Keywords
Clio: España en las relaciones internacionales. Historia, ideas, imágenes, acción política, España de Franco – División Azul – Operación Torch – po-lítica exterior, Franco’s Spain – the Blue Division – Operation Torch – foreign policy
A Struggle for Equidistance? The Blue Division, Spanish Diplomacy, and the Theory of Three Wars
Abstract
El presente artículo aborda dos cuestiones interconectadas. Por un lado, el peso específico de la División Española de Voluntarios (La División Azul) en el diseño de la política exterior española a lo largo de la II Guerra Mundial, hasta 1943. En relación con ello, el texto se centra en un momento de singular importancia: Los meses entre el desembarco aliado en el norte de África (Operación Torch) y el aumento exponencial de la presión aliada sobre España a la altura del verano de 1943. A lo largo de aquellos meses la España de Franco, de la mano de su hábil ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, el Conde de Jordana, desplegó la que es quizás la fase más original de la política española durante la Guerra. Es lo que denominamos fase de equidistancia imperfecta. Nuestra tesis vincula la existencia de la División Azul, y la voluntad del régimen de mantener a esta en el frente, al diseño de dicha política. La unidad que combatía en el este era –en efecto– una pieza fundamental para hacer valer el carácter único y exento de presiones externas de la política española
This article addresses two interconnected issues. On one hand, the specific weight of the Spanish Volunteer Division (The Blue Division) in shaping Spa-nish foreign policy during World War II, up until 1943. In relation to this, the text focuses on a moment of significant importance: the months between the Allied landing in North Africa (Operation Torch) and the exponential increase of Allied pressure on Spain in the summer of 1943. Throughout those months, under the leadership of its resourceful Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Jor-dana, Franco’s Spain deployed what is perhaps the most distinctive phase of Spanish policy during the war. This is what we refer to as the phase of imperfect equidistance. Our thesis connects the existence of the Blue Division and the regime’s determination to keep it at the frontlines with the design of this policy. The unit fighting in the East was indeed a fundamental piece in asserting the unique and independent nature of Spanish foreign policy
This article addresses two interconnected issues. On one hand, the specific weight of the Spanish Volunteer Division (The Blue Division) in shaping Spa-nish foreign policy during World War II, up until 1943. In relation to this, the text focuses on a moment of significant importance: the months between the Allied landing in North Africa (Operation Torch) and the exponential increase of Allied pressure on Spain in the summer of 1943. Throughout those months, under the leadership of its resourceful Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Jor-dana, Franco’s Spain deployed what is perhaps the most distinctive phase of Spanish policy during the war. This is what we refer to as the phase of imperfect equidistance. Our thesis connects the existence of the Blue Division and the regime’s determination to keep it at the frontlines with the design of this policy. The unit fighting in the East was indeed a fundamental piece in asserting the unique and independent nature of Spanish foreign policy
Información detallada
Materias, derechos, colecciones e identificadores
URI / Handle
http://hdl.handle.net/11531/86199Rights
Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada España