U.S. SHIPS SHELL PARAMUSHIRU; SURPRISE JAPANESE HOME BASE; RUSSIANS IN NIKOPOL’S OUTSKIRTS (2/8/44)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 2/8/44 | Norman Bell, Robert Trumbull, Morris Markey, George F. Horne, Ralph Parker, Milton Bracker, more

[Tax-chick]

Some people say Franco was a fascist, but I say he was a militaristic nationalist. Nothing mattered to him except Spain.

[BroJoeK]

Colorado tanker quoting link: "Franco's ancestors were Marranos, Spanish Jews who converted to Christianity to avoid expulsion."

hmmmmm..... would like to see that confirmed somewhere...

Tax-chick: "Some people say Franco was a fascist, but I say he was a militaristic nationalist. Nothing mattered to him except Spain."

Of course, we can debate definitions of words all day, but when Mussolini first used the term "fascist" for his party, he was quite proud of it.
Hitler modeled his own movement after Mussolini, though his name for it was "National Socialism".
So was Hitler, like Mussolini, also "fascist".
Of course he was.

Now Franco was the youngest of the three, came to power with the others' help and was their ally.
His regime was modeled on that of fascist-Mussolini, and today people may wish to point out various distinctions in claiming Franco was not himself "fascist".
But remember, at the time, the word "fascist" was not a disparaging term, and people like Franco would have no trouble embracing it.

If you think about an analogy... today everybody claims to be (small r) "republican" and (small d) "democratic", and yet when we see those words in a country's name -- i.e., "Democratic People's Republic of Whoknowswhere", we know immediately they are the opposite of either democratic or republican values.
Most likely they are communists or fascists, regardless of what they claim.

And so with Franco's Spain.
During WWII, Franco was Hitler & Mussolini's ally, supplying divisions of Spanish troops in the Soviet Union.
After WWII, Franco became the United States' ally supplying military bases in Spain against the Soviet Union.
During WWII he was a "fascist", after WWII when "fascist" became a bad word, Franco was a "nationalist".

But Franco was still Franco.

By the way, years ago I vacationed in Spain twice while Franco was in charge.
Wonderful country, beautiful people, we had no problems there, and many happy memories.

[Tax-chick]

But remember, at the time, the word "fascist" was not a disparaging term, and people like Franco would have no trouble embracing it.

Good point, among several other good points in your post.

[colorado tanker]

I have no problem calling the Falange a fascist party, and Franco was quite happy allying with Hitler and Mussolini to give him the aid he needed to defeat the Loyalists. And he certainly appeared to be the opportunist in distancing himself from Hitler only as the war turned more and more against the Germans.

I do think, however, Franco's situation was more complex, which helps explain why he never joined his buddies as a combatant. Franco also was supported by the Carlists and other monarchists, as well as other conservative, pro-Catholic groups. The Falange was never a large party in terms of membership. While he was firmly in control of Spain, I doubt he would have had enough support to take Spain to war. Franco himself was deeply conservative and Catholic. He really didn't share a lot of Hitler's ideology. And remember, this is a country with a recent history of guerrilla warfare.

Plus, what did Spain want that going to war could provide? Unlike Italy, it didn't covet anything of its neighbors, with the possible exception of Moroccan territory, but with Vichy a German ally, Hitler would not have allowed that to happen. I suppose Hitler would have let him take Gibraltar, but Franco was too smart to go to war with Great Britain over a 2 1/2 sq. mile piece of territory.

I would also note this, that Franco allowed the Blue Division to fight alongside the Nazis, but only on the stipulation they would only deploy against the communists and would not serve in France or fight the Western Allies. Also, at least initially, they were all volunteers. So, clearly Franco did not want to go to war against the West. The general officer in him probably thought Hitler and Mussolini were nuts to take on the world, but if so I'm not aware he ever publicly said so.