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Text|Zhang Runchen.
Edit|T Introduction.
If you ask when fascism ended, I think most people would answer 1945. However, the last fascist state in the world did not come to an end until 1975, and the last fascist state in the world was Spain.
There is only one reason why Spain was able to maintain the fascist system for 30 years after the end of World War II, and that is that Spain did not participate in World War II.
First, the difficulty of surviving in the cracks.
Spain's neutrality in World War II was largely due to the efforts of one person, the most famous man in Spanish history - Franco.
Franco) In general, Franco is a man of mixed repute in Spanish history. Franco led a rebellion during the Civil War, overthrowing the legitimacy of the Spanish left and crushing the revolution initiated by the Spanish people. During this period, hundreds of thousands of Spaniards died as a result.
During Franco's long reign, Spain was in a suffocating and oppressive atmosphere.
Franco's attitude towards dissidents is very clear, and that is to kill them all. But on the other hand, if it weren't for Franco, the ruler of Spain during World War II, it is likely that Nazi Germany would have crossed the Pyrenees and occupied Spain by force. Then the damage that Spain will suffer is likely to be worse than Franco's ** rule.
And objectively speaking, Franco was indeed a "loyal subject" who maintained Spain's neutral status. One of the biggest characteristics of Franco is his calmness and objectivity, and Franco is almost always sober. He was able to clearly see the weakness of Germany, and he also had a clear sense of Spain's own strength.
Axis powers).
At the beginning of World War II, Franco declared that Spain would remain neutral. When Hitler invited Franco to join the Axis powers, Franco cautiously refused. Franco told Hitler: "As long as Germany can produce sufficient evidence that it will win, then Spain will inevitably enter the war." ”
In a way, Franco wasn't lying, he was just waiting for the price to sell. After the glorious victory of Nazi Germany and France, Franco began to change his support for Germany. But he did not bet all his chips on Germany, he carefully chose an opponent for himself, the Soviet Union.
Like Mannerheim in Finland, Franco maintained only one country against the Soviet Union in all his public statements, but always maintained a restrained attitude towards the Allies led by Britain. Franco, on the other hand, was more cautious than Mannerheim, and he did not directly declare his entry into the war, but simply sent volunteers to help Germany.
But on the other hand, Franco still received economic aid from Britain, which was also a hint that Britain and Spain would not completely fall to Germany. In return, Churchill also prevented Roosevelt from attempting to attack Spain directly. Moreover, Spain never intercepted Allied warplanes flying over its airspace.
After the Battle of Stalingrad, Franco also saw the decline of Germany and did not hesitate to withdraw his volunteer army to the country. However, Spain can maintain its neutrality, it must not be just because of the personal charm of the leader, if Spain does not have a little "hard goods", then what awaits Spain is bound to be the fate of the Low Countries.
So what is Spain's real ability?
Franco) II. The peculiarities of Spain.
During World War II, there were three major neutral countries on the European continent: Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain. Switzerland's neutrality lies in its armed forces and financial power, and Switzerland is like a hedgehog.
For Hitler, even if he took Switzerland, it would be more than worth the loss, not to mention that Hitler also relied on Switzerland to help him maintain economic ties with the outside world.
Sweden's "way of survival" is even more explicit, that is, Hitler gave what he wanted, whether it was from the issue of ** exchange or transit rights, Sweden almost never disobeyed Germany. Moreover, the heavy metals that the Nazis used to maintain their war machine were largely **with Sweden**, and even if Sweden was taken, these resources would be obtained.
But the losses in this process were not something that the Nazis could bear. Spain, on the other hand, is more confident in maintaining neutrality, and Spain is the former suzerainty of the vast majority of countries in South America. Although these South American countries gained independence during the nationalist period, they maintained close ties with their former overlord, Spain.
Spain) Since 1939, Spain has pledged to help Germany obtain food supplies from South America. In 1940, Spain reached a similar agreement with Italy. In addition to food, other resources in South America could be used by the Axis powers through Spain, the "middleman".
And the South American countries are happy to do the same, and their perception of the Axis powers is not bad. But all of this was based on the fact that the Axis powers would not attack Spain. If the Axis powers did invade Spain, the South American countries would inevitably be at odds with the Axis powers, and this would not have been worth the loss for Hitler.
Is there anything that Germany needs in Spain? Spain had no industry, no wealth to plunder, and Spain did have rich mineral resources, but Hitler could buy them at a low price. But in the event of a war with Spain, Franco's army would not be vegetarian either, and would offend South America.
Hitler) not to mention that if Hitler invaded Spain, the Allies would not have watched, and the British would inevitably link the Iberian and North African battlefields together. Then Germany is likely to be attacked on its back, and the "Normandy landing" may even occur earlier, but the direction of attack is from Spain to France.
3. Does Spain really not want to go to war?
And for Hitler's part, he didn't always want Franco to be brought in. When Hitler attacked France, Franco took the initiative to show goodwill, hoping to join the war and get a piece of the pie. This was the most dangerous step in Franco's life, but fortunately, Hitler turned it down to refusing Franco's request.
Because he saw that Franco was a "vulture" who wanted to share the spoils, Hitler also knew that he would soon be able to end the war in France.
But after missing this opportunity, Hitler never got the chance to bring Franco into the gang again. After the end of the French campaign, Hitler tried again to win over Franco, and made a promise to help Franco take Gibraltar. But Franco, on the contrary, opened his mouth, and he made his own request to Hitler:
Franco) Hitler not only needed to help Spain take Gibraltar, but also needed to hand over all of French Morocco to Spain, part of French Algeria to Spain, and Spain also needed to carve out part of the territory in French West Africa to enrich its colonies.
In addition, Franco said: "Spain has suffered too much in the civil war, and if Germany wants her to enter the war immediately, it needs to provide Spain with sufficient resources to recover itself." "These resources include, but are not limited to, large quantities of modern **, large quantities of steel, grain, as well as oil.
And this was not all that Franco demanded, he even added a precondition that Germany first needed to land in England, and if Germany could do it, and met all the requirements of Spain, then Spain would enter the war. However, how could Hitler possibly meet these demands of Franco?
If Hitler really handed over North Africa to Franco, then Darlan in North Africa would inevitably fall to the Allies, and Hitler's North Africa strategy would also go bankrupt. Between Darlan and Franco, Hitler chose Darlan. Moreover, Hitler couldn't get the resources that Franco asked for, and Hitler himself needed to keep looking for Sweden to "blow up gold coins", * and give Franco surplus materials.
What's more, Franco's follow-up requirements are completely unfulfillable, if Hitler can land directly in Britain, what else will he do with Franco? French West Africa is also de Gaulle's territory, and Germany can't fight it, so how can it promise it to Franco?
Franco's attitude is actually very clear, that is, if Hitler wants to pull Spain in, then he must fight Africa first, and then the Soviet Union.
But this was impossible, and Hitler was impressed by Franco's insensitive attitude. So much so that Hitler later said in a conversation with Mussolini: "I would rather have my three teeth pulled out than negotiate with Franco for even a minute." ”
Mussolini) But what would Franco do if Hitler had really fulfilled those demands of Franco? Then it is quite possible that Franco really went to war.
In Europe at that time, there were only two people who could not fall under Hitler's superb eloquence, one was Franco and the other was Mannerheim. Mannerheim chose to go to war because Hitler met all his needs, from resources to land, and Hitler gave what he wanted, so Mannerheim entered the war.
But does that mean Franco is more clever than Mannerheim? It is not clear that Franco's bedfellowship with Hitler and the inconsistency of interests were the main reason why Spain was not co-opted by Germany. And the so-called "Franco's wisdom", which has been boasted by people, is not necessarily so true, but Franco is the winner.
Spain) So Spain was able to maintain neutrality in the end, in fact, thanks to three factors. First, the specificity of Spain. Second, Spain's luck. And in between is Franco's reason, but Franco's reason is not really the factor that determines the overall situation.
So, instead of thanking Franco, the Spaniards should pray for the slightest bit of good luck that their God has bestowed upon them, because luck is the most precious thing in war.
Reference: Yin Hong. "Why did Spain, which established the fascist regime, remain neutral in World War II. "History Learning 3 (2005): 2
I wish you all the best. "The reason for the neutrality of the Franco regime in World War II. "Journal of Anqing Normal University: Social Sciences Edition 272(2008):5.
Geng Tao. "Francisco Franco The back of a **. "Big Tech: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Genius Teenagers (b) 5 (2008): 2