America at War: The Campaigns in North Africa and Italy

The Battle for Oil Reserves.

The Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal, which allowed passage into the Indian Ocean, had been the lifeline linking Britain and France to their African and Asian colonies and to the oil reserves of Iraq, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula. Hitler wanted to deny these resources to his enemies and acquire them himself, but he was unwilling to commit troops to take them by force because such actions would have weakened his position in Europe. Instead he exploited anti-British sentiment to obtain from the Persians a treaty guaranteeing Germany access to oil and another from the Turks assuring German entry to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Benito Mussolini complicated these plans, however. Like its Axis ally Germany, Italy had chafed at its lack of an overseas empire and had invaded Ethiopia in 1935. In September 1940, when Hitler's western blitzkrieg seemed about to achieve early victory, Mussolini...

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