División Azul Documental Corto.

BLUE DIVISION

The Blue Division was a unit of Spanish volunteers that served in the German Army on the Eastern Front of the Second World War.

During World War II, Spain watched the international conflict from the sidelines. Spain, under the control of its fascist dictator, Francisco Franco, had to contend with the growing rivalry between Nazism and fascism on one side, and Soviet communism on the other. Between 1936 and 1939, the Iberian nation was torn by a brutal civil war. Franco's side was supported by the Josef Stalin's Soviet Union. The militaristic Falangists upheld the ideals that historically a part of Spain and a strong government to ensure its stability. The Republic, subscribed to a reformed government where the church was diminished in strength, and the Spanish people would be incorporated into a classless system. As a result, the two groups, on opposite sides of the political spectrum, waged a war that devastated Spain. Franco, however, emerged victorious in 1939, after the Falange received military and monetary aid from Germany's Hitler.

When Nazi Germany declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941, Franco felt obliged to send troops against the USSR, since Hitler helped the Falange in its struggle against the Soviet-backed Republic a few years before. For Franco, the fascist war against communism in World War II was an extension of the Spanish Civil War. Therefore, the Spanish leader chose to send a contingent of 18,000 "volunteers" while remaining neutral in the conflict. These Spanish soldiers would repay Franco's debt to Hitler stemming from the civil war, while combating communism at the same time. Although Franco was not ready to engage in war officially, he was so firm in his belief that communism was a threat, that he was willing to put men in harm's way. This action is unique in the history of the Second World War because Spain was never directly involved. 

The thesis will focus on the origins of Franco is Spain's war against Bolshevism, Madrid's position towards Berlin as the war progressed, the diplomacy employed by Madrid during the conflict, and the troop's experiences on the front lines. In addition, the paper will look at the problems that faced not only the Spanish troops, but Spain's diplomacy during the war as it pertained to both the Allied and Axis nations. This paper will then analyze how all of the above issues interrelated to form Spain's policy during the war. Information for this paper was gathered by two basic methods. 

First, an extensive exploration for books. There are very few books written about the Blue Division, therefore a thorough search of libraries throughout the state was necessary. Furthermore, general books on Germany's campaign in Russia was necessary in order to illustrate a broader picture of the war. Second, the internet helped in acquiring journal articles that were not found in the state. Most of the searches done in this manner had to be very specific and were not limited to only one or two keywords. For example, inquiries were made not only by searching "Spanish Blue Division" but other terms as well (such as "Francisco Franco" "Spain / World War II") The main obstacle for researching this project was the lack of books written on the subject. Spain's deployment was a trivial contribution that paled in comparison to that of other nations, such as Germany.

Antecedentes de la segunda guerra

La Segunda Guerra (resumen)

El Último Tren A Auschwitz

MOVIE INFO

Stalingrad director Joseph Vilsmaier teams with his wife, director and actress Dana Vávrová, for this harrowing look at the journey of three Berlin Jews to the dreaded Auschwitz Concentration Camp at the height of World War II. In 1942, Joseph Goebbles' herded scores of Berlin Jews into the Grunewald Railway Station in Berlin under the pretext of protecting them from air raids. Entire families were crammed into overcrowded freight trucks without food or drink and forced to endure a journey of several days as unsympathetic guards loomed ominously nearby with guns at the ready. It was during this time that many of those unfortunate souls surely began to realize that this voyage was only the beginning of their woes: Passengers such as famous pugilist Henry Neumann, singer Jakob Noschik, and frightened teenager Ruth Zilbermann. Now, as they roll ever closer to their grim destiny at Auschwitz, the only question that remains is who will survive this dreadful ordeal? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Germany victories

1939/40

The plan to invasion Poland is a German success, the low Polish resistance surprises everyone. This success is mainly due to the tactics of war lightning. At first, they bombard the enemy with artillery and aviation, then overflow lines and are surrounded by armored vehicles and mechanized forces, infantry finally clean the field. Days later, as had been agreed, the Soviet attacks and invades the eastern half of Poland. France and Britain did not attack the border. The Russo-Finnish war becomes a humiliation for the Red Army, the small Finnish army resists and fights back, eventually overwhelming material superiority of the Russians decide their victory. In April peace sign, Finland lost territories but retains independence. That month, the Germans to the Allied plan of occupation of Norway are ahead and the German army invaded the country and Denmark. In May war just joking on the Western Front when Germany attacks the Netherlands, Belgium and France, it is the yellow plan. The French army is defeated in little over a month. The French failed to distribute its forces. When everything was decided, Mussolini's Italy entered the war alongside Germany, but in a disastrous campaign the Italian army was arrested by French border forces of the Alps. The French defeat marks the end of the Third Republic and the appearance Vichí collaborationist regime led by General Petain. In 1940 Germany, Italy and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact. Zones of influence spread and commit defend each other in case of external, unless they try to attack the USSR or countries already at war. Italy acts on its own and in October to invade Greece. The Greeks not only resist but fight back. Besides the Italian fleet is defeated by the British in Taranto, so that London controls communications in the Mediterranean thanks to their bases in Gibraltar, Malta and Alexandria.

1941/42

The German invasion of Russia (Full documentary)

Germany helps to Italy in their fight against the British in North Africa and sent to Libya to Africa Korps. The British expelled the Italians in East Africa. In April the German army intervened in the Balkans to end the Greek resistance and prevent the British from entering that area. Supported by Italians, Hungarians, Romanians and Bulgarians, the Wehrmacht invaded Yugoslavia and Greece. In May, they occupied Crete. Iraq is invaded when you try to ally with Germany. Additionally forces in June Free France controlled Syria and Lebanon and in August the Allies invade Iran. In 1941 he began Operation Barbarossa, the military campaign largest in history. Germany attacked the Soviet Union, three million men against so many Russian soldiers. The surprise effect is total and Russian prisoners the hundreds of thousands. This winter will be one of the coldest of the century. It will wreak havoc in the German ranks, whose high command had won the war before winter.

In 1941 the Japanese attacked the American naval base Pearl Harbour (Hawaii) from their carriers. This is Japan's response to the oil embargo which the United States was putting him since last July. The Americans demanded that the Japanese leave China and Indochina to remove the embargo, the Japanese militarist government. He decided to solve this problem with a surprise attack. Thus it had neutralizing the American threat and then invade South Asia and access Indonesian oil wells, is called coup de saber to the Japanese advance sur. He will be slowed by the Americans with the battles of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway.

From July to November 1942, after several months of little military activity, German Blue made his operation, the plan of attack from the south to occupy fields. Caucasian oil and take Stalingrad. If so far everything had been successes for the Allies to Germany to the axis, hereinafter all being setbacks and a slow but inexorable advance of the Allies on all fronts.

Allied victories

1942-1943

In November 1942 Zhukov gave the order to attack the flanks in front of Stalingrad troops surround the enemy that is fenced in the city, is the Operation Uranus. This year the allied air attacks on Europe controlled by the axis increases. In July Hitler tries to regain the initiative on the eastern front in attacking Russian Kurst protrusion. The Russians know German intentions, so concentrate their forces in the area. The biggest battle of tanks of the story will end in tables. Then in August, the Russians trigger a major counterattack on the south by the general overflowing the German lines. At the same time the Allied forces land and invade Sicily, is an Operation Husk. Since this operation will highlight the performance and charisma of the American General Patton. Given the new situation, clearly unfavorable for Germany and its allies, General Franco decides to change its international status in November 1943, officially changes from "non-belligerent" (situation in which Spain was considered allied to Germany but put off its entry into the war for the future) to "neutral" so that Spain tries to approach the other side, predictable winner of the war. On April 44 stops sending Spain tungsten to Germany under pressure from allies, will deal a heavy blow to the German armament industry.In November 1943, Allied leaders met in Tehran. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill agree to open a new front in Western Europe to relieve pressure on the Soviet army.

1944

During the first half of 1944 following the German inexorable decline. In the Balkans you have to deal with the guerrillas General Titus, who in December 1943 created a provisional government in their Communist guerrillas controlled territories. In Italy, between January and May 1944, taking place battles Monte Casino and Anzio, the German defeats allow entry of the allies in Rome in June. In September, at the end of these two operations, both the Western Front as the Eastern match the own borders of Germany before the war. An allied forces advancing from the north by France, are joined by reinforcements unload in Provence with the operation Dragoon. On August 25 release Paris and Brussels in September. Between December 1944 and January of the following year, the Germans give their last gasp, the Battle of the Bulge. In an attempt defeat the Allies on the western front, the lack of fuel and the stubborn American resistance prevents it. During this campaign a slaughter of American prisoners of war at Malmedy occurs.

1945

In 1945 Germany is struggling to survive on its own territory. The Russians enter East Prussia and Poland, taking Warsaw in January and releasing the Auschwitz concentration camp. In March the Western Allies made the Varsity operation, the largest airborne action of the story, after this passes to Rin and advance unopposed for the heart of Germany. In April we attended the recent military events in Europe. The Allies take Vienna and achieve the surrender of the Ruhr Army Group under General Model, also release fields Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen. The Russians for their part launched a final offensive against Berlin. After a month of street fighting, Berlin fell. Surprise Japanese forces in Manchuria, they do not offer resistance.During 1945, they are reaching several agreements. That same month at the San Francisco conference the UN was founded, which will become a major forum Mussolini was executed by partisans while trying to flee to Switzerland, Hitler commits suicide to avoid that fate on April 30 along with Eva Braun, with whom he married a few hours earlier. Before dying appoints successor Admiral Karl Doenitz, who signed the German capitulation on 8th May.In Asia, the war will last more. Japan decided to use the atomic bomb and thus double the Japanese resistance. The pumps used are the result of over two years of project workManhattan. The first dropped on 6th August in Hiroshima, the second on 9th August in Nagasaki, Soviet Simultaneously report their non-aggression pact and attack by international politics. After the German surrender allied leaders meet again in Potsdam, near Berlin. This time attends H. Truman as president of US At this meeting the Soviet intervention against Japan is decided, the new frontiers of Germany are set also decide to perform acts of "denazification" of the German population, and the prosecution of Nazi leaders for war crimes.

Affiliate and co-belligerent states.

Other countries in the Axis Alliance.

There were other countries that take part in the Axis Allience. They participated in the war in different ways. Some of the were:

• Hungary - Hungary became the fourth member of the Tripartite Pact. Hungary played a large role in the invasion of Russia.
• Bulgaria - Bulgaria started out on the Axis side of the war, but after being invaded by Russia ended up on the side of the Allies.
• Romania - Similar to Bulgaria, Romania was on the side of the Axis Powers and helped to invade Russia. However, by the end of the war they changed sides and fought for the Allies.
• Finland - Finland never signed the Tripartite Pact, but fought with the Axis countries against Russia.

The belligerents 

 During  World War II fought as partners in one of two major alliances: the Axis and the Allies. The three principal partners in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy, and Japan. The co -belligerent countries of the Axis Powers were: Finland, Thailand, Iraq and Iran.

Controversial cases

States listed in this section were not officially members of the Axis, but at some point during the war engaged in cooperation with one or more Axis members on level that makes their neutrality disputable.

• Spain.
• Denmark.
• Soviet Union.
• Vichy France.
• Yugoslavia.

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Formation of the Axis Powers.

World War II was fought between two major groups of nations. They became known as the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The Forming of the Axis Powers

The alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan started in 1936. First, on October 15, 1936 Germany and Italy signed a friendship treaty that formed the Rome-German Axis. It was after this treaty that Italian dictator Benito Mussolini used the term Axis n September 1923, when he wrote in the preface to Roberto Suster's Germania Repubblica that "there is no doubt that in this moment the axis of European history passes through Berlin". Shortly after this, on November 25, 1936, Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which was a treaty against communism.

An even stronger alliance was signed between Germany and Italy on May 22, 1939 called the Pact of Steel. This treaty would later be called the Tripartite Pact when Japan signed it on September 27, 1940. Now the three main Axis Powers were allies in the war.

During World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied large parts of Europe, North Africa, and East Asia. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, with a bit more between Germany and Italy. The war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, with some nations switching sides or changing their degree of military involvement over the course of the war.

PRECEDENTS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

In 1931 Japan occupied Chinese Manchuria and a year later created the satellite status Manchukuo. The condemnation of the League of Nations (SDN) entail its abandonment this organization. Since 1937, Japan launched the occupation of China, is this conflict will infamous decision and subsequent slaughter of Nanking. In 1933 the Nazis came to power in Germany, as in France governing leftist coalition Popular Front with this endpoint is set to the Franco-German agreement that He had reached the late 20s Since that time Hitler's Germany wrath progressively violating the terms of the Versailles Treaty, first with the remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936), after the occupation of Austria (1938) and

finally a general reset. This was possible thanks to their approach to Italy Mussolini, the Germans were the only support they had when Italy occupied Abyssinia (1935) then they fought together in the Spanish civil war to end the republic and akin to implement a new military dictatorship. Despite this Mussolini enjoyed prestige among Western leaders, who considered him an example for its success in the containment of revolutionary movements. Therefore mediator will Mussolini They are called Munich Agreement (1938) where English (N. Chamberlain) and French (E. Daladier) accepted the partial dismemberment of Czechoslovakia following a policy of appeasement with Hitler. Germany did not respect the agreement in Munich and fully occupied Czechoslovakia, Mussolini invaded meanwhile

Albania. Munich agreements worried the Soviet Union (USSR) Stalin, he feared a possible alliance between Germany anticommunist, democracies Western and Japan (Japan and the USSR remained a border war for few months). Stalin finally manages to gain time by signing a nonaggression pact

Hitler (Molotov-Ribbentrop pact), in which the secret clauses included partition of Poland after his future invasion. Shortly after signing the USSR peace and neutrality with Japan, also ensuring its borders in the east. The September 1, 1939, after an advertising campaign claiming germanizad of the Free City of Danzig (Polish protectorate), and after a false pretense border attack, the German army invaded Poland. A few days after France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, so the war begins.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

DEMOGRAPHIC AND MATERIAL CONSEQUENCES

In addition to the invaluable physical destruction, the war had about 45 millions of victims. Half of the dead are Russians (22 million) followed by Chinese (13 million), Germany (7 million) and Poland (6 million). Yugoslavs and Japanese had about 2 million victims respectively, while French, British and Italians lost about 1/2 million each. the Americans just they had 1/4 million deaths.

IDEOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES

Fascism and Nazism just as discredited ideologies. During 1945 and 1946 the Nuremberg trials, in them come to light aspects are made more negative of the Nazi Regime. Henceforth there will be only two major ideological groups, the pro-capitalist that rests on the idea of freedom and the defense of parliamentary democracy, and pro-communist who supported the idea of equality and the defense of the social justice, both with different manifestations.

ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES

After the war the US economic hegemony was unchallenged. Had more than 50% of P.I.B. worldwide and more than 60% of gold reserves world, this time not adopt its traditional position of neutrality and be involved openly in the economic and political design of the new phase. In the conference Bretton Woods in 1944 the foundations of the new economic order and financial are made world. New monetary system and international institutions were created to regulate

economy (IMF, World Bank, GATT). The challenge posed by the existence of powerful Communist parties in Western Europe, was instrumental in the decision by the United States to help massively to Europe and Japan for its reconstruction and development, is the Marshall plan. In order to demonstrate the superiority of the capitalist model on communist, Western democracies built a social system that it reached a level of prosperity never seen, the welfare state.

POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES

The Russians led to the installation of communist regimes in the Soviet-type liberated countries, especially from Prague coup in 1948. This made react to economic Truman chose to intervene militarily to prevent communist expansion, is called Truman Doctrine. The USSR and the United States involved in the civil wars of Greece and China support each in their respective

side. In 1949 the Western allies created NATO in order to support militarily against the USSR. Now the world is the game board where the two victorious superpowers try to impose their domain, The Cold War begins.

CAUSES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

ECONOMIC CAUSES

Regarding the economic context, we have to remember the crisis' impact of 1929. Facing the bussiness incompetence to resolve this situation for its own, it resorted to the intervencionist politics for driving the economy. Inspired in the economists' ideas, such as John Maynard Keynes, the state became the principal investor, the public expense increased and the economic situation started to improve gradually. Firstly, New Deal of Frankling D. Roosevelt and at the same time, the Nazi economy minister Hjalmar Schacht, that he also was a follower of these new ideas, did the typical in Germany. At the end of the 30's this public intervencionalism was multiplied, although not only in the way of services and infraestuctures (as Keynes defended) it is just that it was reorientated in another sense, towards the rearmament. The previous and simultaneous to the Second World War weapons race got to overtake definitely the crisis of the 30's and returned to the economic rise. The economy's importance to explain the beginning and the development of this war is something in which hightlight authors like Otto Bauer, Angelo Tasca or Guerin.

POLITICAL CAUSES

The hard conditions imposed to Germany in the Versailles Treaty, created the problem for the disseminations of the revanchist ideas. It was the key to understand the success of extreme right groups, like Nationalsocialists or Nazis. Although during the 20's some aspects of Versailles was softened, the general sensations among Germans was that French and English people had abused and han dealed with them unfairly. In Italy, they neither agreed with the Treaty, but for another reasons. The English and Frech people had not accomplished their promises with Italy and they had not achieved to anex the territories of Yugoslavia (the coastal region of Dalmatia). This was caused by the radical Italian groups that talked about mutilated victory and of irredentism ( incomplete Italian nation).

IDEOLOGICAL CAUSES

In both Germany and Japan nationalistic ideologies that spread, they justified the supremacy of these countries for their environment. In Germany and since the beginning of the nineteenth century there were authors who defended racial superiority and culture of the Germans as Fichte or Haushofer, is called Germanism. From this premise considered legitimate to its neighbors so it became a justification of expansionism and imperialism. Also happened in Japan, its industrial superiority used to justify ideas of racial supremacy. Its aim will create what they called "Asian co prosperity sphere" great Asian empire led by Japan without European colonial powers. These ideas of supremacy national and racial be fully assumed by the Nazis, who joined their strong Semitism, rejection of democracy and the defense of elitism and hierarchy born among men, which speaks Erich Fromm in his book "Fear to freedom. "

Racism joined pseudo science eventually leading to intellectual aberrations as "racial hygiene" or eugenics, ideological origins of the Holocaust. The importance of the ideological aspects in the rise of totalitarianism and you outbreak of the 2nd World War is something that include authors like Zeeb Sternell or George Mosse.

DEMOGRAPHIC CAUSES

The crisis of the 29 took place in a context of increasing population. During the 20's prosperity had led to a population increase, now the situation had changed and very difficult crisis to keep all this population. Neo-Malthusian authors consider that one of the reasons for the war was to restore the demographic balance.

Introduction, The Second World War

The Second World War is considered the biggest warlike conflict in the History. Any other conflict before neither after has equalised in the grade of resources mobilisations( material and humans) neither in the number of victims. For explaining this event, the topic is divided in three sections: Causes, development and repercussions. The causes and repercussions are divided in categories (economy, politics, ideology and demography) and the part of the development is organized chronologically and divided in three parts; precedents, German victories and Allied victories.  

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