As Hitler’s army marched into Poland on 1 September 1939, beginning the Second World War, the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco struggled to consolidate power in Madrid. His Nationalist Army had been heavily reliant on Nazi arms, tanks and planes to gain victory in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), yet Franco did not fall in with the rest of fascist Europe to support the German war effort, instead taking a cautious and relatively neutral approach. The prospect of Spain joining the war remained a concern for the Allies throughout the conflict, terrified by the prospect of losing control of Gibraltar and, as a result, the Mediterranean.
What was the relationship between Francoist Spain and Nazi Germany during and after the Spanish Civil War?
The first and only personal encounter between Francisco Franco and Adolf Hitler took place at the Hendaye railway station in German-occupied France in October 1940. A frustrated Hitler later told Benito Mussolini that he would rather have several teeth extracted than endure another
