Transcript war in north africa

The War in North Africa
and the Mediterranean
Key to British military planning in the
1930’s was the need to defend British
imperial possessions across the globe.
British strategic interests in the
region

The Gibraltar
Straits
Middle east oil
and the Suez
Canal
British naval
base on Malta
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
The Suez canal was of
paramount importance to
Britain.
Since the 19th Century it
provided the shortcut to India.
It’s 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.
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.
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 BritishFrench 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.
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 Hitler’s grasp.
We need a thousand
Italian dead to take our
place at the victors table.
Mussolini June 1940
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
The destruction of the French
Navy
 Following the collapse of France, Churchill’s
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 Britain’s will to
carry on the war without France.
Algeria was a French Colony before WW2.
The bulk of the French navy was anchored
there in July 1940.
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.
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 10:1
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 POW’s
Suez Canal
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
British aerial reconnaissance
photos of Taranto naval base
Assessment
 Many historians (such as Denis Mack
Smith) would argue that Mussolini’s
decision to enter the war was the biggest
mistake of his political career.
 Read the evidence to see whether you agree
with this interpretation.
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 Britain’s resolve to fight
on in 1940.