Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1940. SPAIN AND THE AXIS.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 October 1940, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1940. SPAIN AND THE AXIS.

AN important, question doubtless to be settled in. A future is whether Germany is to succeed in addm S] a n to the list of her subordinate Allies Both have been scheming actively to that, end , a « d ’ ‘ ’ uncertain whether Spain can hope to resist thei press me tl brought to bear upon her. As opening the way to an attack on Gibraltar, and in its ? ene 71 effiee \°" necessity Mediterranean, the adhesion of Spain to the Axis ot would impose new and more or less serious da ™ ailc ', s . } but it is far enough from being established that Spam la. L-thius- to hope or gain from abandoning her present nonbelligerent policy. It yas observed justly bj the bje , Morning Herald” in a recent editorial that:— The danger is less that General Franco may be tempted to throw prudence to the winds than that Germany g y, through their grip on the internal economy of the peninsula, may be able to force Spain to conform to their strategical plans in the Mediterranean. Tn Spain, the‘Axis Powers have found an instrument ready to their hands in. Senor Suner, the Foreign Minister, who incidentally is General Franco’s brother-m-law. He is also leadei of the Falangists, the Spanish Fascists. After visiting Berlin recently, Senor Suner told interviewers that:— Spain is non-belligerent only for the moment General Franco personally will decide when Spam will abandon hei aloofness. Many Falangists, it is said, are willing to gamble on the chance of attempting a sudden seizure of Gibraltar. They believe (accordin'” to a recent commentator) that this would enable them to import South American supplies without British interference “They would also feel,” the same observer added, “that a step had been taken, with Italy’s help and France s connivance, towards achieving Spanish imperialist schemes m Africa.” ■While his brother-in-law is frankly and entirely proGerman General Franco thus far has pursued a. policy of caul ion’for which good reasons appear. Spam is far from haviim recovered from, the exhaustion and disorganisation occasioned by the civil war, nor have her internal divisions by anv means'been healed. She depends largely on British goodwill for her imports of food and raw materials. Not long ago she concluded an agreement with Britain under which she will limit her imports of oil to her own requirements. Much as a hope of sharing in the spoils of an Axis victory might appeal to the Spanish dictator, the dangers of. alliance with the Axis are being emphasised more plainly as time goes on. It is likely that if his hands were entirely free, General Franco would elect to continue his policy of non-belligerency and of waiting on events. The question really raised, however, is whether he will be able to resist the pressure of the Axis’ Powers and that, of the Spanish elements, headed by Senor Suner, which favour a policy of active co-operation with the Axis. Should Spain be beguiled or dragooned into the war, the addition of her forces Io those of the Axis would be less serious, from Britain’s standpoint, than the opportunity Germany would be afforded of extending her operations through Spain to the Mediterranean, and incidentally of. attacking Gibraltar. It is, however, one thing to open an approach to the famous Rock fortress ’and another to attack it with any hope of success. In its modern development, Gibraltar is an immensely powerful stronghold. Natural caves deep in the rock (to quote a, recent description) have been enlarged as a storage space for food, water and munitions. . . . There are ten such caverns, gas proof and bombproof A veritable rabbit warren of tunnels connects the vaults, far below the penetrating range of air bombs or artillery. The estimated ten thousand soldiers who would man the guns in the upper galleries also have been similarly provided for. Gun ports pierce the face of the cliff at many points, and cannon command the straits in all directions, from a series of levels. As against the formidable strength of the Rock fortress, the harbour and naval base, on the western side of Hie Gibraltar spit, are within easy artillery range from the vicinity of the Spanish port of Algeciras, which is only four miles and a half away, across the Bay of Gibraltar.

Wide and far-reaching possibilities naturally would bo opened up by an extension of German offensive operations by way of Spain lo the Mediterranean, but it. is certainly not to be taken for granted that the outcome, on balance, would turn in favour of the Axis Powers.