 Spain owed Germany over $212 million for supplies of matériel during the Spanish Civil War, and Italian combat troops had actually fought in Spain on the side of Franco.When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Franco immediately offered to form a unit of military volunteers to join the invasion.This was accepted by Hitler and, within two weeks, there were more than enough volunteers to form a division—the Blue Division ("División Azul" in Spanish) under General Agustín Muñoz Grandes.