Relations between Spain and the Soviet Union in the XX century had periods of rapid development and quick decline. During the civil war in Spain the ties intensified unprecedentedly, but the rule of Francisco Franco was marked by the transformation of the two states into ideological and political opponents. The period of World War II can be considered as the lowest point in the relationship, when Spanish volunteers fought in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. The situation did not improve after the war, when the Soviet Union proposed the most stringent measures to influence the Franco regime. Nevertheless, since the second half of the 1950s, when both regimes experienced a period of relative liberalization, direct channels of communication, primarily economic, have begun to appear. Together with symbolic steps that the sides exchanged, the development of economic relations contributed significantly to the change. The Soviet Union supplied aluminum, cellu-lose and tractors, Spain exported agricultural products and copper. Since the middle of the 1960s, the range of goods has become more diverse: in Soviet deliveries, oil and oil products have played an increasing role, and Spain has provided more and more consumer goods. In the second half of the 1960s a new sphere has opened for the trade relations between Madrid and Moscow - fishing. Active development of the fishing industry in the USSR required new fishing areas, and the Spanish ports were convenient for basing Soviet fishing vessels. In the end of the decade, the sides signed a number of bilateral treaties regulating the mutual use of coastal infrastruc-ture. Economic ties between the USSR and the francoist Spain began to pave the way for establishing normal relations between the two countries.
Resumen. Durante el periodo del tardofranquismo, España y la Unión Soviética no tuvieron relaciones diplomáticas. A pesar de que ambos países mantenían contactos a nivel económico y cultural, se trataba de una colaboración limitada. En este contexto, a finales de enero de 1969 un grupo de turistas soviéticos visitaron España. Este evento resultó ser muy relevante para las relaciones hispano-soviéticas. Era algo más que un viaje ordinario. Los "turistas" establecieron contactos no solo con altos cargos franquistas, sino también con miembros clandestinos del Partido Comunista de España. El presente artículo se basa en los expedientes recién desclasificados por las autoridades rusas y se propone analizar dicha visita desde la perspectiva de las relaciones entre España y la URSS en los años 1960-1970.
Created by António Salazar, the New State relied heavily on the sup-port of the armed forces. Nevertheless, in April 1961, a group of gener-als led by the Minister of Defense tried to remove him from power. Their dissatisfaction was caused not by the system, but by the war in Angola, the first stage of which was not successful for Portugal. Salazar was blamed for not listening to warnings from the military and intelli-gence agencies. No reforms were conducted in the overseas possessions to prevent the revolt, no additional forces were sent to the colony. At first, the military planned to remove Salazar in a constitutional way, according to the rules and institutions of the New State. First, the mili-tary had to obtain the support of the President Américo Thomaz. It re-sulted in many days of negotiations with the head of the country, in the hope that he would take the side of the military. It was only when it became clear that Tomás remained loyal to Salazar the generals decided to put troops on the streets. However, this decision came too late. Sala-zar and Tomás gave orders to remove the rebels from their posts, an-nouncing that on the radio. As a result, the chain of command was bro-ken, and the conspirators no longer had confidence that the troops would obey them. As a result, this attempted military coup did not go beyond the cabinet negotiations.
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