Although the ideas of the ruler who stood out from the Spanish Civil War, General Francisco Franco, were undeniably in line with fascism. For years, he refused to endorse this ideology.
Despite the pressure, Spain remained neutral throughout World War II, while still trying to somehow help itself to intervene in the Axis and fight its own unstable economy.
After a meeting in 1940 to discuss Spain's alliance with the Axis powers, Francisco A. Franco was unable to agree on Hitler's question. For Hitler, after defeating the Allies, Franciscos's demand for rule over Gibraltar and several French colonies was too greedy.
Franco, on the other hand, began to notice that in 1940, the war was still going on. The Axis forces will only become more confident and resilient. Throughout the conflict, most of the Spanish media supported Germany.
The main way Spain influenced World War II was through volunteers who served in the Spanish Civil War. Every Spaniard sided with the side they had fought, with more than 18,000 soldiers volunteering to join Nazi Germany.
In 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out, Nazi Germany provided great support to franco's Pikes, in order to repay this favor, after the outbreak of World War II, Spanish Foreign Minister Ramón Sunal proposed to form a Spanish volunteer force to join the German camp to participate in the war.
Franco agreed to the proposal after weighing the pros and cons, but he believed that relations with the West could not be undermined, so he demanded that the Spanish volunteers should only fight the Soviet Union.
After World War II, Francisco Franco remained in power for three decades, becoming the last legendary dictator of the 20th century.
By the time the Cold War broke out, the West's first priority was to overthrow communism, and politicians in the United States and Britain believed it was best to avoid discussing Franco's previous partnership with Germany.