LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length 4 that of one of our "News of the Week " paragraphs. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must be accompanied by the name and address of the autor, which will be treated as confidential.—Ed. THE SPEcraroal ."LEFT WING IN FRANCO SPAIN" [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Mr. George Edinger, in his article, "Left Wing in Franco Spain," states that he took with him into Franco territory a list of questions compiled by his " Left " friends. At the top of the list was, "What about the foreign troops ? How many are there ? How much influence have they got and what is their effect on policy going to be if Franco wins ? " This question, he says, he asked in different forms about thirty times. But nowhere in his article does he give an answer to the last part of that question.

I, too, have visited Franco Spain and, unless I misunderstand Mr. Edinger, hold the same views as he does upon the conflict. I also asked that same question—though a hundred times more than he. And, although I received no definite answer (for I very much doubt if anyone knows exactly what will happen if Franco wins), I discovered what the Nationalist Spaniard felt about it. He is afraid.

Now, that fear is something new in Nationalist Spain. If it was there before—and any thinking Spaniard must have felt it—it was not openly expressed, but now with, as they believe, victory in sight it is everywhere apparent.

When Franco led his revolt he expected immediate victory. The different political groups and individuals which followed him had little in common except a dislike for the Government, and were willing to forget their differences for the duration of the rebellion. When victory came, after a few weeks fighting, each hoped to mould the new Government according to its beliefs. But victory did not come in a few weeks. The revolt turned itself into a long civil war in which other nations took part. Thanks to the participation of Italy and Germany it has become a war of ideologies, Democracy against Dictatorships.

The people in Nationalist Spain, therefore, including all those who were originally on the Government side but were conquered by Franco, find themselves ranged with the Dictators. They see their country overrun by Italians and Germans (Mr. Edinger's numbers agree very much with mine, though, unlike him, I saw a number of German civilians, including women and children, especially in Burgos and Bilbao) ; they see the photographs of Hitler and Mussolini on the walls of hotels, restaurants and cafés, and their flags (because there are two of them) outnumbering those of their own country ; and, being individualists (hence the prevalence of anarchy in Spain) and hating any interference in their private lives, they fear that the Dictators will have a large hand in the form which Franco's government will take, should he win.

Hider and Mussolini entered the Civil War not, as they claimed, to fight the Communist Menace, but to give their armies experience and at the same time obtain the mineral wealth of the country (pyrites and mercury at Almaden, iron ore at Bilbao, copper in Morccco)—essential for armaments— and the domination of the Mediterranean—essential if they are to strike effectively at the security of Great Britain in the event of another European war. I found that these facts were fully .realised by every intelligent Spaniard to whom I spoke. He knows now, if he did not before, that Italian and German troops are not in his country for any altruistic reasons.

He thinks, therefore, that a Berlin-Rome-Madrid axis is inevitable, should Franco win, but does not believe that any foreign mops will occupy the country (Hider. and Mussolini have need of them elsewhere), nor that any territory will be occupied. He is certain, however, that such things as aero- dromes will be kept on as " civilian " stations (" They are not the kind of men to spend all that money for nothing "), and that German civilians will flood the country as technicians and advisers, not only in industry but in the Government.

Franco, I was told by a number of well-informed people, is not a politician and has round him no one with any good political record. Will not Hitler and Mussolini be the politicians he so sorely requires ? It is a question many Spaniards put to me.

No one, as I have already said, and as Mr. Edinger evidently discovered, knows exactly what Franco's policy will be, should he win. His speeches and manifestos are little more than generali- ties. But the way in which Nationalist Spain is now governed gives a very good idea.

Franco is a Dictator. He is head of the State, of the Govern- ment, of the only political party, the Falange Espan2la Tradi- cionalista ; he is head of the army, of the navy, of the air force. He and his eleven ministers rule Nationalist Spain without any direct consultation with the people. The only way in which the public can express any opinion is through the F.E.T., and as its heads are also the heads of the Government it is hardly likely to be critical of any policy. Thus the people has prac- tically no say in the government of its country. But the Government has much to say to the people. Radio, newspapers, pamphlets and posters are all used in the most skilful propaganda.

It smacks very strongly of Italy and Germany. Now while the country is still at war, the Nationalist Spaniard does not mind so much. "We accept it," as one of them said to me, "like any other war measure. But when we have won, what then ? " And he shrugged his shoulders in dismay.

On the whole, the Spaniards take little interest in politics. Only in the large towns do they play any important part in their lives. All they want is to be left alone to earn enough money to buy sufficient food, some wine and a few cigarettes. They are not materialists. Birth, love and death are far more important to them than a large bank balance or an industrial plant. The machine, including the political machine, must be their servant, not their master. They are not the kind of people, therefore, who will be easily drilled into dictatorship robots. I spoke to a number of soldiers to whom the very idea of a dictatorship in peace time was abhorrent. They remembered the easy-going dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and of how irksome their parents found it to be. And they know that Franco's will be worse.

"The masses in Germany," to quote a young Spanish indus- trialist, " follow Hitler as though he were a god and have become, through brilliant propaganda, willing to undergo the most ghastly privations for the aggrandisement of their country. But the people of Spain will never look upon Franco as anything but a successful general. When the war is over they will want to return to their peacetime occupations as though nothing had happened ; they will want to forget about fighting and politics."

"But will they be allowed to forget ? " I asked him.

"Dictators," he replied, "never allow their people to forget war and politics."

"And so what ? "

The Spaniard shrugged his shoulders. He did not know. And I doubt if anyone knows, least of all Franco himself.

That shrug of the shoulders may not be much of an answer to Mr. Edinger's question, but it is not without interest. It struck me more forcibly than most things in Franck, Spain. It shows that there is among the people a growing apprehension of the future. They are afraid of what it will be. They know that the many political factions which have temporarily laid aside their differences in the common cause of Franco's rebellion will all be clamouring for a word in the government of the country. Then there is Catalonia, the Basques and all the factions which make up the side of "Los Rojos." Last, but not least, there are the Germans and Italians who do not fight other people's wars for no reward. All of them have somehow to be moulded into the New Spain. It is a tremendous problem.

No wonder the Spaniards are apprehensive of the future. The wonder is that Mr. Edinger did not mention that fear in his article. It is a disturbing answer to his question.—I am,

Sir, &c., JOHN JARDINE.

The Manor Thus:, Colerne, Wilts.