yr12_scw_Foreign

=The Role of Germany in the Spanish Civil War=

Significance
The significance of the role of Germany in the Spanish Civil War illustrates that the Nationalist's were very dependent of foreign intervention to win the war. This was because they didn't have control of the industrial area nor the support of the people and so the importance of the right timing of the intervention and the easy geography of Spain in terms of communication within Spain and for the intervening powers, made it possible for the German intervention to be successful and to a certain extent the determinant of the final victory.

Introduction
Spain and German relations were no more than acceptable in the early 1930’s and although Spain was mentioned as a possible ally against France in the ‘Zweites Buch,’ furthermore there were National Socialist activities in Spain and the Falange party was very similar to the Nazi ideas. It is very probable that the Reich’s Foreign Ministry knew that there was going to be a rebellion but Hitler made no move to facilitate this uprising. It is such the importance of the German intervention that when Franco asked for help to transport his troops from Morocco on July 22, 1936 and the consequent rejection on July 24, 1936 by Constantin von Neurath made it seem that the rebellion had to be cancelled or delayed, however luckily for Franco, Goering (pictured) urged Hitler to accept their plea, facilitating on July 27, 1936 20 ‘Junkers 52’ transport planes escorted by six fighter-planes to send across the Gibraltar Strait 20,000 rebel soldiers.

Economic reasons
As Robert Whealey would argue that the most important reason behind the German intervention was the economic aspect. Hitler aimed to help Franco in exchange of raw material especially ores and also compensation for the aid.

In order to see the significance of this aspect we must consider that Hitler pursued a military economy; in 1936 the Four Year Plan was introduced with the aim of preparing Germany for war within four years time, prioritizing rearmament above anything else. Goering, co-ordinator of the Four Year Plan stated that ‘We are dependent on foreign countries for our iron-ore supply’ in the minutes of 16 June 1937 on ‘Iron scarcity and iron rationing.’

Hitler’s main concern in terms of economy was this dependence in iron-ores; Hitler had it clear, ‘Germany needs to import ore. That is why we want a Nationalist Government in Spain, so that we may be able to buy Spanish ore.’ So by facilitating help to the Nationalist if they won he would ‘ensure the Nazi regime an economic foothold in Spain…particularly in Spain’s mining industry,’ controlling iron, copper, mercury and pyrites ores from Spain for his armaments industry.

The economic reasons behind the German intervention were influenced by the expansionist policy that Hitler was aiming for.

Political Reasons
Hitler saw how siding with the Nationalists could benefit him politically in Europe.

He thought that by siding with the Nationalists he would prove not only his anti-Bolshevism, but that he was the leader of anti-Communism in Europe the bulwark against Soviet Russia. Hitler thus hoped that the other European powers realized that the threat was to be expected from the Communists and not from the Nazis and so unify the anti-Bolshevik powers against the Republic, siding with the Nationalists. If he managed to convince other powers such as Britain of this, he would gain friends instead of creating enemies.

Hitler was especially interested in Britain. The French Ambassador in Berlin saw how Hitler was seeking to “‘influence Great Britain… by opening their eyes to the reality of the Bolshevik peril” trying to separate Britain from “already contaminated’ France” Hitler spoke about this idea with the Italian Foreign Minister, “if England sees the gradual formation of a group of Powers which are willing to make a common front with Germany and Italy under the banner of anti-Bolshevism… not only will she refrain from fighting against us, but she will seek means of agreement and common ground with this new political system.”

Hitler not only aimed to make friends by helping the Nationalists but he also prevented from making new enemies, as he saw that a communist state in Spain would side with France and the Soviet Union and oppose a threat to Germany.

Therefore, these threats together with his policy of expansionism and the support of the war economy links to Hitler’s military reasons to help the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War.

Military Reasons
Some historians might see the military reasons “as a welcome by-product of the Spanish conflagration rather than as a motivation for intervention,” however the Spanish Civil War would give Hitler a chance to experiment with his war material and would allow Goering to test the Luftwaffe.

Furthermore, on a strategic level, a victory on the Nationalist side would create a state friendly towards Germany and hostile towards France this would be very valuable in a European war since France would fear to be attacked on two fronts, the German and the Pyrenees, and would pose a menace to the colonies in North and West Africa. Moreover, being friends with the Nationalists could mean access to Spain’s ports and territories in North Atlantic and the Mediterranean islands which were potential aeroplane and submarine bases.

Politics
Foreign intervention was vital in the politic aspect of the Spanish Civil War because the Germans allowed Franco to control his FET movement while the Soviets interfered with the Republican side.

Hitler and Italy did not care about the way in which Franco dealt with his party even though the FET movement had monarchists and catholic reactionaries, as well as Fascists from the Falange. This allowed the right-wing to work together and so it was efficient in the war.

On the contrary, the Soviet Union always favoured the Stalinist PCE and managed to outlaw and suppress the other parties such as the CNT but especially the POUM because it was Trotskyite. As a result the left-wing was divided and was not efficient in the war.

Economy
The Foreign Powers were important in the economy of the war in terms of supplies and infrastructure.

The Nationalists were in a difficult position because initially they did not control the industrialized north of Spain, and so could not manufacture ammunition or weapons, thus Franco was entirely dependant on Hitler and Mussolini’s supplies.

The Republicans had control of the factories but since they had political divisions they didn’t know how to run the factories, either nationalization or workers’ council’s, etc; furthermore they couldn’t expect the workers to work in war economy shifts since they would hypocritically be exploiting them. However most importantly, the Republic gave 2/3 of the gold reserves to the Soviet Union in exchange of supplies and aid, which showed the dependency of Foreign Powers and also that now that they had no more wealth this dependency would be exponential.

Military
The Nationalists and the Republicans were dependent of the Foreign Powers on the ground, on the sea and in the supply of war material

Ground
The International Brigades played a key role in the war, especially in the battle of Guadalajara where the International Brigades won over the Italian forces, this shows that both armies were dependent on foreign troops

Air
The Condor Legion gave air superiority to the Nationalists, especially in bombing targets but also in air support during battles.

Economy
Hitler had planned that the Spanish Civil War would be very beneficial to Germany, although this was true in theory, in the practice it did not turn out to be as beneficial as Hitler had thought. Nevertheless it was not an economic failure because the money spent was useful in the politic and the military fields.

Hitler managed to achieve his goal of importing ores for rearmament. Slowly Hitler shadowed the HISMA by introducing the ROWAK which dealt with the compensation payments and so Hitler was able to ‘influence the pattern of trade between the two states towards a massive increase in imports of vital Spanish raw materials.’ To ensure maximum profit, Germany forbids any sales or purchases anywhere in Spain for all Germans, unless they went through the HISMA/ROWAK and with this Hitler managed to ‘influence the pattern of trade between the two states towards a massive increase in imports of vital Spanish raw materials.’ The acquisition of ores culminated with the Montana Project in 1938 when Franco gave the Germans 75% of the shares of the mining industry in exchange of vital armament for the Ebro campaign.

However, the German intervention was at an expensive cost, “German aid to the Nationalists amounted to approximately £43,000,000 ($215,000,000) in 1939 prices. This was broken down in expenditure to: • 15.5% used for salaries and expenses, • 21.9% used for direct delivery of supplies to Spain and • 62.6% expended on the Condor Legion. (No detailed list of German supplies furnished to Spain has been found).” The reason behind the semi-failure in the economy of the intervention was that Franco managed to keep Hitler at an ‘arms-length.’

Politics
Hitler managed to score a European political victory thanks to the Spanish Civil War. The most know victory was to strengthen its ties with Italy. However the most notable victory based upon Hitler’s objectives was to bring Britain closer to him and away from the Soviet Union and France. Although Hitler did not manage to convince the British to join with the Nationalists, in 1938 during the Sudetenland Crisis he managed to gain control of the Sudetenland with the support of the British, and without inviting the Soviets to the Munich Agreement (pictured). Not only Hitler was able to control the Sudetenland and ultimately all of Czechoslovakia but previously he had dismantled the Treaty of Versailles by rearming Germany, not paying the reparations and the Anschluss; the British people saw in Hitler a man who wanted to unify its people and Europe against the ‘Red Peril’, this was true to such an extent that Hitler’s house appeared in one of the gardening magazines of the time, showing how civilized he was.

Military
The Spanish Civil War was the perfect opportunity to test the war material, to train the personnel and to develop new war tactics. The success that Hitler had on this field shadows any failures in the expenditure of the intervention.

Testing the war material of the Third Reich was the primary objective. As Goering said in the Nuremberg Trials he sent a ‘number of experimental fighter units, bombers, and anti-aircraft guns; and in that way I had an opportunity to ascertain, under combat conditions, whether the material was equal to the task.’ Equally, “The Heinkel 112 was tested, and at least four variants of the Messerschmitt were evaluated. The Messerschmitt 109 proved ‘more impressive’ and ‘tactics in aerial combat were developed and established.’ 36 The new faster Dornier 17 bomber, the Junkers 87 dive-bomber and the Bf 109 fighter were all introduced in Spanish campaigns” Other weapons were tested such as the 88mm flak gun showing that it could also be used against ground targets, but also the limitations of the Ju 52 which led to transforming them into transport planes.

The money spent on personnel also proved to be beneficial. The training and combat experience that German soldiers had was useful for the Second World War later on. 16,800 to 19,000 Germans that had Spanish experience entered Poland in the fall of 1939 as combat veterans, with twenty-nine of the top German World War II aces having served in Spain. Not only soldiers were trained in Spain but also some of the most famous and brilliant German commanders, Generals Janecke and Sperrle of the Luftwaffe, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of German Military Intelligence, General von Thomas of the future Afrika Corps, General Guderian and General Richtofen, etc.

In terms of tactics Germany developed its war-machine in Spain giving her the most efficient army in 1939. The development of the dive-bombing and carpetbombing techniques used later on in Poland and France were tested at Durango and Guernika by the Condor Legion. Whealy argues that the Germans ‘learned nine major military lessons from the Spanish Civil War on land, sea, and in the air. These lessons included, first, to concentrate their armour in a spearhead; and second, to spread their modern fighter planes.

German Military intervention
German Military intervention is often summarised by the role of the Condor Legion however what something that does not appear in textbooks is that the Germans also joined the International Brigades. It is surprising that Hitler allowed this to happen, but also that there were still in 1936 left-wingers that were not in concentration camps. Nevertheless, 11th Brigade (oct. 1936) 1st Company Edgar André and the 12th Brigade (nov. 1936) 1st Company Thaelmann were units of the International Brigades with German soldiers. Therefore when talking about German intervention in the Spanish Civil War the question could be challenged to ask whether all German intervention was in support of the Nationalists.