This is the first study of the economic relationship between Nazi Germany and Franco's Spain, between the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the end of the Second World War. It demonstrates how, during the Spanish Civil War, the Nazi regime helped General Franco to victory, but at the same time tried to turn Spain into an economic colony. Despite the involved techniques employed by the Nazis to control German trade with Spain—and determined efforts to influence the Spanish mining industry—the Germans were never able to intimidate Franco into completely surrendering control of his national a ... More

This is the first study of the economic relationship between Nazi Germany and Franco's Spain, between the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the end of the Second World War. It demonstrates how, during the Spanish Civil War, the Nazi regime helped General Franco to victory, but at the same time tried to turn Spain into an economic colony. Despite the involved techniques employed by the Nazis to control German trade with Spain—and determined efforts to influence the Spanish mining industry—the Germans were never able to intimidate Franco into completely surrendering control of his national assets. The German situation was weakened in September 1939, when the war against Britain and France effectively cut Spain off from the Third Reich. This book is based on documents in German and Spanish as well as British and American archives.