You have a good point there angus. But how were the british in the way? AND the Spanish?
The British were in the way by simply being at war with Germany. And at the turning point of the war, when the Axis got stopped and started retreating, the British were in the way by holding Egypt and some other parts of N-Africa, as well as the key issue, Gibraltar. And on top of that, while Stalingrad was still an uncertain outcome, the W-Allies launched an advance on a 2.500 miles front, in N-Africa.
- Just "being at war with Germany" meant that the Axis invasion of Russia had to be planned differently, it also meant that an uncomfortable amount of manpower had to be tied up, and it absolutely meant that the force was weaker. Did you know that the LW lost more aircraft from 1940 to 1941 to the British than to the Russians in the "hottest" year of 1941?
- Just holding Gibraltar meant that the axis could not go in and out the med. There was still quite some naval power of the Italians trapped in the med, but the British gave them a beating. There was also some naval power belonging to the Vichy French, but the British also gave them a (very unpopular) beating.
- The Desert war, starting in 1940 may not look big on the scale of the Russian war, but it did drain the Axis quite a bit. They needed some resources, - armour, fuel, transports, navy, and a whole load of troops.
- Holding on in the area meant that the Bosphorus was closed. The Turks had the key there, and while being cautious in world politics, they were relatively pro Axis. That leads us to.....
- Gallipoli. The hideous WWI battle fought between the Commonwealth and the Turks was all about holding both sides of the Bosphorus to enable a naval connection (be it gunpower or supplies/troops) if needed.....which it definately was.
- Operation Torch, - the allied advance in N-Africa started in November 1942. When the Germans thought they were easily winning at Stalingrad. Hitler referred to it as basically won. But this time he got a sudden secondary front. Quite a bit of air power immediately was transferred from Stalingrad to the med. I have often wondered about the timing of those events.
And the Spanish.....simple.
Hitler realized the importance of the med before invading Russia, he met Franco in Spain in 1940 about the issue. Hitler needed the Spanish co-operation to seize Gibraltar. He did not have naval power enough to catch it from the sea, so it would have to be done from the mainland. So he asked for permission and transport. (The Spanish rail system has it's own trackwidth, - something that also bothered the Germans in Russia).
Franco basically declined. In a cunning political manner, he made ridiculous counter-demands which upon Hitler could not agree. No-deal, and Spain was at peace
BTW, this is probably already all on this particular thread.
