King Country Chronicle. Friday, August 4, 1939. SPAIN AND THE AXIS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4819, 4 August 1939, Page 4

King Country Chronicle. Friday, August 4, 1939. SPAIN AND THE AXIS.

Military necessity during the Spanish ' Civil War kept the ill-assorted forces of the Right united under General Franco, but now that the latter is faced with the task of peace time reconstruction the expected dissensions have occurred, as cable news of the past few weeks bears abundant witness. Two of the foremost leaders of the Civil War, General de Llano and General Yague, have been disgraced because of their political associations, and Spain must now be in the throes of making a choice vital, not only to herself, but to the peace of Europe. The rival parties are the Falangists or Fascists, who hold that only a totalitarian policy can deal with the discontent ruling in Spain and repress the former Republicans; and the Traditionalists or Monarchists, who look to the return of either ex-King Alfonso, his son Don Juan, or the Carlist Pretender," the Prince of Parma. But apart altogether from the internal position is the fact that in the clash of these two political schools of thought there is the issue whether the Spanish political structure and foreign policy are to be dominated by the Berlin-Rome axis. With a large following the Falangists, backed by unremitting pressure from Berlin and Rome, are by means of the political power exercised by the Minister of the Interior, Senor Surenr, striving towards the setting up of a Fascist State. In the army, however, are to be found many influential Monarchists, and financial and business interests do not regard with equanimity the regimentation of Fascism. Germany is tightening her economic grip on Spain, and as yet there has been no turning to London for loans to reconstruct this warishattered country, yet there have been some hopes that as yet General Franco has not become the mere pawn of the axis. Those hopes were once again raised when just over a fortnight ago General Franco said that Spain would remain neutral in any conflict in which Spanish territory and interests were not affected and dashed when the disrating of the generals gives eivdence of the growing stregth of those of Franco's supporters who desire a policy of imperialistic adventure rather than one of domestic reconstruction.