Ch.174Spanish Civil War

# Spanish Civil War Erupts Early

Karl Liebknecht briefly indulged in hopeful dreams before shaking his head.

It would be easier to fight before the Russian defensive line was established. But that wasn’t possible.

“Comrade, Austria is also fortifying the Sudetenland. Shouldn’t we attack before their fortifications are complete?”

“Yes, once this defensive line is built, things will become much more difficult.”

Karl Liebknecht narrowed his eyes as he studied the map of Europe, focusing on the Sudetenland border between Austria and Germany.

Yes. We need to attack there too.

If Czechoslovakia had declared independence while holding the Sudetenland, he could have used the excuse that Germans lived there to take action.

Should he start a war right now?

This was quite a dilemma.

“The communes within France are already prepared to rise up, so we won’t face a two-front war.”

“Hmm.”

Could Russia really establish defensive lines across its vast borders?

If they truly intended to do so, this matter needed to be resolved before anything happened.

Doesn’t this seem too obviously like a trap?

As if that witch in Moscow was deliberately trying to bait the communists.

“Comrade, shouldn’t we raise the torch of revolution?”

Yes. The torch must be lit before Russia’s defensive line is completed.

Starting a revolutionary war was the natural course of action.

But Germany wasn’t ready for that stage yet.

Even if the Russian defensive lines became fortified, things would change if Europe’s greatest military powers—France, Italy, and Germany—united.

So Secretary Karl shook his head, believing now was not the time.

“No. No. We need to observe the situation further. We’re still too weak to ignite a world revolution.”

“The enemy is just as weak as we are.”

True, they are weak. But when considering overall military strength, the German People’s Army was at a disadvantage.

The biggest issue was weapons.

“Let’s wait a few more years. We still lack sufficient weapons.”

They were far from ready for rearmament.

Taking Russia’s bait and hastily starting a war would ruin everything.

They needed to wait at least until they had rearmed and until the red seeds had sprouted in all the colonies of the imperialist nations.

Karl Liebknecht was looking at around 1940 for this timeline.

However, there were some in the German Communist Party who were dissatisfied with Karl Liebknecht.

If not now, then when?

“Comrade, missing this opportunity seems…”

“Yes, we can’t just sit idle. Let’s at least establish a foothold to advance into Northern Europe. We’ll ignite a communist revolution in Denmark.”

Denmark, fearing provocation of Communist Germany, had not joined the Anti-Comintern Pact.

This was somewhat favorable for Communist Germany.

Starting with Denmark and gradually turning Northern Europe red would allow them to put pressure on the Baltic region and Finland, even without naval supremacy.

Thus, the response to the Anastasia defensive line would be the communization of Northern Europe.

Yet there were still those who bristled at Karl Liebknecht’s weak approach.

“Hmm. The current Secretary Comrade is too weak.”

Paul Joseph Goebbels, who had risen to become one of Karl Liebknecht’s closest advisors, even displacing Rosa Luxemburg, frowned in disapproval.

In the original timeline, Goebbels had given the total war speech and risen to Chancellor in Nazi Germany’s final days as one of Hitler’s closest confidants. Now, in Communist Germany, he served as Liebknecht’s aide.

Goebbels couldn’t hide his disappointment at Liebknecht’s hesitation.

‘Yes. Then I must be the one to start the revolutionary war.’

Liebknecht, the Secretary, was weak.

At times like these, they needed to push forward. This approach was unacceptable.

Where had that Secretary gone who once covered Germany with revolutionary fervor?

In just over ten years, he had become a leader who feared imperialism. This couldn’t continue.

Churchill was watching for opportunities in Britain, Hitler in Austria, and Mussolini in Italy.

And in Moscow, needless to say, was the powerful imperialist leader.

In such times, shouldn’t Germany also have a strong leader?

Yes. There was no reason why he couldn’t become that leader.

‘The Junker-born officers were quite dissatisfied with the Secretary, weren’t they?’

Goebbels secretly approached the German People’s Army—the German military.

* * *

Around this time, unexpected developments were occurring in Spain.

The most significant change was the growing Communist Party in Spain.

In the original timeline, the Spanish Communist Party had grown significantly until the civil war period, but that was its limit.

Now, with underground support from Communist Italy, it had grown much stronger than before, marking a major deviation from the original history.

But there was another unexpected development as well.

“Now that we have Russian support, there’s nothing to fear.”

José Antonio was building his party with gold provided by the Russian Tsar.

This party was the right-wing Falange party of Spain.

With the powerful financial boost from the gold and the threat of communism, the Falange party grew much faster than in the original timeline.

Considering how unpopular it had been in the original history, this was remarkable progress.

José Antonio had also secretly contacted Francisco Franco.

“General Franco, I am content to merely participate in Spain’s new politics. Please become Spain’s Caudillo.”

“Hmm.”

Francisco Franco, who had been planning to take control of Spain someday, pondered José Antonio’s proposal.

Franco had also secretly met with the Okhrana sent by the Empress.

Initially, he had viewed José Antonio as a political rival who would need to be dealt with eventually, but the Russian Empress was supporting him from behind.

Of course, Franco had also accepted the Okhrana’s proposal and was strengthening his military foundation as Chief of Staff, but it seemed the Empress wanted José Antonio to lead the government while Franco commanded the military.

The Falange party had already absorbed the Carlist faction.

Thinking coldly, perhaps it would be better to have José Antonio as a figurehead Prime Minister while he remained in the background.

“What’s wrong?”

“The Falange is the party you’ve built, Marquis. I’ll take control of the military from behind, and you can form the new government.”

“If that is your wish, General, I understand.”

The Falange party had been rapidly gaining power recently.

In this situation, suddenly taking control of the Falange would be risky.

Yet he couldn’t side with the Communist Party or the Republican government either.

Yes, it would work to have José Antonio as a figurehead Prime Minister while he remained as the Caudillo controlling the military.

Then, on July 17, 1935, about two months after Franco became Chief of Staff:

“Our Italian Communist Party will help with the Red Army. Rise up!”

“We too will spare no support.”

Under the support of the German Communist Party, Italian Communist Party, and Comintern forces, they finally resolved to liberate the Iberian Peninsula under the red flag.

“Italy is right. At this rate, the Falange could grow much stronger. We must rise up now!”

Finally, the Spanish Communist Party, supported by Italian and German Communist Parties, rose up in the name of the Popular Front alongside leftist forces to seize power with the tacit approval of the Republican government.

“We’ve been preparing for this!”

José Antonio and Franco, who had anticipated the civil war early on, mobilized troops under the pretext of suppressing the Communist Party.

The Spanish Civil War had begun a year earlier than in the original timeline.

* * *

The Spanish Civil War had finally erupted.

However, it broke out a year earlier than in the original timeline.

The reason was simple.

The Spanish Communist Party had grown under the abundant support of Communist Germany and Communist Italy, while the Falange had increased its influence through the power of gold.

Naturally, as the political situation in Spain became more complex, the Spanish Communist Party, seeing the possibility of electoral defeat by the Falange, rose up.

The Falange, which had been preparing for civil war, escaped from the capital to avoid conflict, then mobilized forces under Franco’s leadership with the African Legion.

The Republican government, already leaning heavily toward the Communist Party, supported the communists and declared the Falange rebels.

But in the situation leading up to civil war, the forces mobilized by Franco and José Antonio outnumbered those of the Republic.

Above all, the elite Moroccan African Legion was in Franco’s hands, and these troops were immediately called to Iberia when the Communist Party seized Madrid, becoming Falange forces.

At this point, our United States of Greater Russia was the first to express willingness to sell weapons to the Republican government.

Germany struggled to export weapons, and while Italian Secretary Mussolini promised free support, the Falange was formidable enough that the Republic was willing to purchase weapons from any country offering.

“You’ll help our Republican government?”

“Well, we can sell weapons to anyone who pays.”

“Thank you! We happen to have some gold, so we’ll purchase with that!”

The Spanish Republican government immediately expressed willingness to pay in gold.

This was possible because they knew Russia was focusing on weapons development recently.

However, we decided to trick the Republic in various ways.

“Now, let’s transfer all these weapons to the Falange.”

“Is that okay? There’s a matter of trust between nations.”

“Isn’t the Falange also Spanish? Besides, we can always say the Falange seized them during transport.”

“Oh.”

Initially, the plan was to sell to the Republic and provide separate support to the Falange, but since Italy was unexpectedly active in supporting the Communist-controlled Republican government, we decided to transfer everything meant for the Republic to the Falange instead.

“What if they complain?”

“It’s simple. We’ll say the Falange is a party of the Republic, and since the Communist Party seized the capital first, we considered them the rebels.”

It was just wordplay, but not entirely unreasonable.

In fact, it was the Communist Party that rose up first and attacked the Falange, so in a broader sense, it wasn’t completely wrong.

“So many weapons! Thank you very much!”

“Besides our free support, the Republican government paid for these separately, so we sold you additional weapons.”

“?”

The Falange received more weapons without understanding the full situation.

Naturally, the Republican government formally protested.

“Why did you give these to the rebels instead of the Republic?!”

“The Communist Party attacked the Falange first, so aren’t they the rebels? We understood the Falange to be a party of the Republic.”

“T-that’s…”

The Republican government had no response to Russia’s argument.

Instead, they had to prevent Russia from directly supporting the Falange with troops.

“Oh? Are you saying the Republic condones the Communist Party? Are you trying to plant the red flag in Spain?”

Russia’s hatred for communism was known even to colonial subjects in Africa.

So the Republican government couldn’t further question Russia’s support for the Falange.

Since the Republican government sided with the Communist Party, they couldn’t stop Russian support for the Falange.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Mussolini created a Popular Front with Communist Germany and planned to send a large “volunteer” army to the Republic.

“If the communist bloc sends troops to support the Republic, Russia will stand with the Falange and support them with a million-strong combined force of army, navy, and air force.”

“Ha, what empty threats.”

At first, Italy sneered at this as an empty threat and prepared its troops.

But when Russia actually prepared forces—originally meant for potential US intervention—to appear as if supporting Spain, Italy had no choice but to back down, biting their lips in frustration.

Of course, sending over 50,000 troops as mere “volunteers” was stretching credibility, but if Russia’s prepared 1 million entered, Italy would have to face Russia to the bitter end in Iberia.

Italy alone couldn’t afford to expend strength against a country that could “pull people from the fields” on the Iberian Peninsula.

Communist Germany also couldn’t provide direct support but sent thousands of volunteers to aid the Republic.

Thus, the Spanish Civil War intensified.

The Falange must win this civil war.

To ensure that, I needed to keep monitoring the situation.

“How many of Communist Germany’s esteemed volunteers have entered the Spanish Civil War?”

I carefully asked the Prime Minister and the Black Baron who had come to the Kremlin Palace for a direct assessment.

The Spanish Civil War would become a kind of power struggle with the communist bloc.

If we lost this fight and our Spain turned red, things would become troublesome.

“Communist Germany has dispatched over 5,000 troops as ‘volunteers,’ including aircraft, artillery units, and tank units.”

5,000? Communist Germany sent 5,000?

Without Anschluss, they might be behind Nazi Germany, but still. The Spanish Civil War was essentially a preliminary battle between the Popular Front and Anti-Comintern Pact nations.

And Germany sent only 5,000 men to such a war?

“Are you sure it’s only 5,000?”

“It’s likely a deception. Since we threatened Italy, Communist Germany is trying to back out somehow.”

That makes sense.

Communist Germany sent troops more intelligently than Italy.

Italy probably tried to organize something similar.

“What about the Falange?”

“Having anticipated the civil war, they did more groundwork than the Communist Party. Franco’s African Legion and Moroccan forces entered the Iberian Peninsula early and joined the Falange army. With the Falange occupying many regions, they shouldn’t be pushed back.”

That’s right. I warned about the civil war in advance and provided solid support with “gold.”

“What about volunteers from other countries supporting the Falange?”

“Countries in the Anti-Comintern Pact, except Britain and France, have agreed to send volunteers.”

Good. The Falange is also receiving support troops.

It’s surprising that Britain and France aren’t sending volunteers.

Perhaps colonial issues are a major factor.