Re: No Hitler: Polish-German Danzig war

On Aug 28, 2:25=A0am, "Michele" <nospammiar...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Rich Rostrom" <rrostrom.21stcent...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> ha scritto nel
messaggionew=
s:rrostrom.21stcentury-E08CDC.01164028082008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > Jack Linthi*** <jacklinthi...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> >> The primary reason why Franco
> >>would not participate in an attack on Gibraltar was the sole road was
> >>exposed to the sea and very inadequate.
>
> > No, the primary reason why Franco
> > would not participate in an attack on Gibraltar
> > is that he did not want to go to war with
> > Britain. =A0The details of the attack on Gib
> > were far less significant than the probable
> > cutoff of all Spanish trade
>
> ...where trade doesn't just mean coffee and spices; it means basic
> foodstuffs.
>
> with the Americas,
>
> > the probable loss of Spain's colonies in Africa,
>
> ...maybe not immediately, though surely if the war was lost. OTOH, there
> would be immediate consequences for the Canarias, which weren't just a
> colony.
>
> > and British air attacks on Spanish cities - to
> > mention only a few of the probable results
> > of Spain going to war.
>
> ...that said, the attack on Gibraltar wouldn't be easy, logistically.

Well, we seem to agree, in any case, that Franco didn't join Hitler,
and remained neutral during the second world war, because it was quite
obvious that he would immediately be in very deep trouble militarily.
Unlike Mussolini and Hitler.  It wasn't that Franco knew that Hitler
would lose.  It was simply that it was obvious that Spain could not
possibly win.

Franco was actually fantastically lucky throughout his political
career.  He was lucky to get sufficient assistance and insufficient
opposition to win the Civil War -- Stalin could probably have crushed
him, if he had wanted to, most Spaniards were left-leaning.  He was
lucky that Spain was in such a weak position during the second world
war that he had no incentive to join in, and that Hitler would
therefore tolerate his neutrality.  He was extremely lucky that the
Cold War with Stalin started up after the second world war, for
otherwise, he would certainly have been isolated and probably removed
from power, as a fascist.  He was lucky that the Spanish were willing
to let him live out his life as a dictator, contenting themselves with
assassinating the Admiral who was positioning himself to continue the
dictator****p toward the end of his life.