The War in North Africa and the Mediterranean

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The War in North Africa and the Mediterranean
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Key to British military planning in the 1930s
was the need to defend British imperial
possessions across the globe.
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British strategic interests in the region
Oil fields
Malta

Gibraltar
Suez Canal
The Gibraltar Straits
Middle east oil and the Suez Canal
British naval base on Malta
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British strategic interests

• The narrow straits of Gibraltar are the gateway
  from the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic
• The Suez Canal shortened the sea route to India
  by 6,000km and were vital to shipping oil from
  Persia (Iran)
• The Naval base at Malta was key to the defence of
  the Suez Canal

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The Suez canal was of paramount importance to
Britain. Since the 19th Century it provided the
shortcut to India. Its loss would mean a
massive blow to British prestige and imperial
dominance of the world. Even when Britain itself
was under threat of Nazi invasion in 1940 there
was no question of abandoning the Suez Canal and
British control of India.
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1936-1940 Growing military / political alliance
between fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Pact of
Steel (1936) military alliance. Italy was the
weaker power by far in this partnership. 1939
Italy declares non-belligerence in the war in
Europe.
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Italian ambitions

• Mussolini aimed to build a New Roman Empire
  incorporating Egypt, Kenya, Malta, Cyprus (all
  British territories)
• Italian forces had already occupied Abyssinia in
  1935-36 and Albania in 1939.
• Mussolini resented the British domination of the
  Mediterranean and middle east and the
  British-French domination of North Africa. He
  regarded the Mediterranean as an Italian sphere
  of influence.
• In June 1940 he saw an opportunity to grab a
  north African empire for Italy.

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Italian ambitions

• May 1940 British retreat from Dunkirk
• June 1940 French army in total disarray
• The war seems almost over. Mussolini feels
  compelled to make a gesture of support for
  Germany before the final defeat of both Britain
  and France leaves all of Europe under Hitlers
  grasp.

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We need a thousand Italian dead to take our place
at the victors table. Mussolini June 1940
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June 1940

• France facing imminent collapse and Britain
  having abandoned the battlefield at Dunkirk.
• The Western powers seemed defeated.
• Italy declared war on both Britain and France on
  June 10th 1940.
• Italy invaded the south of France with very
  limited success, occupying only some border
  regions.
• France signed the armistice with Nazi Germany on
  22nd June

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The destruction of the French Navy

• Following the collapse of France, Churchills
  primary aim was to ensure the French fleet was
  not captured by the Germans.
• After the French ignored an ultimatum by Britain
  to either surrender the ships or sink them he
  ordered the Royal Navy to attack the French fleet
  at anchor at Mers el Kebir in Algeria on July 3rd
  1940
• 1,300 French sailors were killed.
• The action was both military necessity and a
  symbolic message to Hitler of Britains will to
  carry on the war without France.

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• Algeria was a French Colony before WW2. The bulk
  of the French navy was anchored there in July
  1940.

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The context.

• As Italy geared up for war against Britain and
  Britain destroyed the French navy, Germany began
  preparations for the invasion of Britain in
  September 1940.

Britain fights for national survival as its
empire comes under threat.
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Italian invasion of Egypt

• In September 1940 300,000 Italian troops invaded
  Egypt to drive out the British and capture the
  Suez Canal.
• Italian troops poured across the border from
  neighbouring Libya (an Italian colony since 1913)
• They outnumbered the small British, Australian
  and Indian force by 101

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British advance

• Despite overwhelming superiority of numbers the
  Italian troops were easily repulsed.
• They lacked motorised transport and armour.
• The British force pushed the Italians back 800km
  and captured 130,000 POWs

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Suez Canal
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The attack on Taranto by the Fleet Air Arm in
November 1940. The attack was so brilliantly
executed that Japanese naval strategists used the
operation as their model for the Pearl Harbour
attack in 1941
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British aerial reconnaissance photos of Taranto
naval base
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Assessment

• Many historians (such as Denis Mack Smith) would
  argue that Mussolinis decision to enter the war
  was the biggest mistake of his political career.
• Read the evidence to see whether you agree with
  this interpretation.

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Should Italy have kept out of WW2 ?

• Italian industrial resources were not mobilised.
• Italy was too dependent upon Germany for raw
  materials.
• Italian propaganda boasted of Italian military
  strength which did not exist in reality. Italian
  armed forces were poorly equipped.
• Mussolini miscalculated Britains resolve to
  fight on in 1940.