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What Did Spain Do in World War 2? | History of Spain 1939 - 1945
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- Опубліковано 17 сер 2024
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Spain is the largest country in Western Europe not to have taken part in the fighting of the Second World War. From 1936-1939 the Spanish fought the bloody Spanish Civil War between the Nationalists/Monarchists/Fascists and the Republicans/Communists/Anarchists/Liberals on the other. During the conflict Fransisco Franco's rebels received aid both from Nazi Germany and from Fascist Italy, and upon his victory the two likely thought they could count Spain as an ally in the upcoming war against the Allies. While early on in 1940 Spain did seem poised to enter the war on the side of the Axis, Franco frustrated Hitler at the last minute several times, and in the end Spain remained steadfastly neutral despite aiding the Germans in a number of ways.
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0:00 - Intro
0:56 - Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
2:16 - Magellan TV Ad
3:04 - Spain Almost Joins the Axis (1940)
7:25 - Why Spain Remained Neutral (1940-1941)
10:30 - The War Develops Around Spain (1941-1943)
14:13 - Spaniards Fighting For Axis and Allies
17:28 - "Vigilant Neutrality" (1943-1945)
20:37 - Spain After the War (1945-1957)
22:50 - Outro
Music Used:
The Escalation - Kevin MacLeod
Eine Kleine Nachtsmuzik - Mozart
Clean Soul - Kevin MacLeod
Sunday Dub - Kevin MacLeod
Laid Back Guitars - Kevin MacLeod
Black Vortex - Kevin MacLeod
Rynos Theme - Kevin MacLeod
Teller of Tales - Kevin MacLeod
Darkling - Kevin MacLeod
Send me an email if you'd be interested in doing a collaboration! historywithhilbert@gmail.com
#WW2 #Spain #España
TLDR:
Hitler: "You coming to the party?"
Fascist Spain: *seen
Underrated
That's a good one.
My father was a navigator in the 8th Air Force. In 1943, his B17 was shot down over France. The Comet Line, a network based in Brussels to aid Allied airmen, helped him evade capture.
His party was smuggled out of France and over the Pyrenees. Then escorted to the British Embassy in Madrid. After a stay in a Madrid hotel, he was taken to Gibraltar and thence back to England.
I believe the Spanish part of the trip was discreet, but Spain knew what was going on.
Mi padre militar Franquista ayudo a pasar a un teniente Francés por los Pirineos,este se iba a Argel y le ayudo,a veces se hacía la vista gorda...
:)
Thanks for sharing your family history .
After the madness of Spanish civil war not body in Spain was happy with the idea of be part in the ww2.
Always. Spanish eyes
La nueve wasn't "one of the first" to enter Paris, was the first unit of the allied forces that entered the city. Not one of the fitrst, the absolute first. And that's why they got to lead the famous parade through Paris.
The flag leading that parade was the Spanish Republican Flag, so yeah, some of us are still proud of that
@@ilejona8440 That's a silly thing to be proud of hahahah. You weren't there and the republic was one of the darkest times in Spanish modern history anyway.
@@nachochips529 The darkest period in Spanish history was the Franco regime.
@@odalrich that would be a hard statement to sell. The Franco regime, while less than stellar, did come with some very good things, like the Spanish miracle. You can google it if you don't know what it is. Whether or not it was caused by the regime is highly debatable, but it positively affected the quality of life of Spaniards very considerably. There are much darker times in the history of Spain, like the Napoleonic invasion or the Civil War, specially in places like Barcelona.
But I know, you weren't actually trying to make a point, you were just spewing propaganda. You need to detach yourself from politics from times long past.
@@nachochips529 Spewing propaganda? I suppose that criticizing the dictatorships of Spain, Portugal, Soviet Union, North Korea, Germany, and Italy and so on and so on for you this is spewing propaganda. Spain in the 1960s grew like any other country in the world, it had nothing to do with the regime; during the same period, if you were a tourist you were chased by scores of children crying out "peseta, peseta" just like in India. That "miracle" of yours started once democracy was established in the country. In a dictatorship, whether right or left, there is nothing to be grateful about.
In HOI4 I usually conquer Portugal for the fun of it after the Civil War
When your spain portugal must always die, ITS THE RULES
@@ghandithesupremeleader9740 wtf.
And when playing Portugal I usually conquer Spain as soon as possible 😂
@@jessemijnders I mean, they are in the road
Thats funny cuz real men play Portugal and conquer Spain after the war :D
I'm surprised I'm saying this, but I believe the sentence you say at 22:13 is incorrect. Spain isn't the only fascist state to survive WWII start to finish, without losing territory. Portugal also didn't lose territory. In fact, Portugal was even included in the Marshal Plan, something that Spain was excluded from. So not only did Portugal manage to stay neutral during the war, but it also played both sides, making substantial amounts of money, without sending troops to war. It is even said that Salazar and Franco were close friends and Salazar strongly advised Franco to stay out of the war, predicting the outcome would be bleak.
Both weren't facist.
@@bourbon4033 Spain definitely was, and there's an argument to be made for Portugal
Didn't the UK lease the Azores from Portugal or something? Maybe that counts as losing territory for Hilbert lol
It’s wasn’t that they were friends that he told him to avoid war. Salazar forced Franco into a pact to avoid war as Portugal would have sided with the allies and the Iberian peninsula vulnerable to terrible conflict
Salazar was not a fascist, not even close. Hitler and Stalin where also best buddies for a while and Germany and Soviet Russa allies, so what does it even mean.
Hello Hilbert. Something I learned quickly from spending time in Valencia province was that "Don't mention the war" was not just a joke from a sitcom.
As a Spanish living in the province of Valencia I approve this comment XD
@@matarratas7206 Thank you and thank you also to Valencians for happy memories of time in Relleu.
@@alansmithee8831 You are welcome my friend
No me esperaba encontrar una referencia a 5 Elementos aquí.
@@Nirkhuz Hola tío XD
Its funny cause you'll often hear in Spain that we should've actually entered the conflict because the axis defeat and an eventual allied take-over would've not only rid us of fascism decades earlier - but we could've even benefitted from the Marshall plan.
@پیاده نظام خان Well None of the two factions in the Spanish civil war were good, communist or fascist, the same authoritarian genocidal bullshit
At that point, why just not just overthrow Franco and join the Allies. You get to keep your ass unkicked and would be considered heroes in history as the Allies could have invaded from Spain.
Yes really killing all those who oppose them especially groups that they deem to be undesirables that have no place in their perfect utopia.
@پیاده نظام خان Keep in mind that it wasn't only the soldiers who suffered from 'shellshock'. Entire governments suffered from PTSD and shellshock after the First World War. It's why when the Japanese invaded China and were killing civilians and Mussulini sent troops to take Ethiopia and they tested their gas bombs on civilians, many nations did very little. Everyone was terrified of conflict with other major .powers
@پیاده نظام خان You know that in Republican Spain there it was a lot of democratic groups like social democrats or center right Republicans and even an anarchist faction. There was more flavour of ideology not only authoritarian right and authoritarian left.
"The time when Germany sent a crew to Tibet to see if the people there were racially pure or not"
wat
yeah they thought tibetans were related to space aryyans.
The Nazis went there in an attempt to tract the origin of the Indo European people. They wanted to see if there were still trace elements of the original Aryan race residing in the Tibetan plateau. Various theories have abounded that the Nordic race was descended from the ancient civilizations in the East. In 1935, Persia changed its name to Iran ("land of the Aryans") as a way to claim themselves as the homeland of the original Aryans, thus strengthing their political and diplomatic bond with European nations (specifically Germany).
@@jordanmorris5827
There was also a soccer game between Germany and Iran where the Iranian fans gave the nazi salute to the German anthem
@@miliba I remember seeing that. I believe Hezbollah (or Hamas) also have adopted the Fascist/Nazi salute. It might have more to do with their hatred of Israel than their fondness of Fascist ideology.
@@jordanmorris5827 Ancient Romans did it first, even the swastika was ripped off from Hinduism religion. It isn't original.
My grandfather was a crew member on a B-17 over Europe during the war. He was given a map of Spain to help him potentially try to escape there if his plane was shot down over Germany or German-occupied France. Fortunately, his plane wasn't shot down, so he never had to use the map. I now keep that map as an heirloom.
"Franco was a poor diplomat"
Franco: let me show you a pro gamer move tío.
He was a genious. The one of the dictators that managed to rule Spain until his death
@@alejandrorequena6686 Is like saying that hitler was a genius. Franco was one of the worst things that could happen to Spain
@@alejandrorequena6686 retrasó a España en muchos ámbitos, es cierto que España estaba en crisis y en 1975 se quedó mejor que como estaba en 1935 pero era una dictadura y no había libertad de expresión. Ninguna dictadura es buena.
He was a great diplomat, but a horrible strategist, he made good advances economically, but with a huge social price
Ahora mismo estamos en una dictadura comunista, y tampoco hay libertad de expresión. Y eso que estamos en 2021.
I think the story of Spain in WW2 isn't really complete without a few words about Wilhelm Canaris, the chief of the German Abwehr and his role in the Spanish-German relations.
Edit: I forgot the word complete in the previous sentence and have now added it.
Canaris is an incredibly interesting figure for sure
Yes, Canaris was friends with Franco, and apparently Canaris told franco to not agree to join the Axis. So Franco did as shown here- he said "sure, but....." and then added a long list of demands. Spain now hates franco, and for good reasons, but Franco stood up to Hitler, like few did, and kept Spain out of WW2.
Franco always worked with the UK inteligence and he intermediated between canaris and Brits.
Fun fact - Portugal almost retook Olivenza (Olivença) during the Spanish civil war
Why didn't they?
There's no almost in war bro.
@@sofiaormbustad7467 because they wanted to get it when it was weak, the spaniards fought for it. The war ended and Portugal faced a warring countries ferocity. They didnt want it anymore.
@@jeffreymoran6234 There is
not true.
matter of fact, this is an outright lie.
I just watched Pan’s Labyrinth last night and was wondering what was going on in Spain in 1944 when the movie was based! Thank you for posting this just in time for me!
Pan’s labyrinth was so good.
When I first saw it years ago, I thought it was gonna be a kids' movie on par with like Harry Potter. The partisan begging for his life before getting shot in the face told me otherwise.
There was an invasion of Aran Valley in 1944 by Anti-Franco forces but it only lasted for a few days. It's made bigger in the movie that it was in reality, but since the movie is a work of fiction it doesn't have to be accurate.
Your comment that the Vichy French were very useful makes me want a video on Vichy France
You don't want to go there...
@@christopherellis2663 I'm in 2 minds on Vichy France on one hand there hands were tied the war for them was essentially lost Petain had to pick up the pieces he couldn't do what de Gaulle did and run away and bide his time he had a job to do and couldn't risk French lives but on the other hand he could have easily covertly contacted the British and low key helped the allied cause rather than sent men to help them and export there own people to the death camps but they couldn't defend themselves against the Germans it they decided to invade
Very well researched! Even as a spaniard there's a lot of things I didn't know about the subject till I saw this (most of all the japanese reparations)
Yeah, me too.
Great documentry on Spain's role in WW2, but there is one important factor that stopped Spain joining the Axis that was not mentioned that is Spain's alliance with Portugal. Portugal was also neutral, but favoured the Allies and would have joined the Allies in the Second World War if Spain had joined the Axis. So by Spain remain neutral meant that Portugal remained neutral too.
It would have taken 10 minutes for spain to occupy portugal. That's definitely not the reason why Spain didnt join WWII
@@Alejojojo6 after a civil war ? With Portugal and the overseas colonies ? You underestimate Portugal and it’s army. If Spain was able to invade, they probably would. Not like they never tried before.
@@SuperDjibril9 and purtugal had an alliance with britain, if spain would have done any serious move towards attacking portugal there would be millions of troops waiting for them wich would have marched till Warszawa in no time
@@hausaffe100 it would’ve been the end of spain as we know it
Franco was no fool. Spain had everything to lose and little to he gained by joining the Axis.
Though It's true he was.... irritating to deal with. Apparently talking to him was like talking to a wall.
@@JoeMartinez18 nah, he was a smart ass; the youngest general in Europe and the first in perform a modern beach landing...
Franco was not interested in Europe anyway. All he wanted was to get peace and stability for Spain. He is the father of modern Spain
@@jblondon1327 that is the objective of every dictator.
Franco however hated the comunists and anarchists with a passion and during the republic they were dangerously clóse to win.
Francos main objective was to get rid of the comunist and continue primo de rivera's work. He also wanted to regain spanish old african territory, wich Germany wasn't ok with.
Franco wasn't stupid... Afterall he survived WW2 and remained in power 'till he died... Plus during the cold war, he reached out to the US so he was allowed to open borders again and get ressources back in.
@@JoeMartinez18 viva Franco!
Paco Roca's graphic novel "Los surcos del azar" is an amazing read for anyone interested in Spaniards who fought for the Allies in WWII
The leader of the Abwehr, Wilhelm Canaris, was also working behind the scenes to make sure the negotiators failed as he had become disillusioned with Hitler.
Great video!
I think Franco was smarter than people realize, and knew Hitler was not going to win. He played Hitler well, giving him just enough to prevent the Germans from invading Spain, as he consolidated his power. Franco knew that Spaniards had no interest in a new war, and it would have been the end of him ultimately.
Well said
it's crazy to see just how quickly Spanish-German relations deteriorated
España siempre le ha tenido cariño a Alemania,tal vez por compartir Monarquía,si España no hubiera estado tan desgastada por nuestra guerra Civil creo que hubiera entrado con Hitter en la guerra,con Wolfranio les ayudamos y con la División Azul,pero Franco no mando tantos hombres como podía,muchos se apuntaron pero Franco no quiso darles más,solo Falangistas pero militares no quiso,no se involucró mucho...so los mandos eran militares de Carrera..tengo que aclarar que mi familia estaba dividida entre Republicanos Y Franquistas y después de la guerra se llevaron bien y con mucha armonía,mi padre Franquista y Gallego se casó con mi madre Valencia y Republicana y no pasó nada,vivimos el periodo más grande de Paz en nuestra violenta historia española y mal que les pese a algunos esto se lo debemos a Franco,aunque ahora quieran manchar su nombre,que hubieran hecho los republicanos de haber ganado la guerra,tal vez peor,de eso estoy segura,las dos Repúblicas fueron un fracaso,asesinatos,quema de Iglesias,violaciones etc....
@@mariaamparo9781 buen dicho
What?????????,la relación con Alemania siempre a sido muy buena,siempre.
@@mariaamparo9781
Madre mía Amparo cuánta barbaridad acabas de decir
Dices que a saber qué hubiera pasado si los republicanos hubieran ganado
La República sobrevivió 8 años divididos en 3 etapas en las que siempre encontró a la derecha dinamitando cualquier intento de corregir la situación desastrosa que mataba a los españoles de hambre mientras la realeza, gobernantes y empresarios vivían literalmente a cuerpo de rey
Los primeros 2 años se establecieron los avances que sacaban a España del medievo, cambiando dios, hambre y rey por educación, pan y progreso
Los siguientes dos años gobernó la derecha deshaciendo cualquier legislación que intentara modernizar al país más atrasado de Europa
Y los siguientes 4 años gobernó la coalición de izquierdas elegida democráticamente que solo pudo ver cómo a los 5 meses de ser elegidos la derecha rancia amante de la España medieval basada en la biblia acometía un golpe de estado lanzando al ejército contra el pueblo español
No hace falta imaginar qué hubiera pasado si la República hubiera ganado la guerra
La República GANÓ EN LAS URNAS como hace la gente civilizada y se dedicó a darle a los españoles lo que necesitaban; pan, libros, justicia y democracia
Los fascistas ganaron como lo hacen los bárbaros, pegando tiros y bombardeando ciudades, todo ello con la ayuda de dos buenísimas personas como fueron Adolf Hitler y Benito Mussolini
Robaron el gobierno a tiros, le quitaron a la gente los libros de historia y le dieron una biblia, quitaron a maestros y pusieron a curas, asesinaron a poetas y se glorificó a fascistas, les arrebataron el derecho a elegir un gobierno y les dieron un dictador vitalicio, a los catalanes gallegos y vascos les quitaron su identidad y les dijeron que su cultura y costumbres eran delito
Y al que no le gustara eso lo ponían entre un paredón y un pelotón de fusilamiento
Respecto a lo de quemar iglesias supongo entenderás que decir que fue la República es tremendamente injusto
Azaña, Giral, Largo Caballero y Negrín, los republicanos socialistas que lideraron la República persiguieron y juzgaron a los responsables precisamente porque sabían que eso no hacía más que generar odio
Te invito a leer algo de historia para entender lo que pasó en España ya que si nos guiamos solo por las historias del abuelo que vivió tranquilamente la guerra civil y la dictadura nos estamos perdiendo muchos capítulos de la triste historia de la democracia española
Fun fact: Franco was usually underestimated and people thought that he was an idiot, but actually he just listened, thought and observed, big chad ngl
I'm thinking he must have had something going for him to come out on top during and after the Civil War. Wasn't he a commander in the colonial army in Spanish Morocco before the start of the war? I think I heard that he snuck his soldiers over to the mainland as part of the original coup that started the war.
"big chad" what
I have learnt more from this video. Than my history classes in Spanish high-school.
Agree
You should have studied harder.
@@alvaro701 it wasn't in my high-school's history classes. The teacher's just avoided teaching it,I had to go and buy books to learn for myself
Can you imagine being the guy who came up with that decoy, and finding out that the Germans had diverted forces to reinforce the fake attack target? I hope he/she found out that happened. The information would have to pass through a lot of people to get back to them!
Spaniard here, thank you for telling the world our interesting (and quite shameful) history during ww2. I look forward to future videos about this topic, especially the La Nueve division which were the first to liberate Paris, I found that pretty interesting
My Spanish Republican grandfather told me about la Nueve back in the ‘80s. The French at that time were still not really acknowledging this fact. My grandfather was very proud of la Nueve. ¡Salud!
There's nothing shameful about your past. You fought against the red menace and that's a good thing. Plus Franco kept Spain out of the war saving millions of lives and left the country intact.
Honor y gloria a la División Azul.
@@hazzmati Franco killed hundreds of thousands of Spaniards. The blue division was fighting for Hitler. If you like it it's because you are in the wrong side of history.
@@alvaro701 and the Republicans also killed hundreds of thousands. You fight fire with fire not love and kisses. War is ugly there's no way around it.
And the blue division fought against the red menace which was a just cause. They didn't fight for Hitler because they liked him but because they despised the abhorrent idealogy of the soviets.
Spain: Give Gibraltar pls 🥺 👉👈
I mean it's been British for so long I think we've cored it lol
@پیاده نظام خان don't worry we'll get them back as well as the canaries
@@hadtrio6629 the canary islands have never been part of morocco, idiot
@@hadtrio6629 Free the sahrawi
@@andresmc4213 they're free the chieftains of their tribes choose to be ruled by the king the only ones who aren't free are those in tindouf being captured by Algerians and used by them to get a opening on the Atlantic
18:50 Dang. That’s playing dirty lol. But I guess as the saying goes, “Ain’t no rules in war”.
they definitely murdered the hobo
There are actually a lot of rules in war
British intelligence in WWII is truly underrated in the war. Experts at misinformations in fooling the Germans as to the location of invasions.
@@andresmc4213 Yes but that doesn't mean they are followed, there is a reason why they say war is Hell and playing nice in a war is like tying a hand behind your back will your enemy gets a sword. Because a lot of recent wars the enemy doesnt follow the rules we do.
The fella was a tramp. Rat poison waz spread on bread az an ploy to Kill rats. And ultimately the nazi and their ideology.
What Did Spain Do in World War 2? Short answer: SURVIVE!! That simple.
Salíamos de una guerra Civil,desgastados económicamente,pero eso sí,nuestros soldados tenían una buena experiencia,bien armados hubiéramos dado caña y lo más importante nuestras montañas,otro Afganistán en España,los Aliados perderían muchos hombres nosotros no somos de rendirnos fácilmente..
@@mariaamparo9781 I agree very much with you. // Estoy muy de acuerdo contigo.
The people who point out the long Atlantic coast that Spain would have had to defend underestimate the fact that the Atlantic coast the Germans had to defend was already quite long. // La gente que señala que España tendría que haber defendido una costa atlántica muy larga infravalora el hecho de que la costa atlántica que tenían que defender los alemanes ya era bastante larga.
Anyway the best available decision for Spain was to remain neutral. Therefore Spain made the right decission. // En cualquier caso, la mejor decisión posible para España era permanecer neutral. Así que España tomó la decisión correcta.
At the end of the day, there was no any core interest for Spain at stake in that war. // A fin de cuentas, no había ningún interés esencial para España en juego en aquella guerra.
@@mariaamparo9781 En dos semanas España habría sido conquistada por los aliados. La mitad o más de los españoles los hubiera recibido como libertadores.
@@alvaro701 estas fumao
@@alvaro701 jjajaja no, tu sabes la que habrían liado esos canallas?
Haven't watched yet, it's defo on watch later, but boy I hope you mention "La nueve" and how Spaniards under French command liberated Paris, even though this fact was later covered up for many political reasons...
I I have thought of '' La nueve '' immediately as soon as I have seen the video in the recommendations
I feel like Spain directly joining the Axis would have been more of a detriment than a benefit for the Axis, creating much more coastline for the Allies to invade, same thing with Italy honestly.
The allies still needed time to get ready something that would give them more of an advantage, so a small scale invasion in 1942 and wouldn't be ready for anything major till 1943, not to mention cutting of the Mediterranean making a huge difference, this also means Italy is in the war longer a nation who would have more time to mobilise for the war something the Italian's never did.
I would argue that short term gains mite have changed the outcome to ww2 drastically.
@@brianlong2334 Are you arguing Spain would help or not help the Axis?
@@eboypilled We don't really know but an educated guess looking at the numbers and time frame the axis would definitely be in a much stronger position over all, this mite even be a strong chance that Turkey joins the war against the USSR.
@@brianlong2334 i
@@joeconway7244 you what....?
Portugal was also fascist and survived WW2 by being neutral and trading with both sides, playing them off of eachother.
Franco era amigo de Salazar,ayudo a Franco en la guerra Civil nuestra....
Pro gamer move
Portugal is a non entity.
@johan 11 No... They were a Fascist country that sympathized with the Axis. Spain is a good country but I do not support Franco
Portugal was a conservative authoritarian state, NOT a fascist one. There is a big difference.
I'm interested in a video about spanish republican help in the making and enpowerment of the French resistance. Any subject you cover is interesting enough for me!
viva Franco
@@fran282 No
@@Game_Hero yes
It’s so weird how the World Wars united the nations in common causes to defeat a singular enemy. Ironic that mass war makes people work together.
war does seem to rid us of all the warmongering assholes for a spell
It’s always self serving. The British and French had conquered 1/3 of Earths population by WW1… they were not the “good guys” US history books like to portray.
@@Vandelberger That’s definitely true
@@iLLeag7e lol
Then those "good guys" turned a blind eye on the soviets and communists on Eastern Europe. We Polish people remember that so well.
I love this series!
This is amazing. There are so many twists to the story. Please keep up the good work.
I love your channel keep up the great stuff
Thank you for this. I enjoyed the video. It is full of very interesting historical facts, some of them were even new to me, like the Japanese reparations to Spain after the war. I particularly liked the mention of the Republican Spaniards who fought for the allies (you could also have mentioned Garbo, a Spanish double agent who helped the Allies land safely on Normandy). Regarding the role of Spanish Republicans in the war, they were literally the first allied troops to enter Paris, not one of the firsts. You can check the photos taken at the time. You see Sherman tanks with names labeled after important battles of the Spanish Civil War, like Brunete, Belchite, Ebro, Teruel, etc. The allied officer who officially meet the Resistance when they entered Paris was actually from Valencia, Spain. The Spanish soldiers who fought for the Allies were highly regarded by the French army, both for their bravery, training, and reliability. Even De Gaulle used them as personal bodyguards when he entered Paris, although he did all he could, later on, to erase their role in history, especially, the vital role played by La Nueve in the liberation of Paris.
However, I'm surprised to find that you didn't mention the role of Admiral Canaris in sabotaging Hitler's efforts to convince the Spanish government under Franco to join the war. Canaris, chief of the Abwehr, and personal friend of Franco was a convinced anti-Nazi who consciously thwarted every effort to convince Franco to join the war on Germany's side. He personally convinced Franco that Germany could not win the war and even couched him on what to say to Hitler when he met him in order to appear interested, but sadly unable to comply. Franco actually wanted to join the war on Germany's side and had very few territorial demands beyond Gibraltar -even French Morocco was negotiable. Canaris, however, convinced him to add Cameroon to the list. Canaris went as far as lying to Hitler about the "unfeasibility of operation Felix" (the plan to take Gibraltar from the British), which was actually a very easy operation that German special forces could have achieved even without Franco's consent. No wonder the Spanish government later expressed gratitude to the widow of Canaris after the war and even paid her a pension, no doubt as a reward to Canaris' efforts for helping Spain avoid entering the Second World War on the losing side. Any or all of those topics should have merited at least some discussion. Sadly, there is no mention of any of it in the video.
i'm from the Philippines and i didn't know the war reparation of Japan to Spain, what a interesting facts
How am I just now finding your channel! Loved this video keep em coming
Great video. Liked it very much.
I'm excited to hear more of what Mongolia was doing during the war. I know they mainly sent supplies to the Soviets, and then joined them in taking over Manchuria.
Mongolia was barely populated. there was not many they could do.
This series about minor countries in WW2 is quite interesting
Something I had hoped to hear about (as so great is Hilbert bringing all these delicious historical anecdotes) was that there was, actually, an invasion of spain by forces fighting for the allies.
In 1944, the spanish fighting in the French resistance tried their largest operation (against spain) in the Invasion of the valley of Arán, hoping to kickstart in such a way allied commitment to defeat Franco's spain. They however, failed.
Thanks for the video Hilbert!
Hi. I want to thank you for your video. I was extreamly surprised by it because you mention the 9th compant of the 2 tank division. I was impressed by that. It is not an ordinary knowledge. Only a few people know about that company even in Spain. The French knew it but for evedent reasons (24/08/1944) they covered it up. I will watch your videos about the Spanish Civil War. That war is difficult for the anglosaxon world because you try to see things white and black. In that war both parties were grey color.....................Excelent video.
There are several misinterpretations and other facts missing, something normal being Spanish fascism rather akin to a schizophrenic ideology. In the first place, the Franco government was bribed by the British government to convince Franco to enter the Axis, the Spanish dictator in principle was in the same orbit as the Falange, a party practically the same as the Nazi party: anti-capitalist, anti-communist and anti-Semitic, and that they even investigated paranormal phenomena as their great references the Nazis. Soon, Falange became the only fascist party in Spain, but then it became another party that included the rest of ideologies, such as ultra-Catholics not so close to Nazism.
After the Spanish Civil War, many republican Spaniards were imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camps, some survivors gave their testimony in the 2005 best-selling Spanish book "The last Spaniards of Mauthausen", an example of the History of Spain unknown until very few years ago. The book narrates not only the daily life of the prisoners in the Mauthausen concentration camps, but also key historical events. The book begins with the exile of the republicans, many ended up in refugee camps in France, a country where a new right-wing government elected by the French treated them like animals, then forced many to serve the inept or faint hearted French soldiers, sometimes the Republicans, very experienced in the war, had to teach the French the minimum so that the Nazis did not pass them more than they were already doing. Many of these Spaniards ended up in Dunkirk waiting to be rescued, but the Allies forgot them. Some became part of the French resistance, others formed the 9th Company of Free France, known as La Nueve, which were the first to enter liberated Paris. But around 9,000 were soon captured by the Nazis, a few more were later captured. In the Mauthasusen concentration camps, the Spanish republicans were among the first prisoners and at first they were among the worst treated by the Nazis, considering them atheistic communists and enemies of their great friend Franco, although shortly afterwards the Nazis decided to focus more on other prisoners and this is how they managed to create a clandestine organization within the camp, to call it somehow.
Franco's Spain was no more democratic after World War II, it continued to be a fascist dictatorship that offered help and refuge to Nazi criminals, the only change was that Franco soon saw the end of Hitler's Germany approaching and began to make preparations to approach the Allies and avoid reprisals, for example Franco's brother-in-law, the nazi falangist Serrano Suñer, ordered the destruction of all official documents that linked fascist Spain to Hitler's Germany. Franco send 50,000 Falangists to help in the mediocre Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, by the way, partly financed with money extorted from Spanish Jews, but soon there were no Falangist volunteers and the fascists had to send prisoners and republicans who wanted to clear their file, and soon Franco ordered all the divisionaries to return. Although some of these Falangists wanted to stay with the Nazis and a few went to Germany to fight in the last days of Nazi Germany. After the war, Franco once again sent a few other Falangists, along with Nazi fighter planes and bombers that Hitler sold him, as well as weapons and ammunition, to help the Arab countries against Israel during the 1948 War of Independence, until 1953 when fascist Spain signed the military agreements with the United States, then Spain stopped being isolated in exchange for becoming an ally of the West and of several air bases in Spanish territory. Then the Falange disappeared from the international media and came to govern the ultra-Catholic sect of Opus Dei.
Excellent comment.
If Spain had asked for either Algeria or Gabon instead of Cameroon things could have so much different.
It was actually the amount of grain he ask for which Hitler was angry about, basically 5 years of consumption in 1 year every year basically for free from Germany....
They also ask for 5million barrels of oil a year which Germany didn't have spare after 1941 but could have happened before the invasion of Russia, but also taking Egypt would have suplyed Spain for the war as it production was over 5million barrels a year, if they took it not to mention Iran and Iraq who were pro axis and invaded to stop any sort of help as they produced over 100million barrels every year.
Franco was actually knowing what he was doing, the reclaim Camero because he know that Germans will not give that country
As a Brit who moved to southern Spain a year and a half ago, I've recently found Spanish/Iberian history very interesting (including the civil war and Spain's semi-neutrality in WW2)
Can someone tell me what Portugal did in World War II? In Churchill's 1946 "Sinews of Peace" speech he remarks, "The British have an alliance with Portugal unbroken since 1384, and which produced fruitful results in critical moments in the late war."
Officially Portugal remained neutral during the Second World War. I am curious as to what Churchill was referring to when he said that.
Portugal traded with UK during WW2 and they had great relations with eachother going all the way back to 1384
@@FreakingSpies ok thank you.
@@jordanmorris5827 np
@@FreakingSpies I found out what he was talking about. In 1943 Potugal leased Britain air bases in the Azore Islands allowing British planes to refuel and provide air coverage for ships in the mid Atlantic.
@@jordanmorris5827 Ah, okay.
I honestly do wonder what would've happened if Spain has joined World War II
A huge reason for non participating was the absolute bankruptcy of the country for decades after the war. I think you haven't emphasized it enough
Yes and also the food situation. The most quoted reason I hear from Spanish people is that Franco said to the Germans that 'he had to feed his people' [and he obviously already had enough problems in this area without making it worse].
@@wordsmith52 he was rather starving his people after the war he provoked and with economic autarchy policies
@@acarrot589 Yes, I wouldn't disagree with you, especially as I am just in effect repeating what some Spanish people have said to me. But ww2 badly affected many countries, even those not actually involved. Ireland, for instance faced shortages of everything and I think had to ration food. The UK itself was still rationing certain products up until 1954.
@@wordsmith52 that's an interesting point. My disagreement comes from the way you wrote it, it seemed that you agreed with the sentence "Franco had to feed it's people", probably unintentionally, my point is that he was to blame for the situation
@@acarrot589 Yes, I think it is clear to most people that he and the civil war he instigated was the cause of the food problem.
I love learning about my country by your videos!
X2
Keep up thd good work with great videos
I Love to know that people will learn the history of "La nueve" Their help to the alies was never recognized.
You say Spain was the only country to come into the war facist, and leave the war facist without losing any territory, but what about Portugal and their Estado Novo
Interesting point. They never called themselves Fascist but the Estado Novo behaved like Fascists.
Salazar wasn’t exactly a fascist he just adopted some of their policies
@@refrainfromevil1377 I'd say he was, he was at the very least, heavily inspired by the Integralism movement
@@frankdamsy9715 He was more influenced by corporatism I’d say
Thank you! Ive been reading my history textbook out of curiosity and it doesn’t mention Spain and WW2 at all. Like- I’m pretty sure I could count how many times it was mentioned on one hand.
George Orwell fought in the spanish civil war
Hi there, how were Orleans and Paris called and writen in Old English?? (the time of The Franks)
Neutrality is all very well, but didn't work out for Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium or Luxembourg.
*[laughs in Finnish]*
@@michaelk4896 laugh? You lost a significant amount of territory and had to pay reperations to the soviets.
I like how people bring up Switzerland or Sweden and how neutrality saved them. The reality is that it didn't, they just got very lucky that the wrong side didn't win. Hitler hinted it very clear that he plan to invade Switzerland had the war concluded in their favor.
very nice.well done mate-i really like your chanel
Very good video.
Hilbert can you make a video about Portugal during World War 2?! They were very fascist leaning just like Spain yet I never hear about them talked about during this time period!
Essentially:
- Portugal made a pact with Spain to remain neutral in the war;
- Portugal was willing to honour the alliance with the UK, but since they didn’t request it, chose to remain neutral, with the UK understanding that, if Portugal joined the Allies, Spain would surely join the Axis, shifting the war to the favour of the Axis;
- Portugal made a nice profit from selling wolfram to both sides, but was also pressured from both sides to stop trading with the other. Towards the end of the war Portugal stopped trading with both;
- Both the Axis and the Allies made plans to seize the strategically valuable Portuguese islands in the Atlantic (specifically the Azores), but neither side followed through. Towards the end of the war Portugal granted the US permission to set up a military base in the Azores, technically making Portugal part of the Allies;
- Like Spain, Portugal had volunteers go and fight the Soviet Union on the side of the Axis;
- Portugal became one of the last safe passages to escape Europe from Germany’s persecution;
- Lisbon became a central hub for international espionage (which is likely where the creator of James Bond got inspiration from).
Portugal not white
@@percymiller8775 What does that have to do with anything?
@@percymiller8775 what??
Spain was very lucky to not get involved
Britain and France were very lucky the US came to their rescue
@@jblondon1327 yes especially france
Spanish Republicans fought to liberate a country that did not help them either during the Spanish Civil War or during the subsequent dictatorship. Ashamed of France.
a vid on the spanish and early french resistance would be cool
What history has taught us is not to believe, never ever, an english speaking man talking about Spain.
What history had told us is the Spanish like to ignore their fascist history
@@darkmatter6714
jajaajajajaja
Actually, no. You're probably brittish, and I'm not talking only about our fascist time, most of Spain history is totally deformed by the brittish, and I'm still wondering how was Spain worse than England in the conquest of the new world. Both villains, but only one remains as monsters in history, the one who left people alive and merged with them. We're even erased from the formation of the USA, and people think who defeated England was France, but France had a bigger brother in that time who spent all the money used in that war. For us, only a vengeance for the english pirates, who really took most of the gold, a coward way to confront Spain with thievery and lies to avoid a direct confrontation in a war they couldn't win. England still nowadays proclaims they were the biggest naval formation, but if we look to the battles, for every english victory there was five from Spain over them. Everything erased.
Lies, everything is lies from that island in the north. People in the modern days has nothing to do with those people of the past, I don't hate english people, I even love studying this language, but we definitly need to understand the history is not always the truth, and Britain was always an example of that.
And let me tell you, Franco was a dictator and he did something that never should happen never again, but this video is full of lies in order to make him a clown, and he wasn't. Something totally unnecesary. Teach why fascism is an abomination, but leave the dead in peace slowly disappearing in our memories.
@@DDilacerante this is a very Spanish view, not shared by the rest of the world. You will see that the outside world view of the British is mostly positive: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-British_sentiment
It is a common psychological human trait to hate those who have been most successful in history
@@darkmatter6714 And you just confirmed my point, and using... Wikipedia, I mean... You're also talking about totally something different, I'm not talking about the view of countries and I even said I have no problem with modern english people from the streets, I know a few, I'm pointing the history and its lies.
I'll just leave a few questions for you. How many natives remains nowadays in North America and how many in Central-South America? I'll go further, what about Australia? How about the countries developed in the british african colonies? Wherever England was they left only misery in most of the cases. Now look where the spanish colonies were. Again, both villains, both commited crimes against natives, but I'm still wondering why only one is still the monster.
At least we accept our past, we had a great history and we had our dark side, but Brittish won't accept what they did, and they still keep and teach those lies pointing at Spain to the young people.
My original comment was a joke for spanish users, and I understand is also an excuse for your contempt against us. And that's ok, I did the "offensive" joke, but still with truth in it.
Sorry for any mistakes in my writting, as I said I'm still studying your language.
De Valera, Franco and Salazar: all fascists in their own right that went unchecked. Though I must say I quite like Salazar
Franco neither.
@@alvaro701 Nah, they were both Fascist. The issue is that their brand of fascism was distinctly different from Hitler or Musolini, who are the ones most people think about when they hear "fascism".
@@XanderVJ Franco was an opportunistic, he didn't have an ideology, heck, he almost fight for the republic
Please, make that video on French resistance and Spanish assistance.
This is kinda scary cause i was wondering about this last night but never said it out loud but popped up in my recommended lol
My US History and World History teachers back in high school said that WWII was started by the Japanese in 1936 when they invaded Korea and Manchuria. And not when Germany invaded Poland.
I earned an M.A. in history. There are different opinions among historians about the topic you mentioned.
@@davea6314 Yeah. I know people today still debate when, how, and where WWII started.
@@davea6314 Lo, though I only have a B.A. in History, I'm inclined to believe as time goes on, we will look back at the period of 1914-1945 as one great war. The 30 years war of the 20th century if you will.
Korea was annex by Japan in 1910 and Manchuria was invaded in 1931.
@@Elendrian That is a legitimate interpretation, among others. Some historians do argue that it was one war with a very long pause in the middle.
You forgot México when they literally flew to the Philippines and helped the Philippines against Japan
@@ballsligma108 I understand that, but Mexico comes into the picture on WW2 even in the Spanish civil war. Mexico was helping Spain to fight their civil war against Francisco Franco. Literally thousands of Spaniards flee Spain into Mexico. Most recent migrants came during the Spanish Civil War. More than 25,000 Spanish refugees settled in Mexico between 1939 and 1942, largely during the administration of President Lazaro Cardenas del Río. Some of the migrants returned to Spain after the Civil War, but many more remained in Mexico.
The "Children of Morelia" were 456 children of Spanish Republicans, which were brought from Spain in 1937 on a steamship named Mexique which flew under a French flag, at the request of the Mexican Assistance Committee by Pueblo Spanish, based in Barcelona. This children were received by Mexican President Lázaro Cardenas del Río. Both of my grandparents were those children of Morelia who fleed Spain and settled in Mexico in 1937 they were literally 8 years old.
@@ballsligma108 During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Mexico had provided arms and refuge to political refugees. Throughout the war, Mexican Army and volunteers joined the Republican side to fight Francisco Franco. In 1939 when Francisco Franco took power in Spain, Mexico severed diplomatic relations between the two nations. After the war, thousands of Spanish refugees sought asylum in Mexico and former Mexican consul in Marseille, France, Gilberto Bosques Saldívar, issued thousands of visas to Spanish refugees and other asylees to seek refuge in Mexico. Though the Republicans had lost the war, this helped improve the relationship between the two countries after the death of Franco. Mexico and Spain re-established diplomatic relations on 28 March 1977. It is important to know that even though the Mexican government supported the Republicans, the vast majority of the population including Mexican peasants, known as the Cristeros, supported Francisco Franco and the Nationalists. This is because Mexico had suffered the brutal 1926-1929 Cristero War in which President Plutarco Elías Calles tried to enforce militant state atheism and massacred many men, women, and children for their faith. To the Mexican Cristero peasants, the Republicans were very similar to Calles who they greatly despised. There were Mexican volunteers who also fought for the Nationalists against the Republicans.
Since re-establishing diplomatic relations, both nations share close and warm diplomatic relations. On several occasions, both countries had supported each other diplomatically and there have been several high level visits and meetings between both governments including with the Spanish Royal Family. Soon after re-establishing diplomatic relations 1977; Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez paid an official visit to Mexico, the first ever by a Spanish head of government. That same year, in October 1977, Mexican President José López Portillo paid an official visit to Spain.
Several Latin American countries, including Mexico, have been accused of harboring members of the terrorist organization ETA wanted in France and Spain, being Canada and the United States the only countries of the Americas that classified this organization as a terrorist group.
The already complicated relations between the two countries deteriorated further in 2019. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador classified foreign investment in Mexico as "neocolonialist" and linked Spanish and US companies without evidence, the same political situation that occurred in other Latin American countries such as Argentina or Bolivia. In January, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, made an official visit to Mexico and met with the Mexican president. Both leaders commemorated eighty years since the end of the Spanish civil war and recognized Mexico's openness to receive thousands of Spanish refugees who fled their homes and found asylum in Mexico and their contribution to their adopted country. However, In March, the Mexican Government demanded a public apology from Spain for the conquest of Mexico, which was firmly rejected by both the Spanish Government and the Spanish Crown.
Good video!
In the part of Spaniards fighting in the war, you could add the "Blue Squadron" spanish pilots that volunteered to fight in the air in the eastern front, plus adding that some spanish soldiers of the blue division stayed in the war until the very end at Berlin as the "Blue Legion".
You could also add that if the war in the pacific happend to be longer, we would be talking about another Blue Division in Asia, but this time in the Allies side, and yeah against Japan, via the same reason Japan paid the money as an apology to Spain
The newly liberated french government wanted to invade spain because they didnt like the idea of a fascist regime on their doorstep after what happened in the 2nd world war
The newly liberated french government would have lost. They even invaded Italy in July 1945 and where pushed back by a ragtag band of ex fascist troops, partisan and german holdouts. Ah yeah and the Americans where very, very displeased with the French
@@xmaniac99 that is true that they were probably not properly equipped enough to start major offenses of their own after retaking their homeland from a collaboration government and the german occupiers they were still very vocal of their concerns that a fascist regime still at their door as one occupied them for years and commited a slew of atrocities to them.
But while the USSR was also in support of an invasion of spain at the time, the US and the UK werent keen on it because of geopolitics in which Franco was staunchly opposed to communism and if they got rid of him the suspect that the new democracy would fall prey to communist elements or any other left wing ideology as they just had a fresh conflict on it and support for various groups.
En el tratado de Posdan se intentó invadir España,costaría muchas vidas,hubieran salido como en Afganistán,escaldados..
We should be careful on money useage,if you are not spending to earn back,then stop spending.
Apparently my view on the solution is to venture into business .
True ! Even some rich men made it through investing there money in something doing and they made it.
I do real estate,stock market ,forest trade and cryptosystem.
The right chioce of an investment has always been a big problem for me I know picking a wrong investment will leave a big scar in the future
@@austinhay2594
There might be many investments out there but if profit must be considered,which is the actual sole of investment, I will advice you to go into bitcoin trading because it has higher profit than most investment.
Where's the pack between Portugal and Spain, where they agree to not enter the war. Where is this part of the story?
I really think that if Spain had entered the war there would have been another peninsular war. Spanish industry and infrastructure would have been a soft beachhead for the allies. This would have drawn German troops from vital areas to fight against the Anglo Portuguese coalition Force in Spain following Portugal joining the allies. But in this alternate reality the Germans would have been more cautious on the Eastern front leading to situations like Stalingrad not happening. A Germans with a weaker presence on the Eastern front not have focused on Moscow and Leningrad instead of the Caucasus. I believe that German overconfidence lead to some of the mistakes on the Eastern front with a weaker position Hitler may have listened to some of his generals causing the German army to pull back and hold a line during the winter to prepare for a spring offensive which ultimately might not have made a difference in the ultimate outcome but may have wronged The war out further allowing the Germans to focus on the defensive earlier in the war Viking landing such as Normandy and Sicily harder because of their lack of confidence and their defensive footing.
They took a siesta-coma.
oh no....well ok
I’ve learned fairly recently that “The” French Resistance were multiple factions that fought each other nearly as much as the German occupiers, probably more so.
Lo que es una vergüenza es que Francia se rindiera tan pronto...enseguida la bandera blanca...que vergüenza....
@@mariaamparo9781 What part of my sentence made you assume I would understand your words? Spechen si Deutsch?
@@Vandelberger One of your two surnames is "Spanish-sounding" I guess is why?
@@HellbirdIV I guess, but if I read something in a language, it’s less presumptuous to just type in that same language.
I think you'll find a large portion of the French 'Resistance' were men just avoiding labour duty in Germany. That's not to say there wasn't a small percentage that did very valuable service in the Allied cause. It just isn't comparable to the Resistance in Yugoslavia for example.
Spain would have joined the Axis if Hitler gived the territories that Franco wanted, Hitler wanted Spain to join the war without giving anything in return for it ... basically.
Still Spain was treated like a helper of the Axis and one of the reasons is because the creation of The Blue Division, Division that helped the war of the Axis Vs URSS, also because of the many connections Franco had with Hitler, the punishment was many years without receiving resources from the allies countries, Franco had to find new partners like Argentina, another country that was in the Axis side, Argentina hided many German Officers who escaped from Berlin when everything was lost.
I just randomly thought to myself yesterday, "What did Spain even do during WW2?"
0:08 what?
18:50 *Weekend at Huelva’s*
What about the middle east in ww2 ? Can you do a video on those countries
Japan: 'Oh, looks like this used to be your colony, time to pay you reperation'
Also Japan: 'China? Reparations? Nanking? What are you talking about?
It was not about being a former colony. It was about killing torturing and raping in the Missions and in the Diplomatic Delegation. It was senseless, since Spain hasn't been hostile to Japan in the least.
En el cantar del Mio Cid,el Califa de Zaragoza le dice al Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar,el Cid Campeador,Que buen vasallo de tener un buen Señor,eso es lo que le ha faltado a España,buenos mandatarios,buenos Reyes y Patriotas,solo la casa de los Trastamara fueron los mejores,Isabel y Fernando,ambos primos y Trastamara,o sea Portugal también entra aquí...
Franco el mejor desde los reyes católicos
@@jblondon1327 just plain no, he’s not and never was “better”
@@Bread-nx9fo sin lugar a dudas el mejor líder de España en los últimos 500 años
@@Bread-nx9fo dont speak to him 50 years of fascism propaganda does that to any brain ,he its a Lost cause he and the traitors he jerks off with
Imagine been so wrong in your Life to actually praise the mass murder Who decide to send Spain progress 50 years backwards + make Camboya 2 with corpses of inocents in every Road its just inhuman
Franco was not a fascist. He was a constitutional monarchist. Yes, he had fascist allies, but that does not make him a fascist. The United States and Britain had communist allies and that didn't make them communists.
The Allies were not 1 ideology
Soviet union switch from the Axis to allies when Hitler invade them
World war 2 was not a ideology warfare like the Coldwar Left vs Right
Ww1= Every country participate was not Communist
"Mine Were of Trouble", book by Peter Kemp, journals his time with the Requeté's in the Spanish Civil war.
A recommended read on the Spanish civil war, as mentioned in this video. It makes clear the Spanish Civil war is a large (and hot) clash between the (various faces) of fascism and communism, that appear all over Europe in the 1930s.
Interesting subjects as always 💯
I'll give you an even crazier prospect: what if after D-Day commenced the Spanish realized which way the winds were blowing and threw in with the allies?
HOI4 time
no No!!!!!
My Great grandad was fighting in the spanish civil war for the republic he was took as a prisoner in santander
Shame on him
@@jblondon1327 Shame on you
As a Spaniard I have to say that it's a really complete video about the spanish role during the WW2. This is something that is not usually treated on the text books, because, in fact, Spain did not officially enter the war, but Francisco Franco almost entered in the war on the axis side a few times, which could have completely changed the history of Europe, hopefully it never happened.
22:55 "Perhaps neutrality would have worked better for a lot of other countries in WW II"
A lot of other countries were neutral too, but for almost all of them it didn't turn out good. Netural countries like The Netherlands, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Greece and the Baltic states were all ploughed through in a whiff by Nazi Germany. The only country where neurtrality worked was Switzerland, and that was only because the country had the nearly impenetrable mountain range of the Alps which made it not worth it to invade.
love it or hate it but you have to agree spanish republic flag look very good
Better anthem too
It looks like shit purple sucks
Buen video !
Cameroon was not a French colony. The German Kamerun was split between the British and French after WW1 and were League of Nation Mandates governed by both countries, the British mandate being governed from Nigeria, which it borders.
Que Viva España!!!!!
no
You should do a video on Mexicos contribution to the war, it's pretty interesting
Yes.
Great video thank you! I just wanted to mention that Portugal was also a fascist regime that survived ww2
Franco wasn’t a poor diplomat I think, and also taking in count how much pressure he had on. Like really, someone as hitler asking you to join him, you just had a civil war, your fighting North Africa and islands nearby, you still had republican/communist rebels in your country, the allies also pressured you with money and other requirements, you have soldiers and volunteers who are currently supporting the axis and others who might go to help the allies, you have so much reparations to do, etc. Nice bideo