Battle of Africa
On June 1940 Itlay entered the war (attacking Ethiopia) which caused the war to spread rapidly into North Africa. In reaction, the Egyptians granted Britain permission to station large forces in their territory. So British forces lauched a counter attack in December 1940 making Italy retreat. Hitler was surprised that Italy failed so he sent in German Afirka Korps (led by Erwin Rommel). Their first attack was in February 1941. The Germans captured the ports of Benghazi and Cyrenaica, Tobruk. 4 months later the British try to liberate Tobruk but they get attacked while doing it.
Supplies were limited and easily the most crucial part of the Battle. The British were supplied with plenty of supplies; Germany on the other hand had a harder time getting supplies to the soldiers. The Britain’s were smarter than the Germans because they put their “unsinkable aircraft carrier” as some called it on the outside of the island of Malta (by Alexandria, Egypt) which allowed Britan to maintain naval control of the Mediterranean. And they would have access to the oil from the middle east. They needed the raw materials from Asia too. Also they could easily make attacks on people trying to cross the Mediterranean.
Machinery needed oil and gas to run. Britain was the first big country to transform into a completely mechanized army, so they were very dependent on Middle Eastern oil.
Italy was the most dangerous weapon at this time. If they remained neutral Britian would have been assured the control of the sea. If Italy sided with Germany, The powerful Italian navy could close the Mediterranean.
Italy remained neutral while Germany invaded Poland. While Germany invaded France, Mussolini couldn’t resist so he declared war on Britain and France. This started war in the Mediterranean between Italy and Britian. Britain only had 45 ships and 12 subs and Italy had 183 ships and 108 subs. Britian was overwhelmed. The surrendered in 14 days.
The Royal Air Force was in a slightly better position, with 205 aircraft against the Italian air force's 313 planes. On the ground, Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani had some 250,000 troops in Libya, while General Lord Archibald Percival Wavell, British commander, had only 100,000 troops to defend Egypt, Sudan and Palestine. The British ground forces were way better organized, trained and equipped and had superior leadership.
The British and Italian armies faced each other across the Libyan-Egyptian border in an area known as the Western Desert. It was an bad, unhealthy region with no vegetation and virtually no water. Britain pushed the Italians out of Egypt and they kept scoring major battles. In the end the British, Free French and US win the Battke. This war was interesting because of lack of supplies available for both the allied and axis powers.
Comments
Good summary but your focus should have been on the US involvement in Africa more. Also be sure to include personal thoughts!