During World War II, the Axis powers were invincible on all fronts and sang triumphant songs in unison. In the European theater, Germany occupied most of Europe, forcing Britain to hang alone, and beating the Soviet Union to the point of annihilation.
We must see, however, that the Axis were able to achieve these victories in large part because the Germans were very powerful. Germany's allies, on the other hand, not only did not help much, but they also did their best to pull their hind legs.
Italy, for example, was a joke in World War II; Romania and Hungary, for example, hated each other far more than they hated the Soviets. When they encountered the Soviet army, both armies were on the verge of collapse; and when the two countries were infighting, both armies were as brave as tigers. In the eyes of many people, there was only one really powerful servant army in Germany, and that was the Blue Division from Spain.
During World War II, Spain, like Germany and Italy, was a fascist country, brutally ruled by the dictator Franco. As early as the Spanish Civil War, Germany and Italy had helped Franco a lot. However, after the outbreak of World War II, Franco chose to remain neutral, that is, not to join the Axis powers, even if Germany won in the major battlefields, Spain was not moved.
However, when Franco heard that Germany was preparing to invade the Soviet Union, he immediately led the Spaniards into the war. Franco went to war because, on the one hand, he wanted to use Germany's strength to grab a little booty; on the other hand, Franco hated the Soviet Union very much, and during the Spanish Civil War, the Soviets had been fighting against him, and the relationship between the two was in the same water and fire. In order to retaliate against the Soviet Union, Franco decided to organize a volunteer army to fight with Germany.
Although Franco fought in the Soviet-German war, he stressed that he was not an ally of Germany and only sent volunteers to seek revenge on the Soviet Union. He carefully selected a force of 18,000 men, most of whom were veterans and fascists who hated the Soviet Union and the Bolsheviks to the extreme. Because they wore blue uniforms, they were called the Blue Division.
As soon as the Blue Division arrived on the battlefield, it showed the belligerence and toughness of the Spaniards. The Blue Division seemed to be more defensive than offensive, causing a lot of trouble for the Soviets. This is in stark contrast to the Italians and Romanians who are on the verge of collapse. Whether in the siege of Smolensk or in the pincer offensive against Leningrad, the Blue Division was able to perform the tasks assigned by its superiors.
In the bad weather of minus 40 degrees, the Spaniards were still fighting the Soviets to the death, they did not eat, did not sleep, and fought in a frenzy. The Soviets had persuaded them to surrender, but they were sharply refused. After the bloody battle, the Blue Division captured more than 5,000 Soviet troops, and for this merit, germany awarded each of their soldiers the Iron Cross.
However, as the situation in the Soviet-German war reversed, the German army began to retreat, and Franco began to consider the fate of himself and the Blue Division. At that time, the Blue Division was severely reduced, the casualty rate was as high as 75%, 3645 casualties, 300 were captured, and if they continued to fight, they would probably be completely annihilated. So, the cunning Franco, on the pretext that the purpose of the war had been achieved, re-declared himself a neutral country and withdrew the Blue Division to the country. The final casualties of the Blue Division on the Eastern Front were: 3334 killed, 8466 wounded and 326 missing.
In order to repay the Spaniards for their help, the Germans are still taking on the task of retiring the veterans of the Blue Division. A one-year pension of more than €100,000 was paid to 41 veterans wounded in the war in Nazi Germany, the widows of eight deceased veterans, and orphans left behind by a volunteer of the "Blue Division".