Aircraft
Armoured equipment
Armoured Equipment Spanish Civil War
Infantry Weapons
Spanish volunteers in German forces
Armoured Tractors
Armoured Trucks
Armoured equipment
Armoured Equipment Spanish Civil War
Infantry Weapons
Spanish volunteers in German forces
Armoured Tractors
Armoured Trucks
Main article: Spain in World War II
Italian and German intervention had aided the Franco government in the recent Spanish Civil War, but Franco and Hitler did not achieve an agreement about Spanish participation in the new war. Galicia became an alternate source of tungsten for the Reich. Despite its non-belligerency, Spain sent volunteers to fight against the Soviet Union in the form of the Blue Division. As the Allies emerged as possible victors, the regime declared neutrality in July 1943. Removal of Spanish troops from the Eastern Front was completed in March 1944.
Spain did make plans for defence of the country. Initially, the mass of the Spanish army was stationed in southern Spain in case of Allied attack from Gibraltar during 1940 and 1941. However, Franco ordered the divisions to gradually redeploy in the Pyrenees as Axis interest in Gibraltar grew. By the time it became clear that the Allies were gaining the upper hand, Franco had amassed all his troops on the French border and was assured that the Allies did not wish to invade Spain.