Germany Invades Spain

[CheesyFreak]

Couldnt find it with the Thread Searcher, if its there i apologize

Okay we all know Hitler repeated one of Napoleon's big mistakes, and now lets assume he thinks he can do what napoleon couldnt, conquer spain.

Reason:He wants to get Gibraltar to shut the Mediterranean and surround the Allies and thinks Spain would be more of a pain allied then subjected,what are the consequences for germany and the whole war after then attack?

i know that the country was warn torn after the civil war, and there was alot of food shortage and destruction,but the Spanish Army although probably will be smashed in a front confrontation with the Deutsche Reich would probably be a pain in the back as Veteran guerrilla men, and it provides a nice base for Britain ala Peninsular war.

what are your Opinions?

Scenario 1: Before Operation Barbarossa

Scenario 2: After Operation Barbarossa is in full motion.

P.S excuse me for my bad English

 

[diddyriddick]

Why? Hitler gains almost NOTHING by invading Spain and incurs significant liabilities.

 

[tornada]

Wasn't Spain largely on the Nazi side anyway? What would Hitler gain by invading a neutral country that is leaning towards his side?

 

[CheesyFreak]

i found it on other sites and a lot of people argued that it would open more possibilities for germany to get rid of Britain in Gibraltar and the Mediterranean giving them more power there.

i was just interested to see the views here.

Wasn't Spain largely on the Nazi side anyway? What would Hitler gain by invading a neutral country that is leaning towards his side?

from what i remember Franco and Hitler didnt like each other very much even though they where both fascist, and apparentlly neutrality wasnt big on Hitlers worry list as far as i know.

 

[Mosquito]

Wasn't Spain largely on the Nazi side anyway? What would Hitler gain by invading a neutral country that is leaning towards his side?

He could have take Gibraltar and cut off Britain from its colonies.

Why? Hitler gains almost NOTHING by invading Spain and incurs significant liabilities.

Hitler would gain Northern Africa with Egipt and Suez Canal in the first move. The whole middle east in the second move.

 

[Toltec]

There are definite gains in invading Spain as Mosquito points out. But there's also equipment expenditure.

How much resources would it take to take Spain (& Portugal because British troops are going straight there)? Now if this troop and resources investment were sent to North Africa instead, would they be enough win the Desert War?

for example most likely it would take several corps to take and occupy Spain and Portugal, lets say (off the top of my head) 30 to invade and 10 to hold. If half that number of corps were sent to Africa instead, 15 to help Rommel and 5 to hold, would they win? Most likely yes, it would be more viable to reinforce Africa than invade Spain.

 

[Mosquito]

There are definite gains in invading Spain as Mosquito points out. But there's also equipment expenditure.

How much resources would it take to take Spain (& Portugal because British troops are going straight there)? Now if this troop and resources investment were sent to North Africa instead, would they be enough win the Desert War?

for example most likely it would take several corps to take and occupy Spain and Portugal, lets say (off the top of my head) 30 to invade and 10 to hold. If half that number of corps were sent to Africa instead, 15 to help Rommel and 5 to hold, would they win? Most likely yes, it would be more viable to reinforce Africa than invade Spain.

Lets assume Hitler took Spain. He would have probably created fascist puppet goverment like in Norway and send some of his second sort troops to keep the order in the conquered country.

Taking control over Gibraltar would in fact force Royal Navy to retreat to Egipt. British Army and Navy would recive much less supplies and wouldnt be able to any agressive action (all supply ships would have to sail very long way around Africa). In fact without supplies and reinforcements coming to British army, maybe Italians would have been able to take Egipt on their own.
After occupying Egipt, the Germans and Italians would have easilly take middle east and oil fields of Iraq and Iran, having already full control of Mediterranean sea.

Actually invading Spain would have been much better idea than invading USSR.

 

[tornada]

If you invade Spain, a country that atleast formally claims to be allied with you (though not militarily) wouldn't you be risking you're other allies like Italy?

Also from what i know the Pyrenees are not exactly an easy barrier to cross, and Franco had lots of troops there. Is an invasion of Spain truly viable? Could the Germans pull it off without sustaining crippling or heavy losses?

 

[Mosquito]

If you invade Spain, a country that atleast formally claims to be allied with you (though not militarily) wouldn't you be risking you're other allies like Italy?

Also from what i know the Pyrenees are not exactly an easy barrier to cross, and Franco had lots of troops there. Is an invasion of Spain truly viable? Could the Germans pull it off without sustaining crippling or heavy losses?

So far I know Spanish army was poorly equipped and not strong. The country was also still curing its wounds after bloody civil war. People were divided, many did hate their goverment.

Of course it would be better for Hitler to force Spain to ally with him.

 

[tornada]

People were divided, many did hate their goverment.

When a foreign power invades a country, it tends to have a unifying effect on the people, from my research into history. Could Hitler truly afford to conquer Spain? I know the spanish army wasn't exactly top of the line, but desperate men in a defensible position can do a lot of damage, and the Pyrenees were defensible were they not?