No Spanish Civil War in 1936 (my new Timeline)

[Archangel]

Eh, no. In the first updates I explained how that was avoided. The murder of Largo Caballero caused a civil war in the Socialist Party that ended with the split of the party and the victory of the moderates. Together with the ascension of anarchists and trotskyites, and the fear of another rightist uprising, no leftist faction is strong enough to impose its particular policies.

And in this moment, Soviet influence in spain is nil. Since 1936, the Communist Party has collapsed as an effective force, and its place has been occupied by Durruti's anarchists -who now have the interesting dilemma of having a lot of power but being unable to use it for ideological reasons - and Andreu Nin's trotskyites, to whom important communists such as General Líster have defected. In fact, Spain is staunchly anti-soviet, due to both ideological differences and Stalin being "allied" with Germany.

Will the Anarchists become a sort of economic Yuguslavian Communists (self management Socialism) with a more democratic stance, and the Trotskyites a sort of left wing Democratic Socialists?

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Will the Anarchists become a sort of economic Yuguslavian Communists (self management Socialism) with a more democratic stance, and the Trotskyites a sort of left wing Democratic Socialists?

Anarchists and Trotskyites will end up uniting after Trotsky publishes his book, which will create...interesting things in the postwar ideological landscape.

In OTL after 1945 there were two ideologies vying for dominance: capitalism and communism. In TTL these will still be the two main ideologies, but there will be two more smaller ideologies competing with them: *Trotskyism (or anarchism) and fascism, that has survived the war in a better shape than OTL.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

AMERICAN REACTIONS TO THE JAPANESE ATTACK

Despite the Americans knowing something fishy was going to happen in Southern Asia (mysterious naval movements, deciphered codes…), the Japanese attack has surprised them as much as the allies.

As much as the American government would like to declare war on Japan to help the british, Roosevelt has his hands tied. War with Japan means war with Germany, and while the American public and the Congress can buy a war in the pacific or a war in the atlantic, getting both without a direct attack to American territory will be too much to swallow. Militarily, the United States do not do anything during February, while the Japanese armies thrash the allies.

Diplomatically, though, the US react harshly. In a few weeks, the congress approves an embargo to Japan –like in OTL, except that the Japanese still have plenty of oil and their fleet is on its way to the Dutch Indies, with only the hastily assembled allied fleet standing between them and the Indonesian oil fields. Japanese assets are also frozen, and diplomatic relationships with both Germany and Japan are almost soured to the breaking point.

In mid-february the US congress passes the Lend-Lease act by overwhelming majority, giving the allies a virtually infinite amount of supplies for free as long as the U-boats do not sink too many convoys. But due the presence of the Spanish, French and Portuguese fleets in addition to the Royal Navy, and the allied planes based off Galicia, Portugal, the Azores and Canarias, the Atlantic has been pretty much cleared of U-boats, with only a few attacks sinking not too many ships. The flow of weapons and raw materials keeps arriving to Spain, the British Isles and Northern Africa.

The Japanese, however are careful in not upsetting the Americans. Japanese convoys and fleets go to painful tournarounds to avoid American waters around the Philippines and Guam.

​

Roosevelt signs the Lend-lease act

​

THE FIRST WEEKS OF THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC

In less than a month, the Japanese have gained the upper hand in Southeast Asia. They achieved complete surprise, are superior in number and have better and more modern armament.

In Vietnam, only isolated French units still fight. The main cities are in Japanese hands, and the civilians are greeting the Japanese as liberators. Japanese advances onto Cambodia and Laos are only stopped by weather and supply problems.

In Malaya, the british are withdrawing towards Singapur. Despite british, commonwealth and dutch forces outnumbering the Japanese in this front, the lack of planes and tanks is decisive for the Japanese to gain ground. Penang is under siege in February 25 –and will surrender weeks later, while in March 10 the Japanese are already at Kuala Lumpur.

For the first weeks, Burma witnesses only border skirmishes. It will not be until the the occupation of Malaya and Indochina ends when the Japanese think of attacking Burma –and by then, the monsoon will already be started.

In the Pacific, the Japanese use their mandates as a springboard to attack british and Australian islands, together with Dutch New Guinea. Again, the defenders are caught by surprise, and the small allied fleets are no match against the Japanese, who have a comfortable superiority in both air and firepower. The Japanese Zeros (introduced in 1940) are much superior to their allied counterparts, and in a few days the skies over the Pacific are in Japanese hands.

The british took some lessons from the campaign against Italy in the spring of 1940, but the Japanese have learned far more. They are now convinced that the key for naval war in the 20th century is air power, air power, and more air power. Even when the bulk of the Kido Butai is busy fighting around Malaya, the Japanese have a couple of carriers in the pacific against whose might the allies can do little.

The Gilbert and Ellice islands are overrun in a few weeks, with the small atoll garrisons being unable to withstand Japanese attacks. In February 15, the IJNAS start bombing New Guinea and the Solomons, targeting especially the Australian base of Rabaul, and the New Guinea ports.

In March 10, Japanese marines land at Rabaul. The First Siege of Rabaul lasts a couple of weeks, and ends with a total Japanese victory. Thousands of Australian soldiers are caught prisoners, in a debacle that will be dwarfed by that of Singapur shortly after. During March, the Japanese land in northern New Guinea and continue their advance through the Solomons.

But the biggest naval actions from this early stage are not seen in the central Pacific, where the allies have almost no main battle ships, but in Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. The main Japanese fleet, ignoring Borneo, has headed straight towards Singapur, hoping to catch the british fleet. Only a few beachheads are taken by secondary landing groups in Sarawak to make for airfields that will be vital in the capture of Java and Malaya. In March 1, the Japanese land at Brunei, and two days later capture Kuching.

The british fleet, afraid that the Japanese would try to do another La Spezia with them and knowing that the Japanese fleet is very superior, leaves Singapur the night of March 4 and tries to escape towards Java, with hopes of joining with the Royal Dutch East Indies Fleet and the Australian Navy to make a task force that is able to relieve Malaya. However, the next morning they’re intercepted by Japanese reconnaissance planes from the carrier Akagi. What follows is one of the worst defeats in the history of the Royal Navy.




www.commonpedia.org/Battle_of_the_Equator
Date: March 5, 1941
Place: Around the Equator line, halfway between Sumatra and Borneo
Battle results: Decisive Japanese Victory. British Far East fleet destroyed as an effective combat force.

Japanese losses: 1 cruiser
4 destroyers
12 planes

British losses: 2 aircraft carriers (HMS Hermes sunk, HMS Argus scuttled)
3 cruisers
1 battlecruiser
8 destroyers
80 planes

…this battle was the worst defeat inflicted to the Royal Navy in centuries and was key in giving the Japanese control over the Indonesian seas and in shortening the Malaya campaign.

HMS Exeter sinks in the Battle of the Equator, March 5 1941
​

From Fotogramas: Revista de Cine, Madrid, 2004

…This remake of the classic french film L’histoire de Mennerat (1953) adds Hollywoodian glamour and CGI to a classical history, also told in comics such as the Indochina Anabasis by british writer Alan Miller. This history of general Mennerat’s 5th brigade withdrawing from the Japanese invasion of Indochina in 1941 through hundreds of kilometres of Vietnamese jungle until reaching the Chinese lines had always tempted Holywood. Ronald Reagan already attempted a remake in 1960, and James Bedford another one in 1981. But it has been James Cooey who has finally taken the burden of creating the American version of this classic GWI history.

Don't bite your nails any more: the next update will cover the first weeks of fall Schwarz.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Yes, but when?

Tomorrow, I hope. In fact it's already half-written, but it's 1 AM and whatever I write between now and going to bed will be of subpar quality.

I like the new style btw...and the British defeat...things were going to well for the allies in comparison to the Wehrmacht wank-fest of OTL...

Actually, they haven't done that bad when compared to the japanese wank that were the first months of the Pacific War in OTL. At least the british fleet got the chance to go down fighting instead of being pwned in port as it happened in OTL.

For the new style, thanks, it's far easier for me to write, but it will still take me a while to be comfortable with it. I can't help but think that this way it loses a bit of "atmosphere".

 

[Milarqui]

Tomás Clancy Rebollo

Hey, I find it funny that Tom Clancy turns out to be a Spaniard in your story. Did Tom's father fought in Spain during the GIW and found love in one of our Latin belles?

¡Viva España!

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hey, I find it funny that Tom Clancy turns out to be a Spaniard in your story. Did Tom's father fought in Spain during the GIW and found love in one of our Latin belles?
!

Finally, someone spotted that. I guess that's the explanation.

New update in the works, I'll see to finish it before I go to bed.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

What you have been waiting for:

FALL SCHWARZ: THE INVASION OF SPAIN
“Inform the president and the council of national defense that the enemy is conducting a large scale artillery shelling of my positions. It has started. “ –Enrique Líster, February 18 1941.

“Spaniards, the day we have been fearing has arrived. This night, the german army has entered Spanish territory. This is the day we have been waiting for. Spain will the grave of Nazism. Let the huns know the might of Spanish people and of our revolution!” – President Buenaventura Durruti, later that day.


The german attack everybody has been expecting starts shortly before dawn of February 18. In a front covering less than 500 kilometers from the Basque Country to Catalonia, two million german soldiers attack an allied defense of roughly the same size.

The panzer divisions have been completely reinforced and outfitted after the 1940 carnage. Armed with Panzer III and with the Panzer IV in development, the german armoured divisions now have far superior armament and armour than the allies, who still use the Matildas and some salvaged French Somuas as the core of their armour. Only the Spanish Prims can compete with the latest models of german tanks, but the few prototypes that have been built are not suitable for combat yet. Worse yet, the german commanders have learned from the mistakes of 1940 and their armoured doctrine is now more coherent. If they can reach the Castilian plains, the german panzer divisions commanded by Rommel (whose troops are assigned to the Navarra sector) will have a field day.

IF they can reach the Castilian plains. All this discussion is academic unless the german troops can cross the formidable barrier the Pyrenees are, guarded by an enormous force of allied soldiers. Large armoured formations are of little use there. The initial german attack is spearheaded by large numbers of mountain trained soldiers and SS units, together with the elite of Goering’s Fallschirmjager, supported by… well, cannon fodder. Elite or fodder, very few of these men will live to see February 19. The mountain passes are very well defended, and after some hours it is just the sheer german numerical superiority at some key points what allows the germans to advance.

The chaos among allied lines is also important. Despite having the entire winter to prepare, the allies do not have much resembling a unified command. While the british and French have coordinated their troops, the Spaniards insist in having a separate command. To add for the chaos, the anarchist militias –a large percentage of the Spanish army, that still hasn’t completed its mechanization- have an independent command that answers only to the government. This situation is a recipe for disorder when german paratroopers land deep into Spanish territory in the night of the 18th. The biggest landings are in Navarra and Catalonia. In the former, around Pamplona and Tudela, whose bridges over the Ebro river the germans think to be key. In the latter, around Andorra to capture the mountain pass in a surprise attack.

“the Spaniards, despite being well armed and fighting with uncommon, suicidal valor, commited serious mistakes in the early stages of the battle, such as refusing to coordinate properly their forces and in general acting with mistrust against the same allied forces that had come to defend their homeland. It is true that they paid a terrible price for it and that later in the war the allied nations fought as one, but many horrible things could have been avoided without Miaja and Durruti’s recklessness”- Winston Churchill


The battle of the Pyrenees lasts a couple of weeks and is another pyrrhic victory for the germans. In the bright side, the allied defenses at the mountains are broken. In the not-so-bright side, the germans have suffered (you guessed it) enormous losses. Some regiments sent with the first wave have been all but wiped out in the first 24 hours. But the armoured reserves are still intact, and the germans still have plenty of infantry to spare…

In the Basque Country, the greatest advances are made through the coast. The germans cross the Bidasoa and advance towards San Sebastián. Within a few days, the city is already the site of a fierce street battle where Von Arnim’s 52nd division is bogged down against basque militias and Spanish regular troops reinforced by Portuguese marines. All over the Basque Country, the german advance is successfully stopped by the numerical superiority of allied troops who want to protect the evacuation of the basque industry and the asturian coal mines. The german plan is working. The main attack is not coming this way.

The main german attack comes through Navarra. Despite having important forces deployed here, this is the weakest point of the allied defense line. Even when it’s clear the advance on San Sebastian is a diversionary attack, the chaos in roads and railroads prevents the allies from adequately reinforcing Navarra. In a week, the germans have broken through the mountain passes and are at the outskirts of Pamplona. If Logroño and Tudela are the key to Castile, Pamplona is the key to these cities. Despite not having the epic scale of latter battles such as Zaragoza, Madrid or Lisboa, Pamplona offers both sides a first taste of what urban warfare will be in the Western Front from now on: a vicious house to house battle where tanks and artillery have little to do. The first german attack is repulsed in March 3, but thanks to sheer numbers, Von Manstein is able to enter the city centre ten days later now reduced to rubble after constant aerial bombings. This battle inspired Pablo Picasso Pamplona, the first and most famous picture in his “horrours of war” series. By this moment, german units have been able to make contact with the par, atroopers, that, despite being evicted from their landing zones at Tudela, have been wreaking havoc behind allied lines for three weeks.

Australian troops defending Tudela



Pamplona after the battle. This iconic picture of Estafeta street (where the running of the bulls takes place) was used to great effect by spanish propaganda.

In Aragón, the initial german attacks have little success and the wehrmacht is barely able to hold on to the mountain passes of Canfranc and Somport before being stopped near Jaca. Only the domino effect of the german advances at Navarr and Catalonia is able to break the front here.

In Catalonia, assigned to Gert Von Rundstedt’s 4th army, the german objective is to capture Barcelona. Not only is the Catalonian industry vital to the Spanish war effort, even is most is being evacuated south, but the capture of the second Spanish city will be a great blow to allied morale.

The german advance through the coast, using plenty of state of the art tanks spearheaded by Heinz Guderian’s 3rd panzer armee is surprisingly stopped just north of Gerona after 5 days of battle by the determined resistance of Líster’s 5th army along with the South African and Indian expeditionary forces.

However, the road to Barcelona would be open by the decisive german victory at Andorra. The little principality, oblivious to the currents of history since the Middle Ages, (and which hasn’t needed to declare war on Germany since they did not sign peace in 1918) is invaded in the first hours of February 18 as german paratroopers land around Andorra la Vella. The principality had been occupied by French and Spanish troops in October and the Valleys’ Council [1] had approved the creation of a militia force to defend the Principality.

[1]Andorra’s parliament prior to the adoption of a constitution in 1993


From The New York Times, February 1991
“50 years later, the Principality of Andorra celebrates Remembrance Day, when the Andorran Defence Force fought during days the german elite paratroopers armed with little more than hunting guns. Andorra remembers today her fallen in the battle and the two years of brutal german occupation –it was the Western European country with the largest percentage of deaths during WWII, and would end sending a small contingent under Spanish command in the liberation of France.”



Despite the valiant defense of Andorra la Vella by Spanish and Andorran units, the germans are able to occupy the Principality and gain access to Catalonia. Líster’s defense of Gerona will be proven useless as the germans break through the Pyrenees and advance by the Catalonian countryside towards Cardona and Lleida, trying to reach Barcelona from the northwest and trapping Líster’s army at Gerona.

The allied strategy of stopping the germans at every point failed. Despite holding out in Aragon and San Sebastian, the german breakthroughs in Pamplona and Andorra had allowed the germans to penetrate deep enough into Spanish territory to reach the Ebro valley. Worse, developments at the basque sector will not only allow the germans a decisive victory, but be the germ of one of the greatest issues and traumas the Republic will have to endure in the decades following the war…

Propaganda image of german tanks advancing through Catalonia, probably taken near Gerona.

 

[Goldstein]

How can I describe this entry...

...hum... "better than sex", perhaps?

On another note...I've been re-reading some parts of the TL and I'm still very unconvinced by the style and terminology that Durruti uses in his first address to the Spanish people... is that intentional?

 

[Condottiero]

The nazis cooperated with lots of nationalistic movements in Europe, even the basques of the PNV tried to gain their support against Franco. Are they going to do the same ITTL and create nazi-allied basque and catalan states?

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

How can I describe this entry...

...hum... "better than sex", perhaps?

Best praise ever, even when I'm still not happy with the end result.

On another note...I've been re-reading some parts of the TL and I'm still very unconvinced by the style and terminology that Durruti uses in his first address to the Spanish people... is that intentional?

It's partly intentional partly my lack of skills as a writer. Durruti has changed a lot in these 4 years from his OTL self, and TTL's Spain is becoming in some ways a western analogue of OTL's Soviet Union, specially when it comes to propaganda. The bombastic language is an example of this. That and that I don't know how to do better.

The nazis cooperated with lots of nationalistic movements in Europe, even the basques of the PNV tried to gain their support against Franco. Are they going to do the same ITTL and create nazi-allied basque and catalan states?

Worse, developments at the basque sector will not only allow the germans a decisive victory, but be the germ of one of the greatest issues and traumas the Republic will have to endure in the decades following the war…

 

[Japhy]

NAZI-BASQUES

Oh wait that happened in the original Timeline too, I shouldn't be suprised

Anyway, Doc, the New format is good, just keep the updates coming please.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

This update deals with many things happening at the same time, including some that will only be explained in the next update. So don’t worry if you’re feeling lost.

THE BATTLE OF THE EBRO

Despite the germans still having the initiative, the OKH is less than happy. Casualties were expected to be incredibly high, and the advance was supposed to be slow. However, casualties are being too high, and the advance has stopped in many sectors. After the fall of Pamplona, Navarra is almost entirely under german occupation, but the german paratroopers have been evicted from the bridges that cross the Ebro. Meanwhile, only the steady german pressure on San Sebastian is keeping the allies from trying to flank the german spearheads in Navarra. Almost a month has gone by since the start of the invasion, and the Wehrmacht is still in the north bank of the Ebro. In Berlin, planners who trusted in seeing Spain subdued before August, start to think that maybe all of 1941 will be consumed in occupying Iberia, inch by inch.

In the east the situation is better, with the german tanks approaching Barcelona and forcing Líster and Auchinleck to withdraw from Gerona, and the Spaniards falling back steadily towards Zaragoza. But the german plans still rely in a decisive victory in the west. Maybe the paratroopers failed to capture the bridges over the Ebro, but now hordes of german soldiers are ready to cross the river by brute force, allowing the wehrmacht to penetrate into Castile and menacing to cut off the allied divisions defending the basque country.

Between March 17 and the second week of april, the ebro Valley between Miranda de Ebro to the north and Tudela to the south witnesses the most brutal battles in this war so far. Maybe the siege of Zaragoza will hold a greater symbolic value, but this is the battle that decides the outcome of the war for 1941. The germans know that this strip of land –the Ribera- is the gate to Castile, the sea and Madrid, the allies know it too and commit large amounts of troops to the battle.

It is here where Rommel’s tactical genius will start haunting the allied commanders. In a series of swift advances, his armoured divisions are able to break through just east of Logroño and cross the river. In a few days, the 3rd Panzer Division has arrived to Najera, cutting in half the Spanish lines. The Spanish and French divisions that could menace his flank are tied trying to deal with the basque situation. With most of the Spanish airforce tied sending airborne help to the defenders of Zaragoza, the Luftwaffe is finally able to have air superiority over part of the battlefield, and attacks the allied positions to great effect.

When the situation in the basque country becomes desperate and with the germans at the gates of Bilbao, the allied defenders of Miranda de Ebro must withdraw towards Castile to avoid being encircle. Many of them will not make it. In mid-april, Rommel’s tanks are now at the Castilian border. When fresh troops arrive, and with the allies withdrawing in disarray, the germans will finally be able to blitz towards the sea.

[this has been no blitzkrieg whatsoever. Rommel has been basically slugging for almost a month through a front less than 100 km long. There’s nothing here of OTL’s swift and elegant pincer movements. That’s why, just like after Gembloux, the germans have to stop and reorganize]

Erwin Rommel inspecting troops at his Pamplona headquarters


THE BASQUE TREASON

Since 1937 the Abwehr had developed a small but secure spy network in Bilbao. Basque bourgeoisie, despite being staunchly anglophile, had started developing a fascination by nazi germany during the late 30’s, as the power of the left in Spain increased with british support.

It is through this network that Erwin Rommel, in the name of other german generals, contacts the basque autonomous government. In exchange for basque support ending the stalemate at San Sebastian, Germany compromises to protect an independent basque state. Other than allowing passage to german troops, no further involvement from the basques will be demanded.

The basque president, José Antonio Aguirre, is neither a nazi nor a fascist. He isn’t even very conservative for Spanish standards. Since 1938 his autonomous government has had a coalition of nationalists, socialists and liberal republicans. Or it is supposed to, since after the passing of the War Measures acts in 1940, most of basque autonomy has been stripped in favour of military and central rule. These measures are supposedly temporary until the Nazis are defeated, but in this moment Aguirre is not so sure that the Nazis, who have just crossed the Ebro, can be defeated. He is not that sure, either, that the measures are temporary. Propaganda is overstating the unity of Spaniards against the invaders, and autonomic governments are being stripped of their powers all over the entire country. Durruti’s ascension to the presidency has done nothing to calm him. Besides his dislike of anarchist ideology, Aguirre fears that the anarchists will use their power to shape postwar Spain as a union of communes with little or no power to the regions. Sitting at his office with little to do, Aguirre fears that an allied victory will mean the end for his dream of a self-governing basque homeland.

Aguirre is not a nazi, but some of his advisors, such as secretary of interior Juan Ajuriaguerra, see the third reich with more sympathy. During February and early march, Aguirre and the Basque Nationalist Party directive argue whether cooperating with Rommel or not. Of course, these arguments are kept secret from Aguirre’s non nationalist allies.

It is Besteiro’s decision to integrate the basque militias into the regular army now that the germans are penetrating into the basque lands what upsets the balance in favour of those willing to accept the german deal. Through a complicated mesh of messengers and spies, Rommel is informed that Aguirre has accepted in March 15. The date for the basque uprising is set for the 21st

The basque militias had been set up in 1940 as a Basque National Guard depending on the autonomous government. By law, they could not exceed two divisions and could not deploy heavy armament. Due to the secrecy with which the uprising was prepared, many basque units did not receive word, and in fact many refused to join it and kept fighting in the allied side.

In March 20, three german divisions invade the basque country from the south to try to make contact with Von Arnim and reach Vitoria and Bilbao. Already that day, there are reports of basque units attacking allied supply convoys and headquarters, but they get lost in the chaos of the chain of command. It becomes official the next day, when Aguirre launches a broadcast proclaiming the independence of the Basque State and announcing that the Basque Militias (soon basque army) now fight on the german side. By this moment the germans are already near Vitoria.

The battle for the Basque Country lasts a few more weeks of chaos and ends with four allied divisions –three Spanish and one French- trapped at Bilbao together with their equipment. The basque militias, badly armed and trained, do not do much actul damage, but cause enough chaos to allow the germans advance to Bilbao and conquer the Basque Country, liberating Rommel’s northern flank and causing a huge morale blow to the Spaniards.

The events of March 20 1941 are the germ of the worst issues the Republic will have to endure after the liberation.

Basque president Aguirre.

ZARAGOZA

From Memories of a savage detective, by Fabricio Bolaño; Ed. Anagrama, Madrid, 2010.

…an hilarious and haunting memory book, from one of the top Spanish writers of the end century…

…as a kid of the 60’s, I grew up on an aerodynamic, aerospatial, aeronuclear Spain, where the kids of my age played marines in India, spies in Istanbul or space cowboys in the lunar colonies that we were sure would be started one day or another. Growing up in Zaragoza, where pretty much everything was fifteen years old when I was born, helped. Zaragoza was glass and steel in the middle of the Ebro desert, a provincial catholic Muscat avant-la-lettre.

…my friends and I used to play where my grandparents had used to pray. Using the remains of the vaults as goals, we played world cups on what remained of El Pilar. The rest of the former church was now under the gigantic plaza, crushed under the summer sun that made the glass towers of the downtown glitter along the river.

…Franco and Castaños stared at each other from their respective statues, probably arguing who deserved better recognition as the hero of the city. Franco won by landslide: every year in primary school, Castaños and his defenders against Napoleon only got a mild eulogy, while Franco got his own day where, year after year, we had to write essays about his heroism and service to the Republic, with only my calligraphy getting better as I progressed towards secondary school.

 

[Tocomocho]

I wonder if the Nazis would let the Basques use that obvious rip-off of the Union Jack, or will they force something closer to their tastes like this...

 

[Tocomocho]

Or this...

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Awesome! Neo-Nazi ETA in the 1950s!

That's the least of the spanish problems with the basques...

Also, Rommel is a field Marshal! sweet! (That's a marshal's baton what he's holding as he inspect his troops)

He's not yet, he's just holding the Marshal baton while the Marshal is at the bathroom.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I wonder if the Nazis would let the Basques use that obvious rip-off of the Union Jack, or will they force something closer to their tastes like this...

Nah, that's too obvious and the basque state will have (at the beginning) a status similar to Denmark, under german ocupation but with great autonomy. Instead of ripping off the nazi flag, the basques could adopt the ancient navarran standard, still used today by many radical nationalists:

 

[Archangel]

Excellent updates!

Despite not having the epic scale of latter battles such as Zaragoza, Madrid or Lisboa, Pamplona offers both sides a first taste of what urban warfare will be in the Western Front from now on: a vicious house to house battle where tanks and artillery have little to do.

Our beloved Peninsula will mirror OTL Russia in the WW2.
In OTL, there was an obscure plan to declare the Azores independent in case of invasion in the WW2. In TTL, a variant of the plan could be used to transfer the Portuguese government to the Azores, in case things get complicated in the continent.

…as a kid of the 60’s, I grew up on an aerodynamic, aerospatial, aeronuclear Spain,

Sounds like Spain will get nukes?

…Growing up in Zaragoza, where pretty much everything was fifteen years old when I was born, helped. Zaragoza was glass and steel in the middle of the Ebro desert, a provincial catholic Muscat avant-la-lettre.

It's very evocative of total war.

…my friends and I used to play where my grandparents had used to pray. Using the remains of the vaults as goals, we played world cups on what remained of El Pilar. The rest of the former church was now under the gigantic plaza, crushed under the summer sun that made the glass towers of the downtown glitter along the river.

Was the Cathedral rebuilt later?

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Sounds like Spain will get nukes?

More an evocation of the nuclear optimism of the 60's.

Was the Cathedral rebuilt later?

It hints that it was left in ruins as a memorial.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Durruti's speech after the death of Azaña was slightly out of character. As Dthntze pointed to me in a PM, such bombastic style doesn't fit well with his personality. He has has written a new, way better version that I'm sure all of you will enjoy:


"Fellow Spaniards, the president Manuel Azaña has died. It would only be fair to remember him as a wise and competent man who consumed his last breath organizing restlessly the defense of our people. Let the History remember him as he deserves. Now, the constitution requires me to receive his baton of resistance.
I'm going to be honest with you: The situation has never been so dire. Our land, our homes, our beloved ones, are about to be raped and ravaged by the nazi hordes. Our revolution, born out of the pain and the hope of our people, is about to be vanished forever. Our northern cities are being bombed hour by hour, the nazi war machine is being deployed in occupied France, ready for our subjugation. The mankind is at the gates of its darkest age, and every people that has faced the nazi tide of hate and subjection, has fallen.

But let me tell you, companions, that Spain will not be the next! We will resist, because we must and because we can resist, because we've got too much to win and too much to lose! We will resist with the help of our French and British allies, of our Iberian and Latin American blood brothers, which will fight to our side until every span of Spanish soil becomes the grave of a German invader! We will resist and we will wake the world from the nazi nigthmare that storms it! It would not be the first time that our people put the first nail in a tyrant's grave!
Remember every time, my fellow Spaniards, that you carry a new world within your hearts, and that world will resist even the worst siege and will grow stronger, as long as you keep the fight united in brotherhood as one! The future generations are staring at this moment. Let them remember this very moment with the true pride that only the free men can experience!"

 

[Goldstein]

Don't try Spanish food.

Legumes, garlic and viscera... the cornerstone of any nutritious meal