Post by account_disabled on Mar 12, 2024 3:27:45 GMT
The report of May 8 by Martínez Campos When the Civil War ended, the Nationalist Army became what the regime called the “Army of Peace,” reducing its size from the equivalent of about 57 divisions to 25. In April 1940, the reorganization of the Spanish divisions was completed. The authorities of the regime, mainly the Falangists, wanted Spain to recover its imperial projection and to do so join the Axis powers in the war, occupying the position at the table of the victors that they believed belonged to it. The military authorities were much more cautious regarding the participation of the Spanish Army during World War II. The first to warn about the poor situation of the troops was General Kindelán, who, already in September 1939, through confidential reports, warned of the inability to defend the Balearic Islands in the event of a coup by Italians or French. An empire in espadrilles.
The Spanish Army during World War II The image corresponds to the cover of the report presented on May 8, 1940 by the head of the EME, General Martínez Campos. In the Spanish military archives there are thousands of secret reports and documents prepared during the Second World War. Source: Municipal Archive of Cádiz. Varela Fund. Box 99-181. On May 8, 1940, just two days before the B2B Email List German invasion of France began, the head of the EME, General Martínez Campos, presented a top secret report to the Minister of the Army, General Varela, entitled Considerations regarding the organization of the Army and its possible intervention in the European conflict . The report consists of 27 pages and is divided into four large chapters: operations, organization and mobilization, weapons and material, and final considerations. On the second page of the report he shows his negative opinion of participation in the war: “Spain, after a three-year war of attrition, is too weak to intervene, both on one side and on the other, and it would be better for it, at all costs, be neutral .” (The emphasis is ours) Although Martínez Campos recognized in the report that a certain gratitude was owed to Germany for the help provided during the Spanish War and for the ideological affinity, he also pointed out that it had not minded signing a pact with the USSR in August 1939 or that Mussolini's Italy remained neutral and awaiting the evolution of the war in May 1940.
Furthermore, after the invasion of Denmark and Norway it did not seem that the great powers were going to be willing to respect neutral nations, in fact only Two days after presenting this report, Germany invaded neutral Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. So, in his opinion, when Italy decided on which side it would participate in the war it would be the most dangerous moment for Spain, since it would break the status quo in the Mediterranean so one of the powers could intervene in the Balearic Islands, which had already It was a base of Italian operations during the Civil War, or in the Protectorate of Morocco , where a French intervention would mean the definitive closure of the Strait, with which Spain would be forced to defend its territory. The development of the war in Europe was promptly sent to Madrid by the military attachés of the Spanish embassies in classified files and until now buried and inaccessible in the military archives. During the first months of 1940, the Balearic Islands would be one of the greatest military concerns for the regime, since the general commander of the islands, General Kindelán, considered that the powers could take control of them through a landing or a “courtesy visit.” , that is, the friendly stopover of a strong naval squadron that would later issue an ultimatum. In anticipation of any of these eventualities, Kindelán warned about the need to protect the archipelago by increasing the units deployed, carrying out fortification works or reinforcing coastal artillery, among other things.
The Spanish Army during World War II The image corresponds to the cover of the report presented on May 8, 1940 by the head of the EME, General Martínez Campos. In the Spanish military archives there are thousands of secret reports and documents prepared during the Second World War. Source: Municipal Archive of Cádiz. Varela Fund. Box 99-181. On May 8, 1940, just two days before the B2B Email List German invasion of France began, the head of the EME, General Martínez Campos, presented a top secret report to the Minister of the Army, General Varela, entitled Considerations regarding the organization of the Army and its possible intervention in the European conflict . The report consists of 27 pages and is divided into four large chapters: operations, organization and mobilization, weapons and material, and final considerations. On the second page of the report he shows his negative opinion of participation in the war: “Spain, after a three-year war of attrition, is too weak to intervene, both on one side and on the other, and it would be better for it, at all costs, be neutral .” (The emphasis is ours) Although Martínez Campos recognized in the report that a certain gratitude was owed to Germany for the help provided during the Spanish War and for the ideological affinity, he also pointed out that it had not minded signing a pact with the USSR in August 1939 or that Mussolini's Italy remained neutral and awaiting the evolution of the war in May 1940.
Furthermore, after the invasion of Denmark and Norway it did not seem that the great powers were going to be willing to respect neutral nations, in fact only Two days after presenting this report, Germany invaded neutral Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. So, in his opinion, when Italy decided on which side it would participate in the war it would be the most dangerous moment for Spain, since it would break the status quo in the Mediterranean so one of the powers could intervene in the Balearic Islands, which had already It was a base of Italian operations during the Civil War, or in the Protectorate of Morocco , where a French intervention would mean the definitive closure of the Strait, with which Spain would be forced to defend its territory. The development of the war in Europe was promptly sent to Madrid by the military attachés of the Spanish embassies in classified files and until now buried and inaccessible in the military archives. During the first months of 1940, the Balearic Islands would be one of the greatest military concerns for the regime, since the general commander of the islands, General Kindelán, considered that the powers could take control of them through a landing or a “courtesy visit.” , that is, the friendly stopover of a strong naval squadron that would later issue an ultimatum. In anticipation of any of these eventualities, Kindelán warned about the need to protect the archipelago by increasing the units deployed, carrying out fortification works or reinforcing coastal artillery, among other things.