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A TIME OF WARS AND COMMON TOTALITARIAN
PROJECTS: THE LINKS BETWEEN NAZI GERMANY AND
FRANCOIST SPAIN, THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF A
TRADITIONAL SPANISH CITY (VITORIA, 1936-1944)
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GUILLERMO MARIN
ABSTRACT
Between 1936 and 1944, and in a European context of significant political
violence and ideological effervescence, Nazi Germany was very present in
everyday life in Spain. This presence was military, both during the Spanish
Civil War and in later years. It was also a propaganda presence, through
which it tried to foster a feeling of sympathy towards Germany, as opposed to
the “great enemies of Spain”, such as Bolshevism. One of the most interesting
variants of this propaganda was the attempt to create a new sense of identity
which, respecting local and national peculiarities, projected, between the
years 1940 and 1942, the idea of a totalitarian Europe, which would be led
by Germany, and in which “friendly” countries such as Spain would have to
work hard to fit in.
This paper notes the importance and intensity of this propaganda work,
and explores the effectiveness, in the social code, that these activities had
in the daily life of a small Spanish city: Vitoria. Likewise, it is an initial
approach to a subject very little explored by historiography, the scope of which
can hopefully be expanded in the future, with new approaches both from the
Spanish orbit and at a European / international level.
Keywords: local history, francoism, Nazism, fascism, propaganda
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