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- Title
The Ambassadorship of Hans Adolf von Moltke (1943): The Turning Point in German–Spanish Relations during the Second World War*.
- Authors
Sáenz-Francés, Emilio
- Abstract
This article examines the nature of Spanish–German relations during the brief ambassadorship of Hans Adolf von Moltke in Madrid between January and March 1943. Using previously unknown material, it argues that this period marked a watershed in the relationship between the two dictatorships. Although Hitler had little interest in a Spanish declaration of war, in the aftermath of Operation Torch, Nazified elements within the German Foreign Office and the Madrid embassy sought to force Spain into a more strident pro-Axis policy through a series of plots aimed at destabilizing the Franco regime. The activities of these ‘parallel channels’, which contributed to the dismissal of Eberhard von Stohrer as German ambassador in December 1942, were brought to an end by von Moltke. The article concludes by stressing that despite his premature death in March 1943, von Moltke laid the basis for a new phase in Spanish–German relations.
- Subjects
SPAIN; GERMANY; SPANISH foreign relations; GERMAN foreign relations; VON Moltke, Hans Adolf; HISTORY of ambassadors; WORLD War II; VON Stohrer, Eberhard
- Publication
German History, 2013, Vol 31, Issue 1, p23
- ISSN
0266-3554
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/gerhis/ghs124