[FuzoPatriota]

Carlos Arias Navarro, the last Spanish prime minister to serve under Gen Franco, met with US officials to garner support for such a move, according to documents held in the American National Archive and made public on Monday.
The declassified documents, released to Spanish daily newspaper El Pais, revealed that Gen Franco's government was "deeply concerned" by events across the border following the Carnation Revolution of April, 1974.
The event, a bloodless coup by the Left which effectively put an end to Portugal's authoritarian regime and set the nation on the path to democracy, sparked fears that Gen Franco's own regime could go the same way.
Mr Arias privately assured the Americans that "adequate precautions" were being taken to prevent "the events in Portugal from spilling over the Spanish border," a report from the time claims.
Six months before Gen Franco's death in November 1975 his prime minister met with the US deputy Secretary of State to express Spanish concerns and win backing for military intervention.
"Portugal posed a serious threat to Spain, not only because of the way the situation there was developing, but because of the foreign support it might ultimately receive, which could be hostile to Spain," wrote diplomat Robert Ingersoll to the then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, in a report on the March 1975 meeting.
"Spain would fight the anti-communist battle alone if necessary," he summarised. "But it hoped that it would have the cooperation and understanding of its friends, not only in the Spanish interest but in the interest of all who thought the same."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... tugal.html

Of course Franco's real aim was not to stem the tide of communism. Instead his real aim was to do what the Spanish have always wanted to do: Conquer Portugal and create an Iberian Union. Franco had written a thesis before the Spanish Civil war, on how to invade Portugal in 24 hours

Although there were a lot of problems between communists and non-communists back in 1975, a Spanish invasion would have been the best thing to unite all Portuguese. Portugal had at least 1 million men with extensive combat experience in Africa (and a few millions who had done compulsory military service) and all military equipment had been returned from Africa. While the Spanish would have probably had air superiority over us and would destroy many of our warships and caused lots of destruction and deaths in Portugal, they would have taken hundreds if not thousands of casualties (the longer they stayed in Portugal the more casualties they'd suffer) and would eventually be forced to withdraw.

I won't be surprised if there were more Spanish plots to invade us after 1975...

[Political Interest]

Franco was very much into invading other countries. Look at how Spain still controls those Moroccan cities. The very man who had come to power on the support of Nazi Germany and Hitler still ruled right into the 1970s.

[Aekos]

I won't be surprised if there were more Spanish plots to invade us after 1975...

Better start digging the trenches

[Figlio di Moros]

...his real aim was to do what the Spanish have always wanted to do: Conquer Portugal and create an Iberian Union.

Pardon my ignorance, but what difference is there between the portugese and the other Iberian nations united under the spanish flag in this regard?

[FuzoPatriota]

Pardon my ignorance, but what difference is there between the portugese and the other Iberian nations united under the spanish flag in this regard?

I forgive your ignorance on this topic but be aware that many fellow Portuguese won't be as forgiving as I am!

For a start Portugal have been an independent country for over 800 years. Spain on the other hand has only existed for 500 years or so (or something close to that). This means Spain became a country about 300 years later than Portugal. Secondly in Portugal we speak Portuguese whereas in Spain they speak Spanish and a few regional languages such as Catalan and Basque. Although Portuguese and Spanish language have some if not a lot of similarities, they're not the same and many Spaniards have trouble understanding Portuguese and vice-versa. Third, Spain as we know today may have its days numbered, due to the growing nationalism in Catalunya, Galicia and the Basque Country. It is a real possibility that sometime in the future (could be 10, 20 or even 50 years) Catalunya and the Basque country become independence and so Spain starts to break up just as the Soviet Union or Jugoslavia did. The Portuguese are not the only ones in the Iberian Peninsula who tend to have a strong allergy to being ruled by the Spanish flag. The Spanish have constantly tried to conquer us and then rule us. They did manage it for 60 years (1580-1640) but were kicked out by the patriotic Portuguese, whereas Portuguese traitors who collaborated with the Spanish were killed or imprisoned. Nowadays about 25% to a third of the Portuguese people want Portugal to become part of Spain. This worries me a lot as with some effort the Iberianists might get the support of over 50% of the people and then a referendum on the issue would end Portuguese independence.

I have to confess that I do want Spain to break up, as this would mean Portugal's independence would be more secure in the sense there would no longer be a threat from the north and east. In addition we would definitely get Olivença (which the Spanish stole from us with French help during the Napoleonic wars) back. The Spanish promised in the Vienna Conference 1815 to give it back but have never done so. In addition they want some islands of ours. They want the Savage Islands which belong to the Madeira Archipelago and have used F-18s several times to fly ilegally over these islands and have even landed a military helicopter in the islands for a few minutes. The break-up of Spain would certainly mean the end of these invasions of our air-space and sea waters.

Hope this helps you gain a greater understanding of Portugal/Spain/Spanish regions.

[Figlio di Moros]

I'm aware Portugal was an independant nation prior to the formation of Spain, but so was Catalania and Castille; I'm still unaware of why Portugal is so different from the Basque or Andulusians, aside from not being conquered yet.

[Varilion]

They had no chance..
Spain failed to annex Portugal when it was the greatest power in Europe, so I don't think that Spain was able to do than in 1975.

[Aekos]

There is no point for Portugal to exist outside Spain. The Galicians have already proven that a Portuguese dialect-speaking nation can successfully be intergrated into the Spanish state.

[Captain Sam]

There is no point for Portugal to exist outside Spain.

Why does any nation exist? We should just annex every nation in to a single giant blob of a nation.

Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Fyrom have no right to exist outside of Austria, Hungary and Turkey.

[R_G]

Well I think Yugoslavia was a good basis, minus Macedonia because that should always be a nation.

I find this plan interesting but it was too big for Spain at the time, I think it was an ego trip, Stalin had some big plan his last couple years too.

[Dr House]

There is no point for Portugal to exist outside Spain.

Spain already has enough separatist headaches. One more nation being annexed and the country might tear itself apart.

[Figlio di Moros]

Hopefully it'll drag France and Germany along with it; heil the New European Order...

[Antonio1983]

If Spain ever tries to invade us again we will show them the way back and destroy them once and for all.

[Figlio di Moros]

You mean America and a few close friends would stop them from utterly destroying you, and establish proper recourse while protecting Spanish unity, right? Portugal isn't exactly in the position to be claiming martial might on its own.

[Fasces]

Franco was very much into invading other countries. Look at how Spain still controls those Moroccan cities. The very man who had come to power on the support of Nazi Germany and Hitler still ruled right into the 1970s.

Oh, please. Franco's government never invaded any other country, outside the Blue Division, and gave up colonial control of Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara. Cueta and Melilla both have an ethnically Spanish population. The situation there is no different than in Gibraltar. Regardless, in neither case were these territories conquered by Franco from an independent Moroccan State.