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To: Castlebar; InABunkerUnderSF; SamuraiScot; Alter Kaker; El Sordo
Franco got everything he wanted from Hitler, and gave Hitler nothing that Hitler wanted in return.

Maybe not 100% of what he wanted.

A perusal of the captured German documents makes it plain that one of Hitler's purposes was to prolong the Spanish Civil War in order to keep the Western democracies and Italy at loggerheads and draw Mussolini toward him.

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, p. 297.

Couldn't Hitler have sent enough resources to Franco so that he could quickly overwhelm the Loyalists and end the war? Maybe that is a reason Franco stiffed Hitler on his requests for help taking Gibralter and thwarting the British in North Africa.

19 posted on 04/06/2008 2:22:14 PM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson ("I’m not liking the way the 21st Century is shaping up logic wise." - AU72)
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
Couldn't Hitler have sent enough resources to Franco so that he could quickly overwhelm the Loyalists and end the war?

In 1936? No. The German fighters available at the outbreak of the war were outclassed by foreign planes. For example, it was only when the 109 went into production and was available in sufficient numbers that it could be supplied to the Condor Legion. (First version in about April, 1937, the second version in about August). C's and D's were available by April '38, and some E's may have made it to Spain prior to the end of the war.

As for Tanks, PKW IIIs weren't available prior to the end of the war (less than 70 were built prior to 1939) There were plenty of I's and some II's, but the German army and air force of 1936 wasn't the army and air force of 1939. Indeed, most of Franco's early help came from Italy, not Germany.

25 posted on 04/06/2008 8:02:03 PM PDT by PAR35
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