Why didn't either side invade the neutral european countries?

[Louis XXIV]

Yes this alliance goes back to medieval times. As an interesting side note, Ian Fleming worked for British intelligence and passed through Lisbon during WWII. Remember those crazy James Bond Casino scenes with spies?? Estoril Casino during this period was the kernel of inspiration.

You had a nice triangulation between Lisbon, Stockholm and Istanbul. A lot of WWII cloack-and-dagger stuff went on in all three.

I know this is off-topic, but if anyone knows any more about this, I'd be interested in hearing it, since its something I know nothing about.

 

[jonatas]

I know this is off-topic, but if anyone knows any more about this, I'd be interested in hearing it, since its something I know nothing about.

I'm not an expert, but here is some more information. Estoril, a sunny and luxurious resort town (with casinos) just outside of Lisbon, was an aristocratic playground for European elites during this period, as was Lisbon itself. During the WWII period, various royal exiles could be found here as well as powerful elites in general.

For example, Calouste Gulbenkian, "Mr. Five Percent", an Armenian oil tycoon, took refuge in Lisbon during WWII and lived there for the rest of his life, becoming one of the city's greatest patrons ever in the process (His name is omnipresent in Lisbon). Gulbenkian is famous for being instrumental in opening up the Middle East (Oil) to the West, helping found Shell, and founding/running Iraqi Oil Fields after WWI (he kept 5 percent of all revenue from Iraq which was under his control, hence his nickname).

Then you had the royals, like the last Italian king (House of Savoy), the Duke of Windsor (who had famously abdicated the thrown and suspected of harbouring some Nazi sympathies), and the Spanish royalty, who were all exiled in Lisbon.

This is the kind of over-the-top milieu Fleming and other spies (Codename Garbo for example) found in Estoril and Lisbon. Fleming's first book, Casino Royale, which is also the newest Bond film (I haven't seen it but I heard the new Bond is good), took inspiration from Fleming's WWII intelligence experience in Lisbon. Lisbon's role as a neutral ground between Axis/Allies is also referenced in other films, like Humphrey Bogart's "Casablanca", where the war hero and lead female are attempting to flee to Lisbon to escape the Axis.

Here is a couple paragraph quote from Wiki's entry on the PVDE/PIDE (Port. secret police) which touches on the Espionage going on...

Wikipedia:

Spoiler :

Also in 1936, with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and in 1937 with the attempt against Salazar's life by anarchist militants, the PVDE started focusing its battle against Communism and the underground Portuguese Communist Party. During this pre-World War II period, several Italian and German advisors came to Portugal to help the PVDE to adopt a model similar to the Gestapo.

During the war, the PVDE experienced its most intense period of activity. Lisbon was the European centre of espionage and one of the favourite exile destinations. Writers such as Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond) and other famous personalities such as the Duke of Windsor or the Spanish Royal Family were exiled in Lisbon. German spies attempted to buy information on trans-Atlantic shipping to help their submarines fight the Battle of the Atlantic. The Spaniard Juan Pujol Garcia, better known as Codename Garbo, passed on misinformation to the Germans, hoping it would hasten the end of the Franco regime - he was recruited by Britain as a double agent while in Lisbon. Conversely, William Colepaugh, an American traitor, was recruited as an agent by the Germans while his ship was in port in Lisbon - he was subsequently landed by U-boat U-1230 in Maine before being captured. In June 1943, a commercial airliner carrying the actor Leslie Howard was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by the Luftwaffe after taking off from Lisbon, possibly because German spies in Lisbon believed that Prime Minister Winston Churchill was on board.

Several American reports called Lisbon "The Capital of Espionage". However, the PVDE always maintained a neutral stance towards foreign espionage activity, as long as no one intervened in Portuguese internal policies.