Spain in the

World War ll

Foreign PolicyIn 1939, the Spanish Civil War ended and Francisco Franco became the new head of the country

Half year later, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland and that produced the outbreak of the Second World War

Franco had 3 options:

-Be enemy of Germany and Italy- Be enemy of UK or France- Be neutral

Franco's decision Franco decided not to participate in the Second World War because: -Spain had just finished the Spanish Civil War and it couldn’t enter another war besides it was ruined -There were 1 million of deads -Spanish people were tired of the war

The Blue Division was a unit of Spanish volunteers that served in the German Army on the Eastern Front of the Second World War.Although Spanish dictator Francisco Franco did not officially bring Spain into World War II, he permitted volunteers to join the German Army on the condition they would only fight against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, and not against the Western Allies

The Blue Division

Nueve

After their defeat in the Spanish Civil War,a lot of Republicans were exile to France; the French Republic interned them in refugee camps, such as Camp Gurs in southern France. To improve their conditions, many joined the French Foreign Legion at the start of World War II, making up a sizeable proportion of it. They were called "The Nueve"

After the war, Franco's regime was hospitable to officials, members and collaborators of the Third Reich, who sought refuge in Spain, and in particular some of those responsible for the deportation and extermination of the Jews.

The State of Spain gave asylum to a lot of several criminals and some of them even got the spanish nationality.

"Refugees"

ConsequencesAfter the victory of the Allies, the winners considered Spain as part of the fascist and Nazi governmentsIn 1946, the phenomenon known as isolationism occurred, to not have contact with other countries or their assets, which only increased the impact of the postwar period in Spain, from which the country did not recover until the 50s, when the western powers needed the Spanish bases during the Cold War