The main allies of Germany in the attack on the USSR were Romania and Finland. Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Albania, Slovakia and Croatia later joined them. There was another country that was not occupied by Germany and was not at war with the Soviet Union, but provided volunteers to serve on the side of Germany. It was Spain.
The history of Spain is marked by the fact that only once, during the Great Patriotic War, its fighters opposed the Russians, although even then Franco avoided open participation in the war, maintaining neutrality. There were no other cases when these two countries participated in battles on opposite sides. We will tell you more about these events during the Great Patriotic War in this article.
To touch on this topic, it should be noted that only one division fought against the USSR. It was the Spanish "Blue Division", or 250th, which consisted of Spanishvolunteers. It was they who fought during the Second World War on the side of Germany. Considered nominally manned by the Spanish Falange, this division was in fact a mixture of regular troops, members of the Falangist militia and veterans of the civil war. The "Blue Division" was drawn up according to the Spanish canons. It included one artillery regiment and four infantry. Because of the blue shirts, the division was called the "Blue Division". Blue was the shape of the phalanx.
Spain's position in the war
Unwilling to openly draw Spain into the war on the side of the Germans and striving to simultaneously ensure the security of the country and the phalanx regime, Francisco Franco at that time adhered to armed neutrality, while providing a division of volunteers on the eastern front of Germany who wanted to fight against the Soviet Union on the side of the Germans. De jure, Spain decided to remain neutral, was not an ally of Germany, and did not declare war on the USSR.
Volunteer Motivation
The history of Spain was connected with the fate of the USSR in the pre-war years. Suner, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in 1941, on June 24, announced the formation of this division, saying that the USSR was responsible for the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936, when Franco-led nationalist fighters raised an armed rebellion. The Soviet Union was also accused of the fact that this war dragged on and took place with extrajudicial reprisals and mass executions. The oath was changed byagreement with the Germans. The soldiers swore allegiance to the fight against communism, not to the Fuhrer.
The motivations of the volunteers, of which the 250th division consisted, were different: from the desire to avenge loved ones who died in the civil war, to the desire to hide (among the former Republicans, who made up the bulk of those who decided to go over to the side of the Soviet army). There were fighters who sincerely wanted to redeem their recent Republican past. Many also acted for selfish reasons. At that time, military personnel received a decent salary, plus there was also a German salary (7.3 pesetas from the Spanish government and 8.48 from Germany per day).
Composition of the division
The division numbering 18693 soldiers (15780 lower ranks, 2272 non-commissioned officers, 641 officers) departed in 1941, on July 13, from Madrid and was transferred to Germany to undergo military training lasting five weeks in the city of Grafenwöhr at the training polygon. Augustin Muñoz Grandes, a veteran of the civil war, was the first commander of this division. The soldiers advanced, starting from Poland, on foot to the front. After that, the "Blue Division" was transferred to the Wehrmacht as the 250th Infantry. More than 40 thousand people have passed through its composition for the entire time of its existence (more than 50 thousand - according to other sources).
Fights with Russians during the defense of Leningrad
The "Blue Division" near Leningrad held the line and was considered a weak link in the Soviet command. Therefore, during the operation called "Polar Star", aimed atthe liberation of the Leningrad region and carried out on a section almost 60 km long (under Krasny Bor), insignificant forces were allocated that could not completely break through the front in bad weather and difficult terrain, although they wedged themselves to a tangible distance.
In this area, the fighting was fierce on both sides. The forward detachments of the Red Army, which managed to break through, were cut off by flank counterattacks from their reserves and rear areas and, as a result, were put in a difficult position. The remnants of the assault units, left without ammunition and food, had to leave the encirclement precisely through the positions of the Blue Division.
When leaving the encirclement, skirmishes with the Spaniards were distinguished by ruthlessness and suddenness. Researchers, in particular, cite an episode when a group of Russians, who practically did not have grenades and cartridges, crept at night to the dugout, where the soldiers of the Blue Division were resting carelessly. Breaking into the dugout, the soldiers destroyed the enemy with melee weapons.
Spaniards' special attitude to discipline
The special attitude of the Spanish fighters to the discipline manifested itself in Poland. Several soldiers in civilian clothes went AWOL. They were detained by the Gestapo because they looked like Jews because of their swarthy appearance. After a shootout, the comrades released their own. Morozov, burgomaster of Novgorod, was killed by a soldier from the Blue Division.
The authorities organized the distribution of milk to pregnant women. The line formed every morning. Slowly into herbegan to attach the soldiers of this division. They stood peacefully interspersed with pregnant women, not demanding too much for themselves - they received only a general norm and left. However, Morozov was outraged by the lack of milk. He, having come to the council, lowered one of the Spaniards down the stairs. He jumped up and shot him with a pistol.
Combination of sloppiness and high combat capability
This combination of slovenliness and high combat capability was noted by General Halder after the battle in Krasny Bor. He warned his people that if they suddenly saw an unshaven, drunk soldier with an unbuttoned tunic, there was no need to rush to arrest him, as he was probably a Spanish hero.
It was not uncommon for members of the division to go over to the side of the Russians, largely due to poor food and the rudeness of their officers.
Disbandment of the connection, its further fate
In 1943, on October 20, Francisco Franco, due to foreign political pressure, decided to withdraw the Blue Division from the front and disband the unit. However, many Spaniards remained voluntarily in the detachments of the German army until the end of the war. Not wanting to lose their potential soldiers, the Germans opened propaganda for the entry of volunteers into the "German Foreign Legion" under German command. They were, as a rule, in the SS troops (infantry division of the Wehrmacht), who fought to the very end. About 7,000 Spaniards fought in besieged Berlin before the surrender.
In post-war Spain, many former soldiersthis division went on to have a successful military career.
Attitude of division fighters to church and religion
Religion and the church enjoyed great authority in Francoist Spain. During shelling, for example, several shells hit the central dome of the Church of St. Sophia in Veliky Novgorod. As a result, the cross began to fall to the ground. Spanish sappers rescued him, restored him during the war, and he was sent to their native country.
Even during the life of Franco, in the 70s, this cross stood at the Engineering Academy. The inscription made under it said that it was in storage in Spain and would return to Russia when the Bolshevik regime disappeared. The Soviet regime after the war accused the Spaniards of robbery, who turned out to be the scourge of Novgorod antiquities. They turned the Church of Entry into Jerusalem into a forge, and the archbishop's palace was turned into a mortuary. The "Blue Division" on the eastern front used most of the surviving iconostases for firewood. They completely burned the Znamensky Cathedral "by negligence".
It should be noted that on the doors of ancient temples there were prohibition inscriptions in Spanish and German, but the Spaniards did not pay any attention to this and continued to rob Russian churches. Almost all the temples of Novgorod suffered from the Spaniards. It turned out that in search of souvenirs, the sappers took the cross from St. Sophia Cathedral to Spain, supposedly as a keepsake. It was returned in 2004.
The attitude of the Germans towards the Spanish soldiers
All historians claim that there were big differences between the Spanish and German characters. The Germans accused the Spaniards of licentiousness, indiscipline, familiarity with the local population, in particular with the female sex. An attempt to feed the volunteers with a standard diet, which the Wehrmacht infantry division ate, turned into a considerable scandal. From this food, the morale of the soldiers that made up the "Blue Division" on the eastern front fell. It all ended with the fact that after negotiations at the highest level, trains with Turkish lentils and peas rushed to the eastern front.
However, over time, the Germans became convinced that the lack of discipline does not prevent the Spaniards from performing heroic deeds. Soon after the victory, the captured Germans began to be repatriated, while the Spaniards were able to "sit out" Stalin's death, as well as the subsequent amnesty. Talks were held about their fate, but to no avail. After all, Franco again had to play a diplomatic game in the conditions of the now "cold" war.
"Blue Division" (Borzya)
In Russia there is also a division with the same name. Since 1972, since March, the 150th motorized rifle division, which is also called the "Blue", was stationed in Borza. This is a city located in the Trans-Baikal Territory, 378 kilometers from Chita. Its population is 29405 people. Borzya-3 ("Blue Division") has nothing to do with the Spanish troops.
