BRITISH BEAT OFF MASS RAIDS BY SWARMS OF NAZI PLANES; R. A. F. BOMBS GERMAN BASES (7/21/40)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 7/21/40 | James MacDonald, Joseph M. Levy, Hallett Abend, Anne O’Hare McCormick, Robert P. Post

[BroJoeK]

"Franco and Spain were war-weary. It hadn’t been that many months since the Spanish Civil War ended, and they just weren’t up for another round."

I just finished a fascinating book: "If the Allies Had Fallen -- Sixty Alternate Scenarios of World War II," in which historians discuss the great "what ifs".

Chapter 8 is on the Mediterranean, and the first question they address is: "What if Adolf Hitler in 1940-41, instead of concentrating on an attack on the Soviet Union, had pursued an all-out Mediterranean strategy in continuing war with Britain?"

Discussing a possible Gibraltar invasion, Harold Deutsch points out that the man behind Franco's refusal to allow Hitler access to Gibraltar was none other than the Wehrmacht's intelligence head, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris.

Deutsch says Canaris persuaded Franco to resist Hitler -- who after all was then at the absolute peak of his power and influence, not to be refused by anyone.

Why did Canaris do it? Because he was anti-Nazi and determined to "first, spare Spain the hazards and miseries of war, and second, prevent Hitler from winning the war... Even before Hendaye [conference between Hitler and Franco, November 1940], the admiral was coaching Franco and Vignon in a sense directly contrary to the official pressure from Berlin."