On July 28, 1914, one of the largest scale conflicts in Earth's history began. 38 of the 59 states that existed at that time became participants in the First World War of 1914-1918. This war forever changed the political map of the world and the course of human history.
Countries participating in the First World War
It is difficult for a modern person to imagine how many countries participated in the First World War. To do this, we will get to know all the participating countries, dividing them into opposing sides.
Rice. 1. Flag of the Entente.
Triple Alliance
- German Empire . During the war years, more than 13.25 million people were mobilized.
- Austria-Hungary . During the entire war, more than 7.8 million people were mobilized to fight for the emperor of the “patchwork empire.”
- Ottoman Empire . During the entire war, more than 3 million soldiers loyal to the Sultan stood up to defend the Sublime Porte.
- Bulgaria fielded more than 1.2 million of its soldiers and officers against the Entente.
Rice. 2. Countries of the Triple Alliance.
In total, the Triple Alliance mobilized more than 25 million bayonets and sabers, not counting the rear units.
Entente and its allies
- During the war years, the Russian Empire mobilized over 12 million people.
- The British Empire and France fielded approximately the same amount - more than 8.5 million soldiers each.
- Italy, which fled from the Triple Alliance to the Entente, fielded 5.6 million bayonets and sabers.
- The United States has mobilized more than 4.7 million soldiers since entering the war
- Romania was able to field more than 1.2 million people.
- The armies of other states had less than a million soldiers.
Rice. 3. Entente countries.
Although officially the Entente included only three countries (France, Russia, Britain), by the beginning of the war more than 12 states had gathered under its wing, and the term “Entente” began to be used for the entire coalition against the Triple Alliance.
Neutral countries
Throughout the war, there were states that could have taken part in the war, but avoided it. Thus, Albania, Luxembourg and Persia were officially neutral, although there were wars on their territories fighting. Argentina had several incidents with both sides of the conflict, but never entered the war on either side.
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In addition to these four countries, the following remained neutral from the beginning to the end of the war: Afghanistan, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Spain, Sweden, Tibet, Venezuela and which later became a traditional supporter of world peace wars Switzerland.
Chronology of entry into the war
As you know, after the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28 and Russia immediately declared mobilization, for which it received an ultimatum from Germany to stop it. On August 1, Germany declares war on Russia, and on August 3 on France. A day later, Berlin also entered the war with Belgium, and Britain with Germany.
On August 12, Britain and Austria-Hungary became enemies, and a day earlier France did the same. So the main participants in the First World War officially declared each other enemies.
British statesman Neville Chamberlain after Russian events 1917 said: “Russia has collapsed. One of the goals of the war has been achieved."
Throughout the four years of the war, more and more new states declared war on the Triple Alliance, trying to get their dividends from this war.
The last countries to enter the war against Germany were Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras and Romania, which entered the war from April 23 to November 10, 1918.
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62 states participated in World War II, but there were many countries that managed to maintain neutrality. It is about such states that we will talk further.
Switzerland
"We'll take Switzerland, that little porcupine, on the way back." A saying that was common among German soldiers during the French campaign of 1940.
The Swiss Guard is the oldest (surviving) military unit in the world, guarding the Pope himself since 1506. Highlanders, even from the European Alps, have always been considered natural-born warriors, and the system of army training for Helvetian citizens ensured excellent possession of weapons by almost every adult resident of the canton. Victory over such a neighbor, where every mountain valley became a natural fortress, according to the calculations of the German headquarters, could only be achieved with an unacceptable level of Wehrmacht losses.
Actually, the forty-year conquest of the Caucasus by Russia, as well as three bloody Anglo-Afghan wars, showed that complete control over mountainous territories requires years, if not decades, of armed presence in conditions of constant guerrilla warfare - which the strategists of the OKW (German General Staff) could not ignore.
However, there is also a conspiracy theory about the refusal to seize Switzerland (after all, for example, Hitler trampled on the neutrality of the Benelux countries without hesitation): as you know, Zurich is not only chocolate, but also banks where gold was allegedly stored by both the Nazis and the British who financed them. Saxon elites who are not at all interested in undermining the global financial system due to an attack on one of its centers.
Spain
“The meaning of Franco’s life was Spain. In connection with this - not a Nazi, but a classic military dictator - he abandoned Hitler himself, refusing, despite guarantees, to enter the war.” Lev Vershinin, political scientist.
General Franco won the civil war largely thanks to the support of the Axis: from 1936 to 1939, tens of thousands of Italian and German soldiers fought side by side with the Phalangists, and they were covered from the air by the Luftwaffe Condor Legion, which “distinguished itself” by bombing Guernica. It is not surprising that before the new all-European massacre, the Fuhrer asked the caudillo to repay his debts, especially since the British military base of Gibraltar was located on the Iberian Peninsula, which controlled the strait of the same name, and therefore the entire Mediterranean.
However, in the global confrontation, the one with the stronger economy wins. And Francisco Franco, who soberly assessed the strength of his opponents (for in the USA alone, British Empire and the USSR at that time was home to almost half of the world’s population), made the right decision to focus on restoring the tormented civil war Spain.
The Frankists limited themselves to only sending the volunteer “Blue Division” to the Eastern Front, which was successfully multiplied by zero by Soviet troops on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, simultaneously solving another problem of the caudillo - saving him from his own rabid Nazis, in comparison with which even the right-wing Phalangists were a model of moderation .
Portugal
“In 1942, the Portuguese coast became the last refuge of fugitives for whom justice, freedom and tolerance meant more than their homeland and life.”
Erich Maria Remarque. "Night in Lisbon"
Portugal remained one of the last European countries to retain extensive colonial possessions - Angola and Mozambique - until the 1970s. African soil gave untold riches, for example, strategically important tungsten, which the Pyreneans sold at a high price to both sides (at least at the initial stage of the war).
In the event of joining any of the opposing alliances, the consequences are easy to calculate: yesterday you were counting trade profits, and today your opponents are enthusiastically starting to sink your transport ships that provide communication between the metropolis and the colonies (or even completely occupy the latter), despite the fact that there is no large army Unfortunately, the noble dons do not have a fleet to protect the sea communications on which the life of the country depends.
In addition, the Portuguese dictator António de Salazar remembered the lessons of history, when in 1806, during the Napoleonic Wars, Lisbon was captured and ravaged first by the French, and two years later by the British troops, so that the small nation did not have to turn into an arena for a clash of great powers again no desire.
Of course, during World War II, life on the Iberian Peninsula, the agricultural periphery of Europe, was not at all easy. However, the hero-narrator of the already mentioned “Nights in Lisbon” was struck by the pre-war carelessness of this city, with the bright lights of working restaurants and casinos.
Sweden
In 1938, Life magazine ranked Sweden among the countries with the most high level life. Stockholm, having abandoned all-European expansion after numerous defeats from Russia in the 18th century, was not in the mood to trade oil for guns now. True, in 1941-44, a company and a battalion of King Gustav’s subjects fought on the side of Finland against the USSR in different sectors of the front - but precisely as volunteers, whom His Majesty could not (or did not want?) interfere with - with a total number of about a thousand fighters. There were also small groups of Swedish Nazis in some SS units.
There is an opinion that Hitler did not attack Sweden supposedly for sentimental reasons, considering its inhabitants to be purebred Aryans. The real reasons for maintaining the neutrality of the Yellow Cross, of course, lay in the plane of economics and geopolitics. On all sides, the heart of Scandinavia was surrounded by territories controlled by the Reich: allied Finland, as well as occupied Norway and Denmark. Moreover, right up to defeat in Battle of Kursk Stockholm preferred not to quarrel with Berlin (for example, officially accepting Danish Jews who fled the Holocaust was allowed only in October 1943). So even at the end of the war, when Sweden stopped supplying Germany with scarce iron ore, in a strategic sense, the occupation of a neutral would not have changed anything, forcing it only to stretch the Wehrmacht’s communications.
Not knowing carpet bombing and property reparations, Stockholm met and spent the Second World War with the revival of many areas of the economy; for example, the future world famous company Ikea was founded in 1943.
Argentina
The German diaspora in the country of Pampa, as well as the size of the Abwehr station, were among the largest on the continent. The army, trained according to Prussian patterns, supported the Nazis; politicians and oligarchs, on the contrary, focused more on foreign trade partners - England and the USA (for example, in the late thirties, 3/4 of the famous Argentine beef was supplied to Britain).
Relations with Germany were also uneven. German spies operated almost openly in the country; During the Battle of the Atlantic, the Kriegsmarine sank several Argentine merchant ships. In the end, in 1944, as if hinting, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition recalled their ambassadors from Buenos Aires (having previously introduced a ban on the supply of weapons to Argentina); in neighboring Brazil general staff not without the help of American advisers, he hatched plans to bomb his Spanish-speaking neighbors.
But even despite all this, the country declared war on Germany only on March 27, 1945, and then, of course, nominally. The honor of Argentina was saved only by a few hundred volunteers who fought in the ranks of the Anglo-Canadian Air Force.
Türkiye
“As long as the life of the nation is not in danger, war is murder.” Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish state.
One of the many reasons for the Second World War was the territorial claims that all (!) countries of the fascist bloc had against their neighbors. Turkey, despite its traditional orientation towards Germany, however, stood apart here due to the course taken by Ataturk to abandon imperial ambitions in favor of building a national state.
The Founding Father's comrade and second president of the country, İsmet İnönü, who headed the Republic after the death of Atatürk, could not help but take into account the obvious geopolitical alignments. Firstly, in August 1941, after the slightest threat of Iranian action on the side of the Axis, Soviet and British troops simultaneously entered the country from the north and south, taking control of the entire Iranian Plateau in three weeks. And although the Turkish army is incomparably stronger than the Persian one, there is no doubt that the anti-Hitler coalition, remembering the successful experience of the Russian-Ottoman wars, will not stop before a preemptive strike, and the Wehrmacht, 90% of which is already involved in Eastern Front, is unlikely to come to the rescue.
And secondly and most importantly, what is the point of fighting (see Ataturk’s quote) if you can make a lot of money by supplying scarce Erzurum chrome (without which tank armor cannot be made) to both warring parties?
In the end, when it became completely indecent to prevaricate, on February 23, 1945, under pressure from the Allies, war on Germany was nevertheless declared, although without actual participation in hostilities. For 6 previous years Turkey's population increased from 17.5 to almost 19 million: along with neutral Spain - the best result among European countries
More than ten states managed to avoid participation in the main meat grinder of humanity. Moreover, these are not “some kind of” overseas countries, but European ones. One of them, Switzerland, found itself completely surrounded by Nazis. And Türkiye, although it joined the alliance against Hitler, did so at the very end of the war, when there was no point in it anymore.
True, some historians believe that the Ottomans were thirsty for blood and wanted to join the Germans. But the Battle of Stalingrad stopped them.
Spain
No matter how cruel and cynical dictator Franco was, he understood that a terrible war would not bring anything good to his state. Moreover, regardless of the winner. Hitler asked him to join, gave guarantees (the British did the same), but both warring parties were refused.
But it seemed that Franco, who won the civil war with powerful support from the Axis, would definitely not remain on the sidelines. Accordingly, the Germans waited for the debt to be returned. They thought that Franco would personally want to eliminate the shameful stain on the Iberian Peninsula - the British military base of Gibraltar. But the Spanish dictator turned out to be more far-sighted. He decided to get serious about restoring his country, which was in a sad state after the civil war.
The Spaniards only sent the volunteer Blue Division to the Eastern Front. And her “swan song” soon ended. On October 20, 1943, Franco ordered the “division” to be withdrawn from the front and disbanded.
Sweden
After numerous brutal defeats in the wars of the 18th century, Sweden abruptly changed the course of its development. The country embarked on the path of modernization, which led it to prosperity. It is no coincidence that in 1938, Sweden, according to Life magazine, became one of the countries with the highest standard of living.
Accordingly, the Swedes did not want to destroy what had been created for more than a century. And they declared neutrality. No, some “sympathizers” fought on the side of Finland against the USSR, others served in SS units. But their total number did not exceed a thousand fighters.
According to one version, Hitler himself did not want to fight with Sweden. He was allegedly sure that the Swedes were purebred Aryans, and their blood should not be shed. Behind the scenes, Sweden made reciprocal curtsies towards Germany. For example, it supplied it with iron ore. And also, until 1943, it did not host Danish Jews who were trying to escape the Holocaust. This ban was lifted after Germany's defeat in the Battle of Kursk, when the scales began to tip towards the USSR.
Switzerland
German officers during the French campaign of 1940 more than once said that “let's take Switzerland, that little porcupine, on the way back.” But this “way back” turned out different from their expectations. Therefore, the “porcupine” was not touched.
Everyone knows that the Swiss Guard is one of the oldest military units in the world. Its brilliant history begins at the beginning of the 16th century, when Swiss soldiers were entrusted with the most precious and honorable thing in Europe - to guard the Pope.
During World War II geographical location It turned out to be completely unprofitable for Switzerland - the country found itself surrounded by states of the Nazi bloc. Therefore, there was not a single opportunity to completely disown the conflict. Therefore, some concessions had to be made. For example, provide a transport corridor through the Alps or “throw some money” at the needs of the Wehrmacht. But, as they say, the wolves are fed and the sheep are safe. At the very least, neutrality was maintained.
Therefore, the pilots of the Swiss Air Force continually entered into battle with either German or American aircraft. They didn’t care which representative of the warring parties violated their airspace.
Portugal
The Portuguese, like their neighbors on the peninsula, decided that if there was even the slightest opportunity to avoid participation in the Second World War, then they needed to take advantage of it. Life in the state during the conflict was well described by Erich Maria Remarque in the novel “Night in Lisbon”: “In 1942, the coast of Portugal became the last refuge of fugitives for whom justice, freedom and tolerance meant more than their homeland and life.”
Thanks to its rich colonial possessions in Africa, Portugal had access to one very strategically important metal - tungsten. It was the enterprising Portuguese who sold it. And, interestingly, to both sides of the conflict.
Actually, fears for the colonies were another reason why Portugal did not want to intervene in the conflict. After all, then their ships would come under attack, which any of the enemy countries would happily sink.
And so, thanks to neutrality, Portugal managed to maintain power over the African colonies until the 70s.
Türkiye
Historically, Türkiye has had sympathy for Germany. But during the Second World War, the former Ottoman Empire decided to declare neutrality. The fact is that the country decided to follow Ataturk’s behests to the end and once again abandon imperial ambitions.
There was another reason. Turkey understood that in the event of hostilities they would be left alone with the troops of the allied countries. Germany will not come to the rescue.
Therefore, a strategically correct and beneficial decision for the country was made - to simply make money from the global conflict. Therefore, both sides of the conflict began to sell chromium, necessary for the production of tank armor.
Only at the end of February 1945, under pressure from the allies, did Türkiye declare war on Germany. This was done, of course, for show. In fact, Turkish soldiers did not participate in real hostilities.
It is interesting that some historians (mostly back in Soviet times) believed that Türkiye was, as they say, “at a low start.” The Turks were waiting for the advantage to definitely be on Germany's side. And if the USSR had lost the Battle of Stalingrad, then Türkiye was ready to attack the USSR, joining the Axis Powers in 1942.
Second world war- the most terrible conflict in the history of mankind, characterized by the confrontation of two blocs: Nazi and anti-Hitler. These blocs were formed shortly before the start of the war, but appeared in the form we know only in 1941. The article describes the history of the creation of the two blocs, their participants, as well as countries that declared neutrality, but partially took part in the war.
Nazi bloc
Another name is the Hitlerite coalition, or the countries of the Berlin-Tokyo-Rome axis. It began to take shape long before the start of the war, in the 1930s. The countries of the bloc were united by the desire for revenge for the unfair results of the First World War.
Germany. And although the far right came to power in Italy earlier, it was the German ideology of Nazism that put war in the first place as a way to achieve the success of the “Aryan race”. Nazi Germany was one of the first to break international law in the 1930s by annexing Austria and occupying Czechoslovakia.Italy. The fascists, led by Mussolini, were not against starting a war in order to restore the greatness of Italy, turning it into a Mediterranean empire.Japan. The right-wing forces led by the emperor wanted to make the country the main one in Asia, as well as dominate the Pacific Ocean. They attacked China, taking Manchuria from them. This is how they came closer to an alliance with the Nazis and fascists.In the late 1930s, the Anti-Comintern Pact was formed between the countries (that is, to oppose communism). In 1940, an agreement was signed in Berlin, and the Nazi bloc was finally formed. In addition to the leaders, it also included Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as Hitler’s satellites: Croatia and Slovakia. Also during the war itself, the Nazis created several collaborationist governments in the occupied territories: the Vichy regime in France or the regimes of Quisling in Norway, Mussert in the Netherlands or Nedić in Serbia.
Anti-Hitler coalition
Britain, France. Until September, European leaders tried to satisfy Hitler's appetites. It was only after the attack on Poland that war was declared against the Germans. The weakness of France was shown by the German blitzkrieg: the north of the country was captured, and the Vichy Nazi regime was created in the south. Britain was regularly bombed, and the war between the fascist bloc and British troops was fought in Africa and the Middle East.USSR. The period from September 1939 to June 1941 is difficult to characterize the role Soviet Union in war. In fact, the USSR and Germany were allies during this period, dividing not only Poland, but also Europe under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. After Germany attacked the USSR on June 22, 1941, Stalin joined the anti-Hitler bloc. Moreover, since the main theater of combat of the World War from 1941 to 1944 took place on the territory of the USSR, it also plays a key role during this period. Successes at Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge turned the course of the war in favor of the Allies.USA. The Americans did not hide their dislike for fascism, but remained neutral until December 1941. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Americans declared war on them, and with them on the entire Anti-Comintern bloc. Later, the United States sent its own divisions to Europe, and most importantly, provided logistical support, the so-called Lend-Lease.At the beginning of 1942, the anti-fascist forces already included more than 26 countries from four continents, as well as the British dominions.
The countries of the anti-Hitler coalition are often called “united nations” or simply allies. The bloc finally took shape in 1941, with the entry into the war of the USSR and the USA. It was Britain, the USA and the USSR that determined the structure of the post-war world. Even then, there were reasons for conflict between these countries, which later resulted in the Cold War.
By the way, on May 9, 2010, the first parade of coalition countries took place in Moscow.
Formally neutral countries
Spain. The Franco regime was formed thanks to the help of Hitler and Mussolini. Therefore, it was a surprise to everyone when in September 1939 Spain declared neutrality. Hitler tried to convince the country to enter the war, but without success. However, a Spanish division still fought on the eastern front.Portugal. Although the country was ruled by nationalists, they also declared neutrality, and from 1943 began to provide bases for the British fleet.Switzerland. They did not enter the war, but continued to trade with all the warring countries. Moreover, they provided loans and their own banks to store the capital of all parties to the conflict.Sweden. Although the country was neutral, it sold iron ore to Germany throughout the war. In addition, Sweden provided its own territory to German troops for the campaign in Finland. Only at the end of the war, after Battle of Stalingrad, the Swedish government moved towards rapprochement with the anti-Hitler coalition.Türkiye. Before the war, the USSR, Britain and Nazi Germany tried to make Turkey their ally: they sent aid and provided favorable agreements. With the outbreak of the war, Türkiye declared neutrality, but was close to an alliance with Hitler, for example, providing the Germans with straits and Black Sea bases. In February 1945, war was declared on Germany, but they never took part in hostilities.Argentina. Since September 1939, the country declared neutrality, but in 1941 martial law was declared in Argentina: the country feared Japanese air strikes. Argentina entered the war in March 1945, and, like Turkey, did not participate in hostilities. After the war, figures from the German Nazi regime hid in Argentina.The deadliest war, 65 million killed and wounded, 62 participating states - any article about World War II will begin with these facts. But they are unlikely to talk about countries that were able to maintain neutrality during the years of this conflict.
Spain
General Franco won the civil war largely thanks to the support of the Axis: from 1936 to 1939, tens of thousands of Italian and German soldiers fought side by side with the Phalangists, and they were covered from the air by the Luftwaffe Condor Legion, which “distinguished itself” by bombing Guernica. It is not surprising that before the new all-European massacre, the Fuhrer asked the caudillo to repay his debts, especially since the British military base of Gibraltar was located on the Iberian Peninsula, which controlled the strait of the same name, and therefore the entire Mediterranean.
However, in the global confrontation, the one with the stronger economy wins. And Francisco Franco, who soberly assessed the strength of his opponents (for almost half of the world’s population lived in the USA, the British Empire and the USSR alone at that time), made the right decision to focus on restoring Spain, torn by the civil war.
The Frankists limited themselves to only sending the volunteer “Blue Division” to the Eastern Front, which was successfully multiplied by zero by Soviet troops on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, simultaneously solving another problem of the caudillo - saving him from his own rabid Nazis, in comparison with which even the right-wing Phalangists were a model of moderation .
Portugal
Portugal remained one of the last European countries to retain extensive colonial possessions - Angola and Mozambique - until the 1970s. African soil gave untold riches, for example, strategically important tungsten, which the Pyreneans sold at a high price to both sides (at least at the initial stage of the war).
In the event of joining any of the opposing alliances, the consequences are easy to calculate: yesterday you were counting trade profits, and today your opponents are enthusiastically starting to sink your transport ships that provide communication between the metropolis and the colonies (or even completely occupy the latter), despite the fact that there is no large army Unfortunately, the noble dons do not have a fleet to protect the sea communications on which the life of the country depends.
In addition, the Portuguese dictator António de Salazar remembered the lessons of history, when in 1806, during the Napoleonic Wars, Lisbon was captured and ravaged first by the French, and two years later by the British troops, so that the small nation did not have to turn into an arena for a clash of great powers again no desire.
Of course, during World War II, life on the Iberian Peninsula, the agricultural periphery of Europe, was not at all easy. However, the hero-narrator of the already mentioned “Nights in Lisbon” was struck by the pre-war carelessness of this city, with the bright lights of working restaurants and casinos.
Switzerland
The Swiss Guard is the oldest (surviving) military unit in the world, guarding the Pope himself since 1506. Highlanders, even from the European Alps, have always been considered natural warriors, and the system of army training for Helvetian citizens ensured excellent possession of weapons by almost every adult resident of the canton. Victory over such a neighbor, where every mountain valley became a natural fortress, according to the calculations of the German headquarters, could only be achieved with an unacceptable level of Wehrmacht losses.
Actually, the forty-year conquest of the Caucasus by Russia, as well as three bloody Anglo-Afghan wars, showed that complete control over mountainous territories requires years, if not decades, of armed presence in conditions of constant guerrilla warfare - which the strategists of the OKW (German General Staff) could not ignore.
However, there is also a conspiracy theory about the refusal to seize Switzerland (after all, for example, Hitler trampled on the neutrality of the Benelux countries without hesitation): as you know, Zurich is not only chocolate, but also banks where gold was allegedly stored by both the Nazis and the British who financed them. Saxon elites who are not at all interested in undermining the global financial system due to an attack on one of its centers.
Sweden
In 1938, Life magazine ranked Sweden among the countries with the highest standard of living. Stockholm, having abandoned all-European expansion after numerous defeats from Russia in the 18th century, was not in the mood to trade oil for guns even now. True, in 1941-44, a company and a battalion of King Gustav’s subjects fought on the side of Finland against the USSR in different sectors of the front - but precisely as volunteers, whom His Majesty could not (or did not want?) interfere with - with a total number of about a thousand fighters. There were also small groups of Swedish Nazis in some SS units.
There is an opinion that Hitler did not attack Sweden supposedly for sentimental reasons, considering its inhabitants to be purebred Aryans. The real reasons for maintaining the neutrality of the Yellow Cross, of course, lay in the plane of economics and geopolitics. On all sides, the heart of Scandinavia was surrounded by territories controlled by the Reich: allied Finland, as well as occupied Norway and Denmark. At the same time, until the defeat in the Battle of Kursk, Stockholm preferred not to quarrel with Berlin (for example, officially accepting Danish Jews who fled the Holocaust was allowed only in October 1943). So even at the end of the war, when Sweden stopped supplying Germany with scarce iron ore, in a strategic sense, the occupation of a neutral would not have changed anything, forcing it only to stretch the Wehrmacht’s communications.
Not knowing carpet bombing and property reparations, Stockholm met and spent the Second World War with the revival of many areas of the economy; for example, the future world famous company Ikea was founded in 1943.
Argentina
The German diaspora in the country of Pampa, as well as the size of the Abwehr station, were among the largest on the continent. The army, trained according to Prussian patterns, supported the Nazis; politicians and oligarchs, on the contrary, focused more on foreign trade partners - England and the USA (for example, in the late thirties, 3/4 of the famous Argentine beef was supplied to Britain).
Relations with Germany were also uneven. German spies operated almost openly in the country; During the Battle of the Atlantic, the Kriegsmarine sank several Argentine merchant ships. In the end, in 1944, as if hinting, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition recalled their ambassadors from Buenos Aires (having previously introduced a ban on the supply of weapons to Argentina); in neighboring Brazil, the general headquarters, with the help of American advisers, hatched plans to bomb their Spanish-speaking neighbors.
But even despite all this, the country declared war on Germany only on March 27, 1945, and then, of course, nominally. The honor of Argentina was saved only by a few hundred volunteers who fought in the ranks of the Anglo-Canadian Air Force.
Türkiye
One of the many reasons for the Second World War was the territorial claims that all (!) countries of the fascist bloc had against their neighbors. Turkey, despite its traditional orientation towards Germany, however, stood apart here due to the course taken by Ataturk to abandon imperial ambitions in favor of building a national state.
The Founding Father's comrade and second president of the country, İsmet İnönü, who headed the Republic after the death of Atatürk, could not help but take into account the obvious geopolitical alignments. Firstly, in August 1941, after the slightest threat of Iranian action on the side of the Axis, Soviet and British troops simultaneously entered the country from the north and south, taking control of the entire Iranian Plateau in three weeks. And although the Turkish army is incomparably stronger than the Persian one, there is no doubt that the anti-Hitler coalition, remembering the successful experience of the Russian-Ottoman wars, will not stop at a preemptive strike, and the Wehrmacht, 90% of which is already deployed on the Eastern Front, is unlikely to come to the rescue.
And secondly and most importantly, what is the point of fighting (see Ataturk’s quote) if you can make a lot of money by supplying scarce Erzurum chrome (without which tank armor cannot be made) to both warring parties?
In the end, when it became completely indecent to prevaricate, on February 23, 1945, under pressure from the allies, war on Germany was nevertheless declared, although without actual participation in hostilities. Over the previous 6 years, Turkey's population has increased from 17.5 to almost 19 million: along with neutral Spain, this is the best result among European countries.