ABSTRACT
In August 1914, neutral countries had been assigned no particular role in the plans that the warring parties had drawn up for a Central European conflict. However, neutral Spain, from a maritime and commercial point of view, soon attracted the attention of both warring sides. Next to the military enclave of Gibraltar, the traditional British naval key to the Mediterranean, there were other economic “Gibraltars” to protect by the Allies. The long shadow of German sabotage and espionage called for mobilisation on this liminal stage. This work, to assess the intensity of belligerent impacts on processes unfolding the length and breadth of Spain between 1914 and 1918, firstly discusses legitimacies for such interferences posing domestic coding of war and neutrality and, secondly, analyses external agency focusing on Allied intelligence and consular services meddling in a neutral country’s internal affairs. The latter did not only challenge the conflicting ways in which war and neutrality were experienced and interpreted by the Spaniards but, more importantly, deeply impacted on the political, economic, and social landscape.
