Spain's Fake Neutrality

King Alfonso XIII, Who Survived 5 Assassination
Attempts During His Reign, Supported Neutrality

Carolina Garcia Sanz, University of Seville

In southern and Mediterranean Europe during the First World War, Italy, Portugal, and Greece did not cling to neutral status, which made Spain an exception. Spain not only kept its neutrality but also strengthened its diplomatic connections with the Allies.  Starting in 1902, the Liberal Spanish government submitted its national ambitions in Morocco to a trilateral agreement with France and Great Britain. Moreover, the Spanish economy was heavily dependent on Great Britain and France.  Thus, on these grounds, despite the Royal Decree of Neutrality from 4 August 1914, the Conservative Eduardo Dato (1856-1921) cabinet unofficially informed the British that Spain would exhibit “benevolent neutrality” towards the Allied side.

All in all,  a non-belligerent fake-neutrality was the best option for Spain. In spite of the Spanish politicians’ ineffectuality, the country stayed out of the savage butchery. Furthermore, as the Italian case would  show, entering war—even on the winning side—was not always a guarantee of achieving any national aspirations.

Spain was the most self-sufficient European neutral in terms of minerals and foodstuffs. Moreover, its geographically strategic position between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean increased Spain’s importance for belligerent communications and transit trade. Spanish dynamism in commercial terms, and trade connections with the main ports of France, Italy, and North Africa, drew in combatants' involvement in Spanish affairs. Additionally, although Spain had not played a major part in Germany’s foreign policy prior to the First World War, the war intensified German activity against Anglo-French influence on Spain.

Don Quijote in the War
1915 Fantasy Novel

Despite ongoing pressures from the Allies Spain could offer them little by entering the war, especially given the incalculable services it was already providing for their cause as a “neutral ally”.  For instance, On 8 August 1914, the Spanish government had provided a guarantee to supply charcoal and foodstuffs to the population of Gibraltar, a British colony. When the Allies launched an offensive in the Dardanelles, they urgently needed to maintain their sea-based military and naval population in transit to or from the straits. The same was true while the Allied Convoy System was based at Gibraltar in the spring of 1917.  Spain became one of the Entente’s biggest suppliers of foodstuffs and raw materials, while Spanish-German commercial relations were cut off. The Spanish government signed several bilateral trade agreements but only with the Allied countries.

U-boats, appearing in Spanish ports or anchoring in Spanish waters unannounced, proved to create serious practical and diplomatic problems. To complicate matters, during unrestricted submarine warfare, German u-boats sank over 80 Spanish-flagged vessels.   German and Austrian submarine manoeuvres also put the convoy system at risk in the Mediterranean. On 10 May 1917, the first convoy had sailed from Gibraltar. The French and British foreign offices put harsh pressure on the Spanish government to prosecute German espionage on the Spanish coasts.

German U-35 on a 1917 Stopover in Cartagena

Spain, however,  without being at war, managed to have the war at Home.  The conflict provided Spain with an economic boom. Imports were decreasing dramatically while the volume and prices of raw materials and foodstuffs exports were rising. But the great prosperity was not evenly distributed across all  groups. Frequently, supplies of bread and other basic foodstuffs were limited, which particularly affected the rural and urban working class.  A civil “war of words” between Germanófilos (German supporters) and Aliadófilos (Allied supporters) flared up in Spain, showing the ideological gap between the ruling elite and the outsiders in the political system.  Left-wing workers (the so-called “real Spain”) were ideologically closer to the Allies, whereas church and monarchist parties (identified with the “official Spain”) actively supported the German cause. With public opinion divided over World War I, King Alfonso XIII—who otherwise had a controversial reign—used his relations with other European royal families to help preserve a stance of neutrality, as espoused by his government.

Source:  Compiled from several articles by Dr. Sanz at 1914-1918 Online; Wikipedia