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Salazar's policy of neutrality for Portugal in World War II thus included a strategic component. The country still held colonies that, because of their poor economic development, could not adequately defend themselves from military attack. Since the British did not seek Portuguese assistance, the country expected to remain neutral.
The neutral powers were countries that remained neutral during World War II.Some of these countries had large colonies abroad or had great economic power. Spain had just been through its civil war, which ended on 1 April 1939 (five months prior to the invasion of Poland)—a war that involved several countries that subsequently participated in World War II.
Portugal was officially neutral during World War II and the period of the Holocaust in German-occupied Europe.The country had been ruled by an authoritarian political regime led by António de Oliveira Salazar but had not been significantly influenced by racial antisemitism and was considered more sympathetic to the Allies than was neighbouring Francoist Spain.
During World War II, 1939–1945, Portugal remained officially neutral, giving its highest priority to avoiding a Nazi invasion of the sort that was so devastating in most other European countries. The regime at first showed some pro- Axis sympathies; Salazar for example expressed approval for the German invasion of the Soviet Union .
Operation Alacrity was the code name for a possible Allied seizure of Azores during World War II. It never took place because Portugal agreed to an Allied request for use of air bases. The islands were of enormous strategic value in the defeat of the German U-boats. Portugal, too weak to defend the Azores, or its large colonial empire, or even ...
Portugal was officially neutral in World War II, but in practice Salazar collaborated with the British and sold them rubber and tungsten. [155] [156] In late 1943, he allowed the Allies to establish air bases in the Azores to fight German U-boats. Moreover, Salazar helped Spain avoid German control.
About 1.2 million Austrians served in all branches of the German armed forces during World War II. After the defeat of the Axis Powers, the Allies occupied Austria in four occupation zones set up at the end of World War II until 1955, when the country again became a fully independent republic under the condition that it remained neutral.
Salazar supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War and played a key role in keeping Portugal and Spain neutral during World War II while still providing aid and assistance to the Allies. [11] [12] [13] Despite being a dictatorship, Portugal under his rule took part in the founding of some international organisations.