far better fate than other unfortunate countries that came out of WWII.
Franco was a pragmatist who kept Spain out of a pointless war. He played both sides in the interests of his country. He also industrialized the country and led a miraculous economic recovery. Most importantly, he got rid of the filthy communists.
LOL
@@downwiththethiccness9406 Thousands and thousands of Spaniards starving to death does not sound like much of a recovery, but a tyranny. Franco's dictatorship was perhaps the most oppressive since the Muslims invaded the South of Spain centuries before. The Second Republic were Social Democrats. Learn about the Spanish Civil War before posting
@@asturiasceltic3183 The social democrats who murdered their political rivals you mean? The ones who started a rebellion because the right won in 1933? The ones who murdered one another during the civil war because "you are leftist, but not the right kind of leftist"? Yes, democracy at its best :)
Spain was smart to stay neutral, they knew the Allied forces were not going to be defeated, even before the US entered the war. Allied forces were like a sports super team, Germany was carrying the Axis.
Wrong. If US didn’t join the war, most likely Spain would’ve joined.
@@kevinlopes1343
It's possible. Despite the modern misconceptions, the U.S DID save Europe.
People have this idea in their heads that Germany succeeded during Barbarossa then got stomped. They didn't. They fell back sure, but by the time the allies started succeeding in Africa, Germany was already pushing back again. It's a total toss up as to who would have won. But let's say Hitler didn't declare war on the U.S and the U.S just let bygones be bygones. Spain could have definitely been THE turning point in the war. I definitely see them taking north Africa. And with Hitler not only never sending millions to the eastern and southern fronts, but also getting REENFORCED with hundreds of thousands of men (possibly millions with a draft) that puts Germany, who was already pushing back, on the same level as Russia in terms of manpower. Plus that opens up tons of supply options with a taken Africa and an opened up Mediterranean.
@@kevinlopes1343 You mean if Russians didn't join
I'm not sure that "liberal" is an accurate term to describe the Communists and Socialists of the Spanish Civil War 😂
On the sides of the Spanish Republic there were communist, socialist, liberals, anarchist, conservatives and centrist. The communist gained more influence when it became clear that the allies had abandoned the republic and the USRR became the only international support alongside Mexico.
@@gfyphg9871 That's true, but I think the point still stands. I don't think it's accurate to describe them as the "liberal" side.
The Republic was a standard bourgeois liberal democracy. They had socialists in parliament (like any other liberal parliament) but the state itself never went down the road of seizing/redistribute property or any of that shit. There were communist and anarchist partisans who nominally fought on the republican side of the war, but they fought each other nearly as much they fought the fascists. Read Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia for more information.
@@thebrocialist8300 The Stalinists took over the Republican side within three months of the atart of the Civil War. They did not "nominally fight on the republican side." They were also the ones who refused to co-operate with the Liberals, Anarchists and POUM. Indeed, they hunted them down and killed them.
Yes Hemingway & John Dos Pasos went as " Correspondents ; very pro " Liberal ; Dos Pasos Instantly Saw the '' Stalinist's Hard Core '; Assassinate Popular Union Leader... & Warned Hemingway BUT No He Would Listen.. Dos Pasos wouldn't Speak to him After.
Franco had just won the civil war. His neutrality enabled him to strengthen his victory, to get money from Britain, to remain friendly with the Axis by allowing volunteers to fight for it and maintaining trade. Franco had to consolidate his power and had to avoid incurring the wrath of the victor, be it the Allied forces or the Axis Power. And he made the smartest of the moves. Exactly that. Indeed the UK was irked and at the victory voiced its grudge... but "a curtain of iron" was falling in Easter Europe and Franco was a reliable anti-communist, and so Franco became viewed as an ally. It took time, but Spain integrated NATO. Franco is seen with shared feelings in Spain, with people lauding him and people loathing him.
In the end Franco allowed his friends to die and was unsuccessful in preventing the rise of liberal politics in Spain
He was a staunch anti-communist, great nationalist and a champion of the catholic faith, he failed tremendously in that regard as today Spain is among the least religious, nationalist and most leftist state in Europe
All Franco won in the end was a comfortable death, his fascist friends veiwed him as a coward and the allies who loathed him veiwed him as a temporarily useful idiot who's legacy could be trashed once he'd served his purpose to them, which is pretty much what happened
People tend to forget that Spain and Germany were many centuries ago one single country, and were ruled by the Habsburg’s an Austrian royal house.
Southern Italy too.
@@WiseSilverWolf Naples
Faake
I am from Spain and I admire your videos, and let me say that some of the volunteers wasn't volunteers.
In fact the generals of the barracks said that wanted three hundred men ready and if there wasn't three hundred men, the general choose them by azar
I am talking about the spanish volunteers
That is not true.
@@GeorgeVenturi Can you tell me what is not true?
Switzerland: you have learned well my young padawan
Spain had a terrible Civil War between the forces of the Military under General Franco and international volunteers. Franco received air support from Adolf Hitler that helped Franco to prevail. Hitler expected Spain would join Germany in WW II but Franco chose not to join. Spain and Portugal remained neutral in WW II.
But there was Spanish and Portuguese volunteers in the blue division in the Wehrmacht
@@liampetersen7548 And Spanish volunteers fought for the USSR and British volunteers fought for Nazi Germany. Your point?
@@Cervando voetcheck
No mention of how influential Adm. Canaris was in keeping Spain from directly being involved in WW2?
I love your channel keep up the great stuff
It is very easy to answer this question simply because Franco and Hitler had the same ideologies and they got along very well, that is why they did not try to invade Spain
World of tanks placement ad was the best part
I think Franco did the right decision...
Spain in WWII = perfect definition of a snake
It wasn't Franco's decision, it was Germany's decision...
He was still a nazi lover
President Truman: "Well I am the man in the comments section that would punish neutral countries and Finland for doing their best to survive"
@@Ktaurus26 not really, Franco is fucked by Germany, America, Britain, Hitler, and Truman. He didn't liked the Nazis, but is grateful for them helping them win the Spanish Civil War.
Excellent historic educational video! 👍🏻 Thanks! 🙏🏻 I’d also like to mention that Hitler had the option of occupying of Spain by the force of military. But, he chose not to reply on his military power in order to get through Spain and Gibraltar for some reasons.
Hi knowledgia
Another great history lesson..
Its like reading a book..
Thanks for the video and research you had done...
Keep educating us...🙏👍
I can't say we educate you. But I think through these videos you may find History even more interesting and you will do research by yourself, and thus learning more :)
very nice, i loved this, you got a new sub. I love history.
Ur program is great bro...from ...Bangladesh ...
Thanks ....love u back....
i like that your videos dive straight in without some stupid intro that lasts a minute
Spain was "Neutral" in the war. But Chuck Yeager stated in his first memoir that with Franco everything was negotiable. Yeager was shot down over France in late 1943. The underground smuggled him out over the Pyrenees into Spain. As Spain was "Neutral" Yeager should have been interned for the remainder of the war. However, as Yeager wrote, for a certain amount of "Texaco" (A certain negotiable amount of gasoline, or just plain greenbacks) He was allowed to return to England.
Franco was a Fascist, but wasn't bogged down by unworkable dogma, unlike the Nazi's.
Franco was not a fascist, not every dictatorship is fascist or communist, dictatorships existed long before those ideologies.
He put a monarch as his successor and catholic church had massive amounts of power during Franco regime.
He was just a usual conservative dictator.
Great stuff.
Thanks
Also we need to take into account that until 1901 Spain was losing all of its Colonies in the Americas. With Cuba 🇨🇺 and Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 been the last ones. Imagine the constant drain of manpower and resources in the years before the the start of the 20th century in Spain to keep its Empire from crumbling all together. This is only 39 years or so before WWII.
Great video as always I've always asked myself this question
Well Franco basically trolled the allies and the axis while keeping positive relationships. Well done Franco
Franco also had that lastname "Andrade", which can be traced back to galician noblemen in the Middle Ages.
Yeah
My family name is Andrade. Im filipino
i got a world of tanks ad and a sponsorship in the same video lol
Franco was smart enough not to commit to more war, after just finishing one.
Very well explained.
They send the "blue division" which fought with distinction
Nicely explained.
Spain helped the Axis. And AMERICA tried to invade Spain but failed.
They even made a film about it.
You got a wonderful voice, I am really impressed by your voice while explaining history and wars. Thanks
This video was pretty informative. But I wonder what it would've been like to see Spain join either the Axis or the Allies. What would it have been like. Spain would surely been decimated as a country for sure. But I wonder what else would've happened. Nice job.
The war would have lasted 5 or 10 more years. The USA would have seen the real face of the USSR, betrayed the UK, allied with the Axis and now we would live in the 4th Reich.
You are making quality videos. I watch your videos willingly. it is noticeable that you love history. I am for sure that you behave neutral while you are preparing your videos. You deserved applause👏👏👏
Spanish man here. We didn't enter world war two because we had just exited our civil one, and we were beyond fucked to assist anyone. And yes, Franco was a very intelligent man who played both sides catering the axis and the allies alike when it was to our interest only, and perhaps our best militar ever after, of course, Hernán Cortés, who still stands as our greatest. Have a good day.
Siam: *Noted*
Curious question:
How do Spaniards view their (formerly) fascist government?
I'm opposed to fascism but I also understand that being from the U.S gives me freedom tinted glasses. From what I hear a lot of Spaniards consider Franco to be the best leader they've ever had and some consider him the absolute worst.
@@spiffygonzales5899 It was a war against mad assasin comunism. The second republic and the "Frente Popular" (a mixture of socialists, communists, anarquists etc etc the worst of the worst), crossed all red lines with civil rights, killing people that only went to the church, the church themselves with their priest inside, persecutions..., so something needed to be done. Last straw was the assasnination of the leader of the right wing, Calvo Sotelo, which marked the beginning of the rising when half the military said "not anymore, this is it".
Spain still stands, even to this day, as the only nation that has defeated communism in the field, because our civil war was about that, to free ourselves from communist madness, and we won..., for now, because as you now comunism, after the fall of the wall only changed dress, to come later as the dreaded "Political Correctness" we have been suffering since early two thousands, and which goal is what they call here in Europe (The EU goverment is the people's enemy right now, something similar to your democratic party there in USA, which is the devil itself), "Agenda 2030", which objective is to eradicate private property eventually, which means, simply speaking, communism winning, and we won't tolerate that, again.
By the way, if you truly from USA, you ee even your country falling to communist message (Political Correctness), that you have also been suffering since latest nineties. Have you seen your youth right now going mad and defending socialism and communism as the alternative?, you're about to fall, and if USA falls, so do every single free nation in the world..., so please don't do it, and if you must do what we once did in order to defeat communism..., then you must, otherwise it will be the end of actual freedom.
Fascim, apart from being a derivation to communism, was also a direct answer to it. Franco and its fascist goverment gave us the pilars of all we enjoy today, (Seguridad Social, etc)and freedom with democracy after regimen. I mean, you cannot end a war, and a civil one which is the worst (you USA know about that too, right?), and install a democracy straight away, specially aftert your direct enemy was communist..., you have to do a very deep clean man, otherwise the cancer will grow again.
This might ring you a bell:
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson".
You must react to communism taking over your country too man, for its being done since forty years ago. Watch this video carefully, everything explained by a very ex- KGB agent:
ua-cam.com/video/Y9TviIuXPSE/v-deo.html
Kind regards
Cortes the rapist
@@spiffygonzales5899 the spanish right still likes him or is lukewarm to him. The spanish left depises him and isn't willing to attribute to him anything good spain achieved after the civil war. That's pretty much it.
WHOA!!! The Spanish Blue Divisions were actual divisions of the Spanish army, led by men who where officers in the Spanish army before leaving Spain, were Spanish army officers during WWII, and remained Spanish officers after the war. In the 70s, I used to get invited for dinner at the (Spanish) Army Officers' Club in Burgos with generals (of various ranks) who had fought in Russia. They used to joke about the day that they received their orders to 'volunteer' to fight in Russia.
I always thought it was strange Spain didn't support Germany. Also, if they were neutral, why did they allow downed Allied airmen to freely pass through their territory. They all should have been seized and held. If I was Germany, I would have been filthy about that.
because it was how the rules during the treaty for Neutral countries were like.
Glad to get some info on what was going on with Spain during the war. Thanks Knowledgia!
They were already a war torn nation. Years of civil war. They were even less prepared for a war than Italy was. So they acted in their own best interests. Just as they should have.
Well. I just learned something. Good job 👍
Franco demanded territories that could not be delivered by Germany without alienating Vichy France and Italy... the official propaganda sold it as a victory of Francos statesmanship....
Franco made unreasonable demands that he knew Hitler couldn't accept in exchange of entering the war, precisely because he didn't want to join the axis.
That's the way the real state prices skyrocketed in Mallorca in the 90'.
9:06 Tungsten ore that was being sold to Germany was used for armor piercing rounds rounds and tool manufacturing
Because Spain didn’t want any Pain
It was a mix of things. Spain is a pain to invade in a lot of ways (just ask Napoleon), geographically its a nightmare to traverse by ground, has too much coast to block all ports and its terrain favors "guerrilla warfare" if you turn the population against you. Politically, its a very decentralized country, so even if you manage to capture Madrid, most regions have enough autonomy to declare local insurrections (thats why Franco's coup d'etat failed and derived in a civil war). Apart from this tactical considerations, both axis and allies discarded the possibility of invasion because the country was destroyed after the civil war, but the population was still armed. The risk of turning the whole territory into an anarchy mess was too high and the benefits of a succesful occupation were too low to be worth the trouble.
Epic, thank you.
Thank you for watching!
Spain knew how the war would end!!
Hola me gusta this channel. Thats all the spanish I can speak.
That's a very fair video - well done. Franco needed the help of Italy and Germany but, specific to Germany, he wanted nothing to do with them aside from consolidating his power. He intentionally demanded not just French Morocco but also all of Algeria and Tunisia when he met Hitler knowing Hitler couldn't do that having a cooperative Vichy France. It was that road block by Franco is what Hitler was referring to per preferring having 4 of his wisdom teeth pulled then sit through another meeting with Franco. The 'Republicans' gave all the gold bullion to the Russians - nothing was fee from the Soviet Union and the red vessels would sit off shore fully loaded until the corrupt and withering Republican govt. installed more GRU thugs. Franco saved Spain from what the reds did to all of eastern Europe after the war.
USA: man I hate the USSR
Spain: *sends troops to fight the USSR*
USA: oH nO, We MuSt EmBaRgO tHeM bEcAuSe ThEy fOuGhT oUr EnEmY
USA: also gave USSR military equipment to push back the Germans.
I cannot take this channel seriously with the commercial in the middle of the video... commander.
I understand that Germany offered Spain Gibraltar, But the offer was turned down, did not know of Spanish fighting for the allies, but you missed that in the war with the USSR, Spain's air force pre took of that and Spain made money in the sell of guns made in Spain during the war!.
As spanish i have to tell that Franco spoke about WW2:
In Allies vs Axis we are neutral (cause he didn't nothing against them)
In Axis vs Soviet Union we support Axis (the enemy that fought them in spanish civil war and his opposite ideology)
In Allies vs Japan we support Allies because he was against Japan abuses in spanish population like monks and other people in Filipinas
Franco and Salazar saved Iberian peninsula from being ravaged in World War 2
1:36 Franco wasn't even a leader up until the very end of the war. Every single General higher in the chain of command had died.
Franco's actions not joining ww2 kept him in power for a long time and spain together with portugal (although semi-fascist) was the last fascist country until 1974 in portugal and 1975 for spain.
True but if with you include dictatorships then it worth mention the north and south korea Communist vs Anti-communist dictatorships that they have in the cold war (and North Korea still has), the Vietnam dictadorships also is the same case and the lots of military anti-communist coups sponsored with the USA in SouthAmerica.
That, and the post-war Soviet Union becoming the only other superpower vs the United States. Once the Cold War got underway, the U.S. government was far more willing to give support to strongly anti-communist Franco.
True they were anti-communist, but I think they're not that far to be called fascists
Even though Spain was fascist, it posed no threat because it wasn’t a superpower. The only true rivals of US were China and USSR, Iran, Cuba, Syria barely
It is said that the Spanish volunteers in Blue Division (who joined Germany to fight the communists with grudge they gained from civil war in Spain against communist ideology) were one of the few who fought till bitter end inside the Berlin HQ the Reichstag. Towards the end of war they had the choice, multiple times, to return back to Spain, but they remained knowing what to expect, dedicating their lives to fight the communists. Hitler himself praised the Blue Division soldiers for their character and performance. Tough guys. Reminds me of the Arditis of Italy from WWI which is another interesting story.
Hitler and Mussolini only studied high school, Franco went to a military academy and was a general, before the Spanish Civil War. Besides was very intelligent too.
Hence, was able to better assess the risk of entering WW2 on the side of Axis powers.
Germany and Italy sent volunteers to Spanish Civil war, Spain sent volunteers to Eastern Front. Franco’s Spain didn’t owe them more than that.
They helped Spain against communism. In the case of Germany, just for their experiments
fantastic , really enjoyed this
Eisenhower being pals with Hitler's padawan is priceless.
The enemy of my enemy... you know the rest.
For Germany Spain was just more trouble than it was worth. Spain had very little to offer millitarily or economicly. The main benefit of them joining the war would be land acces to Gibraltar.
Besides of that, Spain would have been depended on food imports from the rest of the axis, and likely Germany and Italy would need to send military forces into spain, to defend the spanish coast, because they wouldn't be able to defend their own very large coast line.
The first allied landing against Italy on Sicily would like been in Spain if they joined the war. And if Italy with support from Germany couldn't stop those landings, it's very unlikely spain could have.
Spanish resources could have fueled german war industry, while a joint attack on Gibraltar would have cut the British off from the mediterranean, Atleast the western portion
An axis lake in the western mediterranean would have allowed better supplied Germans to push east towards egypt and the suez
In any case the axis holding Gibraltar, would have forced the British and the Americans to send supplies around africa to aid the allied outposts there against direct the japanese and german attack, also supply lend lease aid to soveit and Chinese forces
The Germans could have easily targeted allied shipping in the southern Atlantic, this would cause enormous losses and the allies would have a hard time protecting all these convoys, due to vast distances involved
A lot would have changed, fortunately Franco was a coward
Because they were weak after civil war
When Italy made its exit from the war in 1943, Germany, in an effort to induct Spain as an active member into the Axis, supposedly offered up Greece (and perhaps Albania) to be occupied by Spanish forces. This would have, at least in name, given Spain equal status as an Axis partner while simultaneously providing it with a sense of glory and self-esteem as an "imperialist" power. Franco reportedly thought very seriously about this offer, as Spain would likely have had no problem keeping Greece under control, but in the end, he chose neutrality.
Spain's civil war was a blessing in disguise because it prevented it from joining ww2
For us, yes, but hardly for them
Not at all
A war that devasteted my country, removed liberties and set a dictatorship along 40 years?
in addition, here in Spain there were also camps with prisoners and executions (of political dissidents, but also of homosexual people for example). We had our piece of fascism without the need for WW2.
A greeting from a Spaniard
It was difficult because of the genocide of religious people, execution of civilians, burning of churches, it was a mess. But way better than a WW destruction. Spain would choose it own way and develop itself. At least had political peace for 3 decades, something not seen since the XVIII century
@ still wayyy better than 2 world wars
I have to tell you that, as a spaniard, the avoidance of this civilwar wouldve been in the end much more profitable
As your subscriber, I love all your videos, I also have played WoT and it is a decent game. But, here's the thing, I didnt find it bcos of an ad, though I see they're your sponsor and you need to throw it out there. Btw, keep doing what you do.
Thanks for your words! We will provide more and more videos soon :)
Hitler said when meeting Franco....it was like pulling teeth
13. Mr. Mander asked the Minister of Economic Warfare what action he is taking to prevent the export of large quantities of iron ore from Bilbao to Germany; and whether this question was taken into consideration when the recent loan of £2,500,000 (10 million USD) by Great Britain to Spain was made?
Hansard Spain British Loan HC Deb 22 April 1941
why has no one ever talked about the fact that Portugal could have entered the war together with Germany?