<P> The Spanish State under the dictatorship of General Franco did not officially join the Axis Powers during World War II . However Franco's regime supplied material and military support to the Axis, in recognition of the heavy assistance it had received from Germany and Italy in the Spanish Civil War . Despite ideological sympathy and allowing volunteers to serve on the Eastern Front, Franco later stationed field armies in the Pyrenees to deter a German occupation of the Iberian Peninsula . The Spanish policy frustrated German proposals that would have encouraged Franco to take British - controlled Gibraltar . Franco considered joining the war and invading Gibraltar in 1940 after the Fall of France, but knew his armed forces would not be able to defend the Canary Islands and Spanish Morocco from a British attack . </P> <P> During World War II, Spain was governed by a military dictatorship, but despite Franco's own pro-Axis leanings and debt of gratitude to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, the government was divided between Germanophiles and Anglophiles . When the war started, Juan Beigbeder Atienza, an Anglophile, was the Minister of Foreign Affairs . The rapid German advance in Europe convinced Franco to replace him with Ramón Serrano Súñer, Franco's brother - in - law and a strong Germanophile (October 18, 1940). After the 1942 Allied victories in Eastern Europe and north Africa, Franco changed tack again, appointing Francisco Gómez - Jordana Sousa, sympathetic to the British, as minister . Another influential anglophile was the Duke of Alba, Spain's ambassador in London . </P> <P> The main part of Spain's involvement in the war was through volunteers . They fought for both sides, largely reflecting the allegiances of the civil war . </P> <P> Although Spanish caudillo Francisco Franco did not bring Spain into World War II on the side of the Axis, he permitted volunteers to join the German Army (Heer) on the clear and guaranteed condition they would fight against Bolshevism (Soviet Communism) on the Eastern Front, and not against the Western Allies or any Western European occupied populations . In this manner, he could keep Spain at peace with the Western Allies, while repaying German support during the Spanish Civil War and providing an outlet for the strong anti-Communist sentiments of many Spanish nationalists . Spanish foreign minister Ramón Serrano Súñer suggested raising a volunteer corps, and at the commencement of Operation Barbarossa, Franco sent an official offer of help to Berlin . </P>

What was spain's position during world war 2
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