Spanish Neutrality: Release of Blocked Funds

A file of correspondence concerning a scheme to bribe prominent members of the Spanish government to maintain neutrality during the Second World War. The letters discuss arrangements for the transfer of the money; the purposes for which it could be used once transferred to Spain; details of expenditure by the Spanish General March, who was to distribute the money in Spain; requests by the British ambassador to Spain, Sir Samuel Hoare, for further payments to keep the scheme going; negotiations for Spain to resist any attempts by the Axis powers to invade or occupy Spanish territory; and the arrest of several men for espionage in British Honduras that threatened the secrecy of the money transfers. There is also brief mention of financial arrangements for a scheme to induce members of the Italian navy to defect.