Assess the importance of the Mediterranean, British and Soviet theaters of war in WWII, 1940-1942
Mediterranean
British
Soviet
The Battle of Britain (1940)
First time Hitler had been stopped from achieving his aims
Britain's survival was going to be vital for keeping up the pressure on Germany, and ultimately to providing the launch pad for the allied invasion of Europe in 1944
British morale was fortified as there was no blitzkrieg in Britain
The Mediterranean and the Balkans (1940-1941)
Failure of Italian offensives in Egypt and Greece: Mussolini's failures brought Hitler into both North Africa and the Balkans
The campaigns were severe setbacks for the Allies
British troops in North Africa were moved to the fighting in Greece, which weakened the British in North Africa at a time when Britain needed its strength to deal with the threat from Rommel
In going to assist Mussolini in Greece, Hitler's plan to attack the USSR was delayed by a crucial 6 weeks, which had an impact on the chances of the German army reaching Moscow before the harsh Russia winter set in
Operation Barbarossa (22 June 1941)
Following the battle of Stalingrad, the Russians launched a counter-offensive which drove the enemy back to Berlin in 1945
Soviet advances in the summer of 1944 drew away German forces that could have blunted the Allied offensive in Normandy
El Alamein (1942)
Rommel's forces were defeated, the whole of northern Africa had been secured
This campaign prevented Egypt and the Suez Canal from falling to Hitler
It gave the Allies experience in large-scale seaborne offensives
It provided a launching position for the next Allied target - Italy
The invasion of the Soviet Union was to prove a huge mistake since it undid all the gains made by the Nazi-Soviet Pact and once again pushed Germany into a war on two fronts
The British resistance was to cause increasing problems for Germany, especially after 1942, as it had to divert resources away from the war in the East
Battle of Moscow (beg. December 1941)
Stopped the German for the first time advances and even pushed the Germans back
The Germans were stopped and that marked the limit of what the German military could achieve in the eastern front
WWII had become a war of attrition, Hitler's biggest fear
Successfully prevented the most serious attempt to capture their capital