Did Htiler ever try to enlist Spain and Portugal as his allies?

Answer 1

You have to consider Spain and Portugal separately. In WW2, they were both ruled by fascist-style regimes, ideologically sympathetic to Hitler & Co.; and of course, the two countries share the Iberian peninsular between them. But their situations and attitudes in WW2 were far from being the same.

PORTUGAL

As “rdenig_male” has stated, Portugal and Britain had been linked by treaties of alliance (and also with strong commercial links) for hundreds of years.

Salazar, the Portuguese dictator, might have been tempted to align himself with the Axis during the early part of the war, when it appeared that Germany must win easily. But, if he had done so, he would have risked great unpopularity at home in Portugal, for probably very little reward. Moreover, given the strength of the Royal Navy, Portuguese overseas trade would have been throttled. And, with its long Atlantic coastline, Portugal itself might have been exposed to amphibious raids and even invasion.

Portugal’s interest was therefore much better served by remaining neutral.

SPAIN

The prospect of Spain allying with Hitler in WW2 is much more interesting – and controversial: -

The “Official” version is that Hitler wanted Franco to join in WW2 on the side of the Axis. But that Franco was cautiously clever and kept Spain neutral, although helping the Axis in some ways, such as by sending the “Blue” division to fight in Russia. In that “Official” version of history, even in 1940 Franco foresaw that the Axis might lose. When, later on, Hitler approached him with the suggestion for a combined assault on Gibraltar (to keep the British out of the Mediterranean), Franco again managed to postpone the issue until the opportunity was past.

The problem with that “Official” version is that it is probably not true. It seems to have been written with the benefit of hindsight, to make Franco appear much wiser than he actually was.

The “Unofficial” version (which has been documented by a number of historians, including for example in J. Tussell's book "Franco, España y la Segunda Guerra Mundial") seems to me a lot more credible. Here is a summary: -

• Franco DID want to enter the war on the Axis side. Hitler did not want Spain as an ally!

• When Franco saw France crumbling under German attack in mid-1940, he wanted to jump onto the Axis bandwagon.

• Franco offered to join in the Axis attack in 1940. But, as his price, he demanded most of the French colonial territories in North Africa.

• From Hitler’s point of view, that would have meant losing Vichy France as a friendly, puppet state.

• Moreover, for Germany, if Spain became an ally, it would have had to be supplied with weapons, fuel, aircraft, etc. And Spain’s exposed situation on the Atlantic Coast demanded that it be well defended: scarce German troops would have to be sent to Spain to back up the Spanish forces.

• In fact, Spain could offer little more than its geographical situation. And Hitler wasn't very interested in the Mediterranean – that was supposed to be Mussolini’s plum.

So, to summarize, Spain was not truly neutral in WW2 – it just was not openly a belligerent. Spain did send troops to aid Hitler in his attack on Russia. And Spain did provide secret refueling and rearming facilities for German U-boats, as well as passing on intelligence information to the Germans – including the carefully crafted British deception (“The Man Who Never Was”) to fool the Axis into failing to defend Sicily to the fullest possible extent. That Spain never declared war against the Allies was Hitler’s choice, not Franco’s.

Answer 2

The reason Hitler did not try - or was not successful - in enlisting Portugal is due to the fact that that country is the oldest ally of England/The United Kingdom. The two countries have been linked by treaty for over 400 years. I agree that Spain was in no state to support Hitler due to its own internal problems following its Civil War. However, that Civil War had been used by Hitler to try out his military power - think Blitzkrieg, think Guernica.

Answer 3

Not sure about Portugal.

But yes, he tried very hard to bring Spain into the war. However, Spain was still reeling from it's own civil war, and only gave nominal support to the other fascists. I do think that Spain sent one brigade of troops to fight at Leningrad though, as more of a gesture than real support.

Answer 4

Hitler helped Franco discreetly, but it wasn't openly paraded, due to the Spanish Civil War.

Portugal I cannot speak for.

Answer 5

I don't know about it but I know that after Italy capitulated he said that he is glad Spain isn't his ally because they are cowards just like Italians and would betray him.

Answer 6

he is not that dumb or didi he know what they were thinking