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How does Spain and Portugal manage to stay out of these world events? WW1-WW2 and all else

Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:13 pm
Posted by BarberitosDawg
Lee County Florida across causeway
Member since Oct 2013
13146 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:13 pm
What do they know or have that makes them excluded for all the mayhem Europe and We share?
Posted by momentoftruth87
Your mom
Member since Oct 2013
86110 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:15 pm to
Avoid the drama and stay out of other people’s business. We have a hard time doing that.
Posted by BarberitosDawg
Lee County Florida across causeway
Member since Oct 2013
13146 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:17 pm to
I see that point, but they were the ballers in the Middle Ages and had all that new world resources at disposal? Somehow they turned the gas’s off. It’s remarkable and amazing actually IMO
Posted by Penrod
Member since Jan 2011
51721 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:17 pm to
Spain had their civil war right before WW2. They were cooked.
Posted by Cuz413
Member since Nov 2007
9871 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:18 pm to
quote:

WW2


Spain had just finished a bloody, lengthy civil war that also involved the major players for WW2. The country was decimated and IIRC Franco was backed by Hitler, so Germany had no impetus to invade.

It was the rich vs the poor vs the Catholics vs the federalists vs the communists vs the fascists vs the anti fascists vs the royalty vs military

shite was wild
This post was edited on 4/15/25 at 3:19 pm
Posted by Tantal
Member since Sep 2012
18956 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:21 pm to
The Pyrenees Mountains. They're geographically isolated from the rest of the continent. The only reason that they were ever significant powers is that they were the first two countries to master deep water navigation. Even then, they didn't bother to mess with Europe for the most part. They set their sights on South America, Africa, and Asia to set up their colonial empires.
This post was edited on 4/15/25 at 3:24 pm
Posted by Stonehenge
Wakulla Springs
Member since Dec 2014
2427 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:22 pm to
Spain did send a division to fight with the Wehrmacht in Russia
Posted by sledgehammer
SWLA
Member since Oct 2020
6677 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:25 pm to
Spain did help a lot of Nazis escape from Europe after WW2.
Posted by glassman
Next to the beer taps at Finn's
Member since Oct 2008
117772 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:26 pm to
Spain had a brutal civil war in the 30s.
Posted by KiwiHead
Auckland, NZ
Member since Jul 2014
35604 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:28 pm to
All that and really high mountains. The German army was really successful on flatter land across the North European Plain which included places like Poland and Northern France and especially Russia. Russia is incredibly flat between the Polish frontier and Moscow.

For example, the Germans had really high casualty numbers in the Balkans....and even Italy. and to an extent in Norway. Not so much in places like Hungary, Czsechoslovakia.
Posted by Indefatigable
Member since Jan 2019
35579 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:36 pm to
quote:

How does Spain and Portugal manage to stay out of these world events?

They spent 400 years or so getting their arse beaten and slowly losing their empires. Lesson learned.
Posted by ragincajun03
Member since Nov 2007
27256 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:38 pm to
I thought Portugal entered WWI late, like the U.S.
Posted by Indefatigable
Member since Jan 2019
35579 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:38 pm to
quote:

thought Portugal entered WWI late, like the U.S.

They did. They also let the Allies use the Azores during WW2 during the Battle of the Atlantic.
Posted by AUstar
Member since Dec 2012
19146 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:44 pm to
Spain has had a lot of internal conflicts and revolutions (Franco vs. the commies) but has mostly stayed out of world affairs. Honestly it's likely because they are too weak and preoccupied to care.
Posted by Sus-Scrofa
Member since Feb 2013
10412 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 3:45 pm to
Weren’t the railroad tracks different?
Posted by deltaland
Member since Mar 2011
100032 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 6:05 pm to
Spain was decimated. Their empire had gradually declined due to hyper inflation, too many wars combined with financial mismanagement, independence movements in the colonies, depopulation and reduction in domestic industry. The final nail in their coffin was losing the Spanish-American war in 1898. They’ve been irrelevant since and really haven’t had a thirst for any major conflict
Posted by BarberitosDawg
Lee County Florida across causeway
Member since Oct 2013
13146 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 6:09 pm to
Thanks for pointing out the obvious, it’s just amazing to me in hindsight how they have managed to stay insulted from world events taking place is all when they had had been at the forefront of manipulation in the worlds history previously.
Posted by Jim Rockford
Member since May 2011
104159 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 6:21 pm to
quote:

Even then, they didn't bother to mess with Europe for the most part. 


Have to disagree there. Spain, sometimes accompanied by its ally Portugal, was a major player in most European conflicts prior to the 20th century. Notable Examples: multiple attempted invasions of England, multiple attempts to support Irish revolts, an 80 year war over control of the Netherlands and a 25 year war with France. Napoleon's Iberian Campaign was in support of Spain's invasion of its no longer ally Portugal. The 1870 Franco-Prussian War was triggered by a vacancy on the Spanish throne.
Posted by deltaland
Member since Mar 2011
100032 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 6:50 pm to
Endless wars, financial mismanagement, internal conflicts among different factions, inability to assimilate native populations in colonies and loss of domestic industry led to the fall of their empire.


Sound familiar?
Posted by TigerB8
End Communism
Member since Oct 2003
10849 posts
Posted on 4/15/25 at 6:51 pm to
They aren’t at the “crossroads of civilization”. It’s all about location
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