España No Ha Muerto: If Franco brought Spain into the Second World War

I wonder how modern Spain and Portugal look ITTL? I suspect that Spain would likely get way more Marshall Plan aid, and probably be significantly better off than today as a result of no 30 years of Franco.

Spain and Portugal would are indeed in better condition without their own dictatorships ending much earlier. And Portugal might allow its colonies go peacefully so not years lasting bloody and pointless colonial war. So Angola too might become much more peaceful and prosperous nation instead being war-torned and good parts of country beying covered by mines.

You also seem to be hinting that Spain isn't really viewed as a full Axis member by the Allies (or at least the US), so I can only wonder how that would play into their modern perception. Would Spain also be a Republic?

Spain probably will be republic. Americans weren't famously ever intrested about restoration of monarchies unless Churchill manage to push his own will forward.

Would they be territorially intact?

European part of Spain would be pretty much intact altough Portugal might take Olivenza. But I hope that we avoid that Galicia to Portugal trope. It doesn't make sense with post-1900 POD and IMO it just looks on map pretty bad.

Spain almost certainly will lost all of its territories outside of Europe. Spanish Sahara and Northern Moroccan holdings go to Morocco, Canary Islands probably to Britain or Portugal. But the islands going to Morocco not make any sense. Morocco never claim these islands and it doesn't want something like one million angry Spanish Catholics. Spanish Guinea (modern day Equatorial Guinea) would go to France and perhaps it becomes part of Gabon.

Would they have stronger or weaker regional idenitites?

Spanish regions probably have still strong identitet but without Franco's 30 years lasted opressing of Basque and Catalan nationalism there wouldn't be ETA and Catalan independence movement would be much weaker.

I'm also interested to see that Salazar ruled for only ten years - what happens next? Does Portugal remain the poorest country in Western Europe? Fascinating stuff, keep it up!

I don't see any reason why Portugal would remain one of poorest nations outside of Eastern European and Balkans nations. Salazar's anti-industrial and anti-modernisation policy would die with him and after the war Portugal would get Marshall aid and the country would become democratic and more prosperous.

Once the regime is defeated and the trials begin, who do you think is gonna be executed ? Besides the obvious Franco and Suñer, I thought about many important generals getting the noose (Muñoz, Yagüe, Queipo de Llano...)

Franco and Suñer would are definitely hanged assuming that they are captured alive. I don't think that generals are hanged unless they have been part of Franco's inner circle and/or commited war crimes and crimes against humanity.
 
Considering that the generals who committed war crimes in the Spanish Civil War will probably be included in the trial... yes, there will be generals hanging from a noose (the generals left in Spain at this time are those loyal to Franco, since the generals who were Republicans are too busy being corpses or are exiled and no one remembers them).
 

Nick P

Donor
The best course of action is to have a small but strong Allied Force in Portugal threatening the German army in Spain. That means less German soldiers to defend Italy, Normandy or the south of France once those invasions take place.

Could even have an earlier version of Patton's First United States Army Group broadcasting false messages to make the Allies in Spain seem greater than they are.
This reminds me of Operation Mincemeat. A version of this could convince Berlin that the main attack will come over the Pyrenees.
 
Some of them would prolly pull a Himmler or a Göring, yes

I don't know about Suñer but Franco hardly takes life from himself since he at least claim being devout Catholic. So I think that he is either executed by partisans like Mussolini or then just captured alive.
 

Ramontxo

Donor
I don't know about Suñer but Franco hardly takes life from himself since he at least claim being devout Catholic. So I think that he is either executed by partisans like Mussolini or then just captured alive.
Franco was Franco. He got two "Laureadas de San Fernando" (Spanish equivalent to the Victoria Cross) the second one he got after winning the SCW, so self conceded. The first one he got in Africa when everyone expected him to die and one of his soldiers put a Mauser in an evacuation team and convinced them to carry him to the hospital. Whatever else he got guts and a lot.
I hate Patxi, and a lot. He is my childhood, real, bogeyman. But people don't understand him here. There are references to him, speaking to his wife, about Serrano Suñer (his wife brother in law) " Y si a Ramon hay que fusilarlo se fusila" (And if we have to shoot Ramón so it shall be).
Just to make my point he was an war veteran ready to do anything to win. And I doubt very much you would get him alive
 
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