SPAIN-PORTUGAL: Two Dictators, One Mind?

From the Iberian Peninsula came huffs & puffs from a Class 4-F dictator, sour, stolid Francisco Franco. Throttled, starving, hate-ridden Spain, said he, must prepare to "fight a new war of a moral, religious, military and industrial character." Up went the temperatures of diplomats in the old and the new worlds. They wondered how long it would be before Franco, backed once more by friends Hitler & Mussolini, would: 1) attack Gibraltar, 2) draw neutral Portugal into the Spanish orbit.

Probably Franco would not attack until, and if, Marshal Rommel reached Suez in...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!