 Fearing it might spark a civil war inside France, the leftist "Popular Front" government in France did not send direct support to the Republicans.French Prime Minister Léon Blum was sympathetic to the republic, fearing that the success of Nationalist forces in Spain would result in the creation of an ally state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, an alliance that would nearly encircle France.Right-wing politicians opposed any aid and attacked the Blum government.