On the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War the Portuguese government
of Antonio
Salazar immediately
supported the Nationalists in the struggle against the Popular
Front government in Spain. Salazar
feared that if the Republicans won the war his own authoritarian government
would be under threat.
Salazar, concerned about
the effect the events in Spain would have
on his country, established a new militia that could serve as an auxiliary
police. This new police force arrested dissidents and removed politically
unreliable people from educational and governmental institutions.
Leaders of the Nationalist
Army were allowed
to negotiate with representatives from Nazi
Germany in Portugal. After the signing of the Non-Intervention
Agreement in September 1936, Salazar agreed that Germany could
disguise the aid that it was giving by sending men, planes, tanks,
and munitions via Lisbon.
Salazar's police also arrested
supporters of the Popular Front government
living in Portugal. He also sealed off the Portuguese frontier to
Republicans.
Although he came under
considerable pressure from Britain
and France,
Salazar refused to allow international observers being stationed on
the Portugal-Spain border. Officially he claimed that it would be
a violation of Portugal sovereignty while in reality he did not want
the world to know about the large amounts of military aid that was
crossing into Spain.
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Last updated: 13th June, 2002
(1)
The Manchester Guardian (28th
September 1936)
Yesterday Senor Alvarez del Vayo, the Spanish Foreign
Minister, sent to the Secretary General of the League documents containing
the latest information in regard to alleged violations of the non-intervention
agreement by Germany, Italy, and Portugal. It is understood that the
documents contained detailed information of a grave nature.
I understand that so many
airplanes have been supplied to the rebels by Germany and Italy that
they now have about three times as many as the Spanish Government
whereas at the beginning of the civil war the Spanish Government had
about four times as many as the rebels. The rebels themselves are
unable to manufacture airplanes, so that all these additional airplanes
must have been supplied by other nations. German and Italian airmen
who have been taken prisoner have confessed that they were acting
under orders of their Governments.
The documents are understood
to contain evidence showing that during the military operations of
the rebels in Estremadura the air bases, the supplies, and the movements
of the rebel troops were organized on Portuguese territory with the
help of the Portuguese military forces. Airplanes and other arms that
have fallen into the hands of the Government are of a type that has
never existed in the Spanish army and reveal their foreign origin.
The Spanish Delegation
asked that the documents should be published and should be distributed
to the members of
the League. They have not yet been distributed, and it is impossible
to obtain from the Secretariat any information as
to whether they will be published.
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