No Nazi and Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War.

Some years ago this led to a discussion of US intervention. I pointed out that the only ready force was a single combined arms brigade of Marines on the east coast. A second brigade could have been sent from the west coast in maybe sixty days, and a base defense battalion or two. Under absolutely best case it would have taken the US Army three months to have a 24,000 man expeditionary force ready on the docks. After mobilization of some reserve officers and probably some National Guard regiments the Army might have had 50,000 ready in six months.

A direct intervention was out of the question, IMO. At the time, the USA were too isolationalist for a direct intervention.
 
Oh certainly, which was reflected in the state of the US Army & War Dept in general. Of course US isolationism did not extend to Latin America, the Banana Wars had dragged on for thirty years. Neither did it prevent the permanent presence of the Asiatic Squadron, the 4th Marine Regiment, and the Army 15th Infantry in China. Nor their reinforcement by the Pacific fleet & a Expeditionary Brigade in 1927 - 28. Europe was a bit different, but Isolationism was ignored when convenient.
 
Hitler is the only reason Franco made it from Morocco to mainland Spain. People tend to forget that the civil war started out as a coup in one of Spain's African colonies. One where Franco commanded the troops. If Hitler didn't help Franco get to Spain, the civil war would be over before it started.
 
What if the Nazis and the Italians never intervened in the Spanish Civil War? Maybe, because, they realize sooner, that, Franco is just a conservative/reactionary Catholic nationalist, and not a, true, fascist. Would the Nationalists, still, have won?

The there is no civil war to start with Franco stays in Africa.

The republican government stay in power and continues with its plans.

Even if the war does somehow get started the nationalists can not win, in the original timeline Italy sent 80,000 soldiers without those then obviously the nationalists preform worse.

And if the USSR send soldiers to fight then that just helps even more, that alternative however opens up the possibility of the democratically elected government having the power stolen from them.
 
Some years ago this led to a discussion of US intervention. I pointed out that the only ready force was a single combined arms brigade of Marines on the east coast. A second brigade could have been sent from the west coast in maybe sixty days, and a base defense battalion or two. Under absolutely best case it would have taken the US Army three months to have a 24,000 man expeditionary force ready on the docks. After mobilization of some reserve officers and probably some National Guard regiments the Army might have had 50,000 ready in six months.

Could you, please, tell me what thread was that?
 
I cant remember. If you are looking for more detail on the US capability my remark covers it. In the 1930s the US War Dept or Army had no actual ready force. Probablly a regiment of brigade could have been scratched together on a emergency basis. About half the Army formations were at 50% to 70% strength and the remaining regular Army formations were little more than cadres. The Navies two Marine brigade comprised the entirety of the US rapid response force of 1937.
 
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It has some interesting potentials, including that the Germans might be compelled to invade Spain in 1940-41. Throws quite a bit of WW2 off the historical channels.

I read in another thread that invading Spain from France would be a logistical nightmare.
 
There are no Nationalists without Nazi German intervention and aid. Hell, wasn't Goebbels the one who named them "Nationalists" in the first place? They'd be "reactionary rebels" who got stomped out by the Republicans who armed anarchists and communists to stop them, and then regretted it once the commies and the anarchists turned on them. We'd get a failed coup, followed by a different sort of Civil War. There were enough conservative army elements to still cause issues in the provinces, but there'd be radicalized militias roaming the country as well. It'd probably turn the whole country into a quagmire with respectable democracies trying to figure out whom to back.
 
No. The Nationalists had no airlift capacity to get their troops across from Spanish North Africa, and the Navy supported the Republic. Without Hitler supplying aircraft, Franco would have been left to rot impotently in Morocco and would probably have ended up having to surrender once the lack of supplies bit home.

I read that most high ranking officers of the Navy supported the coup but most low ranking officers didn't, quickly realized what was going on and arrested their superiors.
 
I read that most high ranking officers of the Navy supported the coup but most low ranking officers didn't, quickly realized what was going on and arrested their superiors.

On this, IMO, it could be said that the low ranking Navy officers were more competent in dealing with the coup than the Republican government, which, in our timeline, didn't deal well with the situation.
 
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