what if franco's spain had joined the war?

it certainly wouldn't have lead to axis victory, but what would have happened if they had joined the war instead of being neutral ( well officially, he did aid the axis forces and the blue division activley fought)? sorry if this has been discussed before.
 
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It has been. Too lazy to dig up threads, but the general consensus is that it would have been a disaster for Franco (though probably not for Spain, since they'd have been rid of their dictator a few years later), Spain was completely unready for a war so soon after their civil war, they would not have been able to help much or mount a decent offensive against any of their targets (certainly not Gibraltar without extensive German assistance), and in fact, they would have become a liability for the Axis as they would have crumbled very easily in the face of a concerted British offensive and would have needed Germany to patch up their boo-boos as they did with Italy. It is also commonly thought that Franco specifically demanded more and more 'rewards' from Hitler, eventually too much to be possibly granted, so that he would be able to avoid allying with Hitler without openly breaking with him.
 

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Pretty much a bigger drag on the Axis than Italy could ever hope to be. It also means in the short run the fall of Gibraltar and Malta. If Churchill survives the political fallout then Spain falls into famine. Likely its the target of invasion in 1942 and becomes Stalin's 2nd Front. Lots of destruction, but huge aid money after the war and a lot better economy than under Franco post-war. Italy might well actually switch sides later on depending.
But if Malta falls then there is a slight chance Rommel could well win in North Africa, but if not then the Spanish campaign drags out the North African one and Italy stays in the war a lot longer and things progress at a much slower rate in the Mediterranean/Balkans for the Wallies. By the time of Normandy in 1944 ITTL that will basically just end up being TTL's version of Operation Anvil and would finish off German resistance in France, as they'd be beaten to hell trying to defend Spain.

If the loss of Gibraltar and Malta topples Churchill, then things get a lot trickier in the long run.
 
Well Britain might be able to launch an assault by way of Portugal and Gibraltar. Wonder if the Portuguese might try to get some territory.

It's probably good news for Britain in the long run, but might mean a bit more panic at home if it comes at a particularly bad time. Might delay Barbarossa a bit.
 
would the spanish have taken part in the holocaust? or would franco have just done a mussolini and simply hand spanish jews over and leave it at that?
to the best of my knowlage the falange wern't all that anti-semitic.
 
Pretty much a bigger drag on the Axis than Italy could ever hope to be. It also means in the short run the fall of Gibraltar and Malta. If Churchill survives the political fallout then Spain falls into famine. Likely its the target of invasion in 1942 and becomes Stalin's 2nd Front. Lots of destruction, but huge aid money after the war and a lot better economy than under Franco post-war. Italy might well actually switch sides later on depending.
But if Malta falls then there is a slight chance Rommel could well win in North Africa, but if not then the Spanish campaign drags out the North African one and Italy stays in the war a lot longer and things progress at a much slower rate in the Mediterranean/Balkans for the Wallies. By the time of Normandy in 1944 ITTL that will basically just end up being TTL's version of Operation Anvil and would finish off German resistance in France, as they'd be beaten to hell trying to defend Spain.

If the loss of Gibraltar and Malta topples Churchill, then things get a lot trickier in the long run.

As I see it depends on the help Franco obtains in return and it also makes the war in the Atlantic more tricky.
 
The country still had lots of pro republic people fighting in the hills. If Franco fights they get the backing of the world and get control of the country after Franco gets crushed.
 
The country still had lots of pro republic people fighting in the hills. If Franco fights they get the backing of the world and get control of the country after Franco gets crushed.

i imagine america and britain would be really keen to make sure spain doesn't get turned into a soviet puppet state....
 
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