Spain in World War II

The Spanish State under General Franco was officially non-belligerent during World War II. This status was not recognized by international law but in theory amounted to neutrality. Franco's regime supplied material and military support to the Axis Powers in recognition of the heavy assistance it had received in the Spanish Civil War. Despite ideological sympathy, Franco did not bring Spain into the war as a belligerent and stationed field armies in the Pyrenees to dissuade a German occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish policy frustrated German proposals that would have encouraged Franco to take British-controlled Gibraltar.

Following the Spanish Civil War, many supporters of the former Republican government decided to start a movement to overthrow Franco; these members were called the Spanish Maquis. Several guerrilla raids occurred during the timeline of World War II, with most of them happening in 1944. One major confrontation happened in the Val d'Aran valley where a large group of rebels, organized, trained and armed by the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), attacked from France and briefly occupied a small territory in the Pyrenees, while the government of France looked the other way.

The battle lasted four days. The better trained and motivated Spanish Army under the command of the experienced General Moscardó immediately maneuvered to control the main strategic points of the valley and engaged the invaders, pushing them back across the Spanish-French border. The communists had underestimated popular support for the Francoist Regime, and no revolution began as they supposed.

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