Spain, the United States and World War I

Abstract

Quite a few Spaniards agreed with Manuel Azaña when he described Spanish neutrality in World War I as necessary, as a result of the country’s unpreparedness. Yet neutrality was not the same than passivity, and required continuous interventions on the part of the successive Spanish governments both to resist the pressures of belligerent states and to take advantage of the economic and diplomatic opportunities offered by the conflict. From the very summer of 1914, the defense of Spanish neutrality depended heavily on the United States, the only nation whose exports could guarantee Spain’s economic stability and whose support could give credit to Madrid’s peace initiatives. Before 1917, Spain –as other European neutrals– relied also on the actions taken by Wilson’s cabinet to check the destruction caused by German submarines and to temper the restrictions imposed by the British blockade of the North Sea. After their entrance into the war, the United States became a new and powerful agent of Allied pressures. From February 1917 to November 1918, Spain saw how the shield American neutrality had represented up to then vanished, and fell victim to a growing pressure on the part of the Allies –now with Washington’s help– that reached its peak in the late summer and early fall of 1918, when the concentration government headed by Maura contemplated seriously the breaking of diplomatic relation with Berlin.