2023-08-30 08:25:17
The Francisco Franco thing was a Spanish-style dictatorial regime; an authoritarian system made to measure that, although it drew partly from Italy and Germany, hid enormous differences with each other. Those closest to German Nazism and Italian Fascism were the Falangists; and not all, but the ‘old shirts’ that followed the founding points of José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Don’t get me wrong: the man from Ferrol was a dictator with all the letters, but, as far as the purest and toughest ideology is concerned, Adolf Hitler I saw him as a plague who had allied himself with the Church and had absorbed the monarchists to rise to power.
And if Hitler had something, it is that he hated the pillars –mainly religion– on which Franco built his regime after the end of the Civil War. He himself repeated it until he was hoarse in those extensive – and extremely boring – after-dinner meals with which he tortured his guests night after night. Because he hears, the ‘Führer’ had to be attended to and thanked even though he was heavier than all the gold he stole from the satellite countries that Germany had during World War II. After the interview in Hendaye, she went as far as him – she said that she would rather have her teeth pulled out than see him again – and the relationship only worsened during the conflict.
against the church
But let’s go in parts. Hitler, who had charged like a miura against the Catholics in the Third Reich, did the same on June 5, 1942 with their Spanish equivalents: “Their activities are no different from those they carry out in our country.” In his words, “any church, if it is in a position to influence the civil regime, will only support or tolerate as a matter of principle a regime that does not have or recognize any other form of popular organization than that located under the aegis of the Church.” ». The Nazi leader maintained, in this sense, that “as far as general administration is concerned”, the institution longed to be “the only organizational leadership of the people”.
Hitler, who saw the party founded by Primo de Rivera as one of the few representatives of true fascism on Spanish soil, cried out that night for the delimitation of the functions of Catholicism in the country: “There is only one thing that Phalanx can do: limit the intervention of the Church to religious matters. That is, to the supernaturals. Only once allowed to exercise the slightest influence on the government of the people and the formation of the young generations, she will try to become omnipotent ». The dictator did not stay at that point, but affirmed that it was “a great mistake” to seek collaboration in any area of the holy institution.
The German dictator did not stop there. In another of his conversations with his acolytes, he stated that it was only a matter of time before the Franco regime and the Church ended with a blow and that, sooner or later, a new civil war would break out on the peninsula. “In the not too distant future, Spain could well have to pay in blood for the failure of not having made a true national revolution like the ones that were made in Germany and Italy,” he insisted. Of the third leg in contention, the monarchists, he did not think in this sense, although he also saw them as a potential long-term enemy. Don ‘Führer’ things.
The ‘Führer’ was wrong in many ways. The most important was to believe that the formation created by Franco after the Unification Decree –FET de las JONS, a union of the old Falange with the Carlist Traditionalists– maintained the precepts of José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Not even remotely. This group was nothing more than a ‘frankenstein’ devised by the dictator to eliminate his political enemies and place his acolytes at the top of the party. In this way, he would get out of the way with a single blow to all those who could shadow him or, when the time came, pose a problem.
Unite Phalanx and Reds
With these wickerwork, it does not seem strange that Hitler was convinced that the Spanish State was preparing for a new fratricidal disaster: «The priests and the monarchists, the same mortal enemies who opposed the revival of our people, have united to take over power in Spain. What was the solution he proposed? A striking… That the ‘old shirts’ – the original Falangists, those who were in the party before the outbreak of the Civil War – joined the thousands of exiles from the Republican Popular Army who had moved to the heart of Germany a once the 1939 combat ended. And if you don’t believe it, here are his words:
«If a new civil war broke out, I would not be surprised to see the Falangists forced to make common cause with the Reds to free themselves from the clerical-monarchical scum. It is a pity that the blood that the Falangists, Fascists and National Socialists shed together during the war did not produce better results! But unfortunately, in Spain you will always find someone willing to serve the political interests of the Church.
José Antonio Primo de Rivera, at a meeting of the Spanish Falange in the Madrid cinema. abc
It was not the only time he held this idea. In his last days, the ‘Führer’ promoted the creation of a magazine, ‘Enlace’, whose ultimate goal was to make a massive call to any Spaniard who was in the vicinity of the Reich. In those days of combat to the death against the Red Army, one more rifle could be decisive to avoid the fall of the Nazi eagle. And into that broad amalgamation were the thousands of republicans who had ended up in Berlin after the fratricidal conflict. In a certain sense it made sense, since the Popular Army had dismissed and repudiated a huge number of career soldiers for considering the military career as a kind of fascism.
Despite what might be expected, Republican soldiers were highly regarded within the German army. Although not because of their status as ‘reds’, as they were known at the time, but because of their nationality. The contact that Hitler and his Waffen SS had had with the Spanish soldier had been through the Blue Division, and the truth is that this unit had demonstrated its skills on the eastern front. The ‘Führer’ himself already said it: «I think that one of our happiest initiatives was to allow a Spanish legion to fight at our side. On the first occasion I will award Muñoz Grandes with the Iron Cross with oak leaves and diamonds. It will be a good investment.”
hated by all
Hitler was not the only one in the German army who saw Franco with crooked eyes and Spain as a liability. Before the Hendaye interview, several advisers such as his Chief of Staff, Franz Halder, charged against the country for being plunged into misery after the war: «The internal situation in Spain is so deteriorated that it is a useless political partner. We have to achieve essential objectives for us (Gibraltar) without their active participation.” It was not the only negative opinion. The German Secretary of State, Weizsäcker, did the same: «In my opinion, Spain should be left out of the game. Gibraltar is not worth it. Whatever England lost there, she would soon make up for it in the Canary Islands. Today Spain has neither bread nor oil».
Less famous, but more direct, was the opinion of the popular Admiral Canaris – among other things, head of German intelligence – about the dictator: “He is not a hero, but a little wuss.” And that, despite the fact that he was one of the greatest defenders of the country against the Third Reich. Franco’s tone of voice did not go unnoticed in the interview either. In fact, Hitler stated after the Hendaye interview that his interlocutor had driven him crazy with her “low and calm voice, whose monotonous soniquete reminded the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer.” Once he got out of the car, in fact, he quietly blurted out the following: “There’s nothing to do with these guys.”
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