Using recently declassified documents from Spain and the United
States, personal interviews, and unpublished and published Spanish,
German, British, and U.S. records, "Spaniards and Nazi Germany"
makes a significant contribution to the understanding of
Hispano-German relations during the 1930s and 1940s. This study
shows that Naziphiles within the Spanish Falange, Spain's fascist
party, made a concerted effort to bring their nation into World War
II, and that only the indecisiveness of dictator Francisco Franco
and diplomatic mistakes by the Nazis prevented them from
succeeding.
Bowen demonstrates that while Spain was neutral in World War II,
its policies clearly favored the Axis, at least in the early stages
of the war. Franco, who had emerged victorious from the Spanish
Civil War in 1939 largely because of support from Adolf Hitler and
Benito Mussolini, even carefully considered entering World War II
on the side of Nazi Germany.
By the late 1930s, members of the Falange saw World War II as a
revolutionary opportunity, a chance to lead Spain into a new age as
a partner with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy at the head of a New
Europe of social justice and authoritarian regimes. By the end of
1939, a significant minority of pro- Nazi Spaniards were unhappy
that Spain had not entered the war and remade itself to fit better
into Hitler's New Order. Bowen argues that support for Nazi Germany
in Spain and among Spanish communities throughout Europe was both
wide and deep, and that this enthusiasm for the Third Reich and the
New Order it promised to bring lasted until the end of the war.
Despite statements of neutrality by the Spanish government, the
Franco regime was well aware of this collaboration by Spanish
citizens as late as 1944-1945 and did little to stop it. Had Hitler
been more interested in bringing Spain into his empire, or
exploiting the pro-Nazi sentiments of these thousands of Spaniards,
he might have replaced Franco with someone more willing to support
his interests even as late as 1943.
"Spaniards and Nazi Germany" presents many possibilities for
what might have been a far different outcome of World War II in
Europe. It shows that even without the full support of the Spanish
or German governments, pro-Nazi Spaniards, even if they did not
quite bring Spain into the war, added to the strength of the Third
Reich by serving in its armies, working in its factories, and
promoting its ideas to other nations.
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