The participation of Galicia (Spain) in World War II was marked by its location on Spain's Atlantic coast [1] and its mines. Despite the neutrality of Spain during World War II, the country was affected due to its strategic location. The tungsten mines, such as the mine of San Finx, were used for the Axis war industry. Extraction and transport of the mineral was carried out by front companies, such as the Finance and Industrial Corporation (Galician: Sociedade Financeira e Industrial). [2]
Hundreds of Galicians traveled to fight with the Germans on the Eastern Front, in the Blue Division. On the other side, former republican combatants fought with the allies, many of them having been confined in French concentration camps.
Raw materials were vital in economic warfare. Tungsten was one of those used to manufacture armaments. Before the war, the main producers were China (36%), Burma (17%) and the United States of America (11%). During the war, British sea power gave the Allied powers access to these countries, and denied them to the Axis powers. Germany had to seek sources in Europe. Spain and Portugal were the only producers, with Galicia accounting for almost 70% of Spanish reserves. This made it the focus of the Wolfram Crisis.
Year | Quantity (t) | Value in millions of pesetas |
---|---|---|
1939 | 76 | 0,755 |
1940 | 563 | 6,985 |
1941 | 156 | 3,623 |
1942 | 159 | 18,751 |
1943 | 1396 | 241,054 |
1944 | 2502 | 406,455 |
1945 | 1662 | 246,221 |
In 1939, the Germans built a 112-metre-high (367 ft) aerial, in Arneiro in the municipality of Cospeito. It carried the communications of the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe, with a radius of one thousand miles (1,600 km). The station had two repeating lower and auxiliary buildings. [3]
It formed part of a German network of nineteen stations. The Allies' sabotage plans were not carried out, since Spain was treated as a neutral country. The Lorenz beam was also eventually used by the British and Americans. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Galicia is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and Pontevedra.
Pontevedra is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the Comarca and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is also the capital of its own municipality which is often considered an extension of the actual city.
Vigo is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the Ria de Vigo, the southernmost of the Rías Baixas. It is the capital of the comarca of Vigo.
The Galician Nationalist Bloc is a political party from Galicia, formed with the merger of a series of left-wing Galician nationalist parties. It is self-defined as a "patriotic front".
A Coruña is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province of A Coruña, having also served as political capital of the Kingdom of Galicia from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and as a regional administrative centre between 1833 and 1982.
Almost every country in the world participated in World War II. Most were neutral at the beginning, but only a relative few nations remained neutral to the end. The Second World War pitted two alliances against each other, the Axis powers and the Allied powers. It is estimated that 74 million people died, with estimates ranging from 40 million to 90 million dead. The leading Axis powers were Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Italy; while the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union and China were the "Big Four" Allied powers.
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded by the Suebic king Hermeric in 409, with its capital established in Braga. It was the first kingdom that officially adopted Catholicism. In 449, it minted its own currency. In 585, it became a part of the Visigothic Kingdom. In the 8th century, Galicia became a part of the newly founded Christian Kingdom of Asturias, which later became the Kingdom of León, while occasionally achieving independence under the authority of its own kings. Compostela became the capital of Galicia in the 11th century, while the independence of Portugal (1128) determined its southern boundary. The accession of Castilian King Ferdinand III to the Leonese kingdom in 1230 brought Galicia under the control of the Crown of Castile.
The Statute of Autonomy of Galicia of 1981 is the current basic institutional norm of Galicia. The Galician Government, Parliament and High Court of Galicia are regulated by it.
La Voz de Galicia is a Spanish daily newspaper owned by the Corporación Voz de Galicia. La Voz is highest circulation newspaper in Galicia and the eighth-highest circulation general-interest daily newspaper in Spain. It is written primarily in Spanish with Galician used in the cultural and opinion sections.
During World War II, the Spanish State under Francisco Franco espoused neutrality as its official wartime policy. This neutrality wavered at times, and "strict neutrality" gave way to "non-belligerence" after the Fall of France in June 1940. Franco wrote to Adolf Hitler offering to join the war on 19 June 1940 in exchange for help building Spain's colonial empire. Later in the same year Franco met with Hitler in Hendaye to discuss Spain's possible accession to the Axis Powers. The meeting went nowhere, but Franco did help the Axis—whose members Italy and Germany had supported him during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)—in various ways.
Spanish settlement in Argentina, that is the arrival of Spanish emigrants in Argentina, took place first in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the Spanish Empire was the sole colonial power in the territories that became Argentina after the 1816 Argentine declaration of independence. Thus, before 1850, the vast majority of European settlers in Argentina were from Spain and they carried the Spanish colonial administration, including religious affairs, government, and commercial business. A substantial Spanish descended Criollo population gradually built up in the new cities, while some mixed with the indigenous populations (Mestizos), with the Black African-descended slave population (Mulattoes) or with other European immigrants.
El Bierzo is a comarca in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital.
The neutral powers were countries that remained neutral during World War II. Some of these countries had large colonies abroad or had great economic power. Spain had just been through its civil war, which ended on 1 April 1939 —a war that involved several countries that subsequently participated in World War II.
Italy–Spain relations are the interstate relations between Italy and Spain. Both countries established diplomatic relations some time after the unification of Italy in 1860.
Galician Americans are Americans of Galician descent.
Sindicato Labrego Galego-Comisións Labregas is a Galician farmers' and breeders' union centered on family farms and small peasants.
The Exército Guerrilheiro do Povo Galego Ceive was an armed organization formed in 1986 mainly by members of Galiza Ceibe-OLN. It was considered a terrorist organisation by the Spanish Government. The main goals of the organization were the independence of Galicia and the transformation of society according to the principles of socialism. The EGPGC was operative between 1987 and 1991, a time during which the EGPGC made a total of 90 armed actions and a multitude of provisioning actions.
The Wolfram Crisis was a diplomatic conflict during World War II between Francoist Spain and the Allied powers, which sought to block Spanish exports of tungsten ore to Nazi Germany. "Wolfram" is an alternate name for tungsten, a strategic material used in anti-tank weapons and machine tools. Most of the wolframite mines in Europe, such as the Barruecopardo mine, are in northwestern Spain and northern Portugal.
Galicia irredenta or Galicia estremeira, also spelled as Galiza irredenta and Galiza estremeira and also known as Faixa Leste or Franxa Leste, is a term used for all Galician-speaking territories located outside of Galicia. These are all located in Spain, in either Asturias or Castile and León. These territories are sometimes divided into three subregions: El Bierzo, Eo-Navia and As Portelas.
The historic centre of Pontevedra (Spain) is the oldest part of the city. It is the second most important old town in Galicia after Santiago de Compostela, and was declared a historic-artistic complex on 23 February 1951.