A Balancing Act

British Intelligence in Spain During the Second World War

Emilio Grandio Seoane (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

208 Seiten

2018
Liverpool University Press (Verlag)
978-1-84519-909-8 (ISBN)

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This book reveals the development, strategy and extraordinary success of Britains secret services in Francos Spain during the Second World War. The main claim of this study is that British pressure, exercised above all through their intelligence services, led Franco to distance himself from the Axis cause and eventually embrace that of the Allies. Starting from a virtually non-existent base, the British rapidly built up a complex intelligence network in Spain that stretched from Corunna to Barcelona and from Bilbao to Gibraltar. As Spain was a non-belligerent, spy networks including those of the Germans, Italians, Portuguese and British proliferated in the Iberian Peninsula. Double-agents abounded within these networks; each one knew what the others were up to. The British exploited this two-way traffic to let Franco know that if he did not accede to their demands, they would back a restoration of the Bourbon monarchy under Don Juan. This pressure culminated in the meeting of 1943 between Franco and the British Ambassador, Sir Samuel Hoare, at the dictators country retreat in Galicia, the British underlining their purpose by flying warplanes close by the estate. Following this meeting, Franco almost immediately began to move away from the Axis powers and towards the Allies. The British swiftly dismantled their intelligence networks given that they had achieved their aim. Francos expulsion of the German naval forces from Spanish ports and the denazification of the regime explains the benevolent attitude of the Allies towards the Spanish dictatorship after the war. Throughout this whole process, the British secret service, as this extensively researched study uncovers, played a crucial role.

Emilio Grand o Seoane is a specialist in the history of the Second Republic and the Civil war. His current research focuses on the history of Spain in and after the Second World War, democratic transition in Spain, and the republican exile during the Franco regime. His most recent published books include: A Segunda Rep blica en Galicia. Memoria, mito e historia (2010); Casares Quiroga. La Forja de un L der (2011); Vixiados. Represi n, investigaci n e vixilancia na Galicia da Guerra Civil (2011), War Zone. La II Guerra Mundial en el noroeste de la Pen nsula Ib rica (2012); y Derribar a Franco. Represi n y clandestinidad pol tica en el noroeste de la Pen nsula Ib rica (1945-1953) (2013).

Erscheinungsdatum	04.10.2018
Reihe/Serie	Liverpool Studies in Spanish History
Zusatzinfo	illus
Verlagsort	Liverpool
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	320 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
ISBN-10	1-84519-909-X / 184519909X
ISBN-13	978-1-84519-909-8 / 9781845199098
Zustand	Neuware