Please can someone tell me why the allies didnt liberate Spain at the end of WW2, even tho Franco was fascist?

Question

Hi, hope someone can help. I am quite interested in the Spanish Civil War but have not formally studied it. I just can't understand why the allies took out Mussolini and Hitler but not Franco (who was helped by Hitler). Was it because Franco kept Spain out of the war, because the allies were war weary or was there some sort of deal? Or were the US afraid that Spain would go communist?

Answer 1

more to do with the fact that spain never declared war on the allies (tho it sent one brigade to attack russia in 1941 with the nazis). it is strange in a way, but the fall of berlin was the end of war in europe.

Answer 2

During my last undergraduate semester (Spring 2006), I took a course on the Spanish Civil War. I also did an honors thesis on literature concerning the War. I've put a bunch of books I'd reccomend to you in the "Sources" at the bottom of this. You also may want to listen to The Clash song "Spanish Bombs," as that is, strangely enough, what initially got me interested in researching the War.

WWII was not a fight against fascism, it was a fight against aggressive fascism. Franco contemplated entering the war in 1941, when it looked like the Nazis might pull off a complete victory. But Hitler didn't particularly solicit his help, as he likely understood that Spain was a backward military power, far worse than Italy (and Italian ineptness was already causing Hitler problems at the time).

Franco actually became as U.S. ally in the 1950's, as we sought bulwarks against Communism. I believe that we even drew up agreements allowing U.S. planes over Spanish airspace, and perhaps to even refuel at Spanish airbases - but I am not sure, that is something you should check into.

Basically, there was no good reason to invade Spain, and many reasons not to. The U.S. didn't really care during the Civil War which side won, and the British Government, for the most part, preferred that the Nationalists (Franco) win, as they expected Franco to do a better job of protecting their economic interests. This attitude remained the same after WWII, and since Franco had such strong anti-communist credentials, it made more sense to bring him into the U.S. fold than to invade.

As far as the sources below go, you will learn a lot from the literature (Homage to Catalonia, Man's Hope, Soldiers of Salamis, Geneva, For Whom The Bell Tolls), but you must remember that such pieces are inherently biased. Even Orwell, although the most honest of any writer, can't help but be biased. I would almost reccomend reading a textbook before moving on to the literature, but that is likely to turn you off the whole gig. So start with Homage, then go to Man's Hope, then maybe read a textbook. If you're still interested at that point, Republic of Egos is great, but is very fragmented (it is basically a compilation of the stories of many individuals during the War - it will only mean something to you if you have a firm grasp of what was going on).

Answer 3

The answer was that Franco was smart enough to keep Spain out of the war. It should be noted that Spain treated both sides pretty much the same. So there was no provocation for the allies to invade Spain. The only reason the US fought Germany and Italy was that they declared war on us several days after Pearl Harbor. So we weren't on some great crusade as some propaganda films of the time would have you suppose. So there was no need to oust Franco and his supporters.

Answer 4

Franco, did, as you say, keep Spain out of the war but provided intelligence information to Germany. But Spain kept out of the war by doing nothing overt against the Allies. Airmen who escaped France and got into Spain were interred and not sent to German POW camps. Franco had a lot of sympathy for Hitler - the Nazis tested so much of its weapons in the Spanish Civil war but perhaps knew who would come out in the end.

Answer 5

You've hit the nail on the thumb. If Franco had joined the Axis and declared war on Gt Britain and France, they would have won. The Brits just were not ready, having just upgraded most of their kit from horse transport to motorised and then lost the lot in France. Portugal played a fascinating role in the war as a lot of espionage agents were there. think how many convoys sailed off the coast of Spain and would we have kept Malta if Spain had joined in? Unlikely. Further, if Franco had lost his war, Spain would have been communist, thought to be a worse option by the West. It's true that Hitler tested his airforce and other kit in Spain, but so did Stalin.

Answer 6

No one really wanted to get involved in a civil war especially while there was a real war going on. Why lose trained troops to a non-unified Government. Plus who ever attacked would gain 1 of two things an occupied land or a hostile new Government towards either the Axis or Allies.

Hitler was going to invade to take Gibraltar spelling but his officer lied to him about the troop strenght of the Spanish nation., Hitler fearing loses of trained troops delayed the action and well it never happened. Spain is also quite hilly as I recall and that means a longer time to take ground. The allies were busy and there was no sure agreement that Russia would help in the beginning of WWII so that was another war related issue that we had to contend with. There was so much going on that Spain being in civil Strive didn't help anyone because no one wanted an ally that was basically at war with its self.

Answer 7

Your last question is the right one. Franco cleverly made Spain "non-belligerant" rather than "neutral" (as was portugal, also a fascist state!),...and although morally involved with the fascists (he owed them a favour or two), he also pleased the Allies at the same time (Permission to the USAAF to overfly Spanish Sahara after Op. Torch,...Use of spanish Bases by German submarines,...etc.etc.). He played two games. However, after WW2, the allies would discuss "the spanish question" as a secondary matter,...and even considered invading it, thing that should have been easy for the Americans to do, but the rapid grow of the Communist influence made them think that they'd rather had a "pseudofascist" estate but friendly to the US than a procommunist one (still, a large % of spanish population was procommunist/ leftwinged). The Americans gradually became more and more friendly to Franco's regime, especially after Eisenhower's visit to Madrid,...where he was toasted and delighted by Franco!.

Answer 8

As many respondents have said, Franco kept Spain neutral but in fact he was, to a degree, forced to do so, since the Royal Navy was in a position to stop imports into Spain, from for example, Argentina. This was not something Hitler could stop without moving valuable u-boats from the Atlantic, where they were causing severe problems to us. Also, the majority of Franco's army, was from North Africa and it was doubtful if even with Hitler's help, he could have marshalled enough troops to fight us without leaving himself exposed to a left wing uprising. The person who said he was a great man, ought to be ashamed, he sent Spain back to the dark ages. I was in Spain in 1956 and it was comparable with East Germany under the communists, para military on every street corner and a people too frightened to even discuss politics.Perhaps the pendulum has swung ( as it has in most European countries) too far the other way but I know which situation the majority of Spaniards would prefer.

Answer 9

Franco received aid from Hitler because that's the only place he could get it. The Spanish Republicans (Communists) were receiving aid from the USSR, and from volunteers from other nations, including the US (The Abraham Lincoln Brigade).

Franco had no desire to join the fascists in their drive for world domination. He was too busy fighting the Communists in their drive for world domination.

Why would the Allies attack Spain? Spain was not a belligerent. Franco has been demonized for decades by mainstream media, as well as liberal -and now Neo-Con politicians, but the truth is Franco was a great man. The reason is because he defeated Communism in Spain. Franco was a great man.

Answer 10

WWII started just as the Spanish Civil War ended. The country was in ruins, the economy in pieces, the people in post-war shock. Franco could barely keep his own country together, how could he declare war on two superpowers? Franco never "officially" took sides...

Besides, he never saw eye to eye with Hitler. The Spanish brand of fascism was a local one, they were more interested in dominating Spainish society than conquering the world.

And there's also the theory that Franco knew something about his own family's origins that he didn't want the Nazis to discover. Many Sephardi Jews are named Franco...

Answer 11

What I Know
Franco was a dictator who pulled off a successful coup of a duly elected government.
He was an avowed anti-communist.
He sent a division, not a brigade, to fight on the Soviet front. They were called the Division Azul. (As an aside it is said that many of the Azul Troops were defeated Republicans Ala Chinese Nationalist in Korea)
He actively supplied certain materials to the Germans from his Africa holdings.
German U-boats were known to have been in Spanish ports.
Mostly the allies had bigger fish to fry, however if the Spanish had gone overt and attacked the western allies then they too would have been attacked. Think of Finland. They were officially at war with the Russians, but since the allies had no use for attacking them they were mostly ignored.
Hope that helps.