Smiling German ldr. Adolf Hitler(R) shaking hands w. Spanish leader Generalissimo Francisco Franco(2L) during Hitler's only official meeeting w. Franco. Location: Hendaye, France. Date taken: October 23, 1940. Life Images
MI6 Spent £200m Bribing Spaniards In Second World War -- The Guardian
Newly released documents reveal secret services paid out fortune in bid to stop Franco joining war on Hitler's side
MI6 spent the present-day equivalent of more than $200m bribing senior Spanish military officers, ship owners and other agents to keep Spain out of the second world war, files released today disclose.
More and more money was delivered, mainly via a Swiss bank account in New York, as Sir Samuel Hoare, Britain's ambassador in Madrid, warned London that unless it was paid, there was a real and immediate danger of Spain abandoning its neutrality and of Franco joining forces with Nazi Germany.
In June 1940, Hoare was demanding an initial $1m. "I personally urge authority be granted without delay, and that if you have doubts, the prime minister be consulted," he told the Foreign Office in London. "Yes indeed," Churchill initialled on a copy of Hoare's deciphered telegram in red ink.
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My Comment: Money well spent .... invading Spain would have cost far more.
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