During the spanish civil war were there anyone else supporting Franco besides nazi-germany and fascist italy?

by leftisthistorian
Whadadoodee

The Nationalist side had less in the way of international volunteers joining its side, but there were two groups that I know of:

  • An "Irish Brigade" was formed by Irish fascist Eoin O'Duffy, which went to Spain in 1936, and left in '37 (The 'brigade' was somewhere around 700 men, so not an actual brigade).

  • There were around 10,000 Portuguese volunteers who fought on the Nationalist side. Give or take a few thousand for that figure, and I don't know whether that's a total figure for the whole war, or the peak-strength, though I would suspect the former.

The more important contribution came from the Portuguese state. The government (of Portugal) initially had a more open stance on supporting the Nationalist rebels, but they decided to soften their rhetoric and provide support more quietly, as open support might bring about troubles at home. They provided ammunition directly to the Nationalists, and let supplies come to them through Portuguese territory. This wasn't at the level of support of Germany/Italy, but it wasn't just symbolic.