essential question: how did the north african campaign effect the war?
TRANSCRIPT
North Africa 1940-1943 Essential Question: How did the North African campaign
effect the war?
Italian Presence in North Africa Since before World War II, Italy had been
occupying Libya and had over a million soldiers based there
In neighboring Egypt, the British Army had only 36,000 men guarding the Suez Canal and the Arabian oilfields
On Sept 13, 1940, the Italians advanced into Egypt but halted in front of the main British defenses at Mersa Matruh
On Dec 9, the British counterattacked and pushed the Italians back more than 500 miles, inflicting heavy casualties
British troops then moved along the coast and on Jan 22, 1941, they captured the port of Tobruk in Libya
Germany to the Rescue In the meantime,
Germany sent forces across the Mediterranean to Tripoli• The Afrika Corps
commanded by Erwin Rommel
Italy’s disasters in North Africa and elsewhere (i.e., Greece) were threatening to undermine the Axis position in the Balkans and the Mediterranean
Rommel Characteristically Rommel attacked and
drove the British Commonwealth forces out of Libya except for Tobruk
With the situation in North Africa stabilized, Hitler turned his attention to shoring up Italy, leaving Rommel to deal with North Africa
One of Rommel’s biggest challenges would be his long, tenuous supply line• Between Oct and Nov the Allies sank nearly
80% of Axis supply ships crossing the Mediterranean
Rommel
Rommel pushed the British deep into Egypt but British General Bernard Montgomery stopped Rommel at El Alamein in July 1942
Operation Torch While this was going on in Egypt and Libya,
Americans acquiesced to British pressure and began planning Operation Torch– landings to occupy Algeria and Morocco and co-opt the Vichy French• The “Vichy French” had reached an agreement
with the Germans allowing a French government headed by Marshall Henri Pétain to govern the French colonies and those parts of France not occupied by the Germans
• The “Free French” established their own government in exile led by Charles de Gaulle
Operation Torch The Anglo-American forces landed at
Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers and then advanced by land and sea to Tunisia
Operation Torch At first the Vichy French
resisted, but eventually surrendered
Hitler began rushing troops to Tunis before the Allies could get there
Hitler was successful in winning “the race to Tunis” and therefore denying the Mediterranean to Allied shipping • However, he did so at a great
price, committing Italian and German troops to an ultimately hopeless fight when they could have been better used elsewhere
Admiral Francois Darlan surrendered the Vichy forces in North Africa
Kasserine Pass After El Alamein, Montgomery
had been unable to cut off Rommel and Rommel was able to retreat across Egypt, into Libya, and eventually reach Tunisia
Rommel developed a plan to sweep up from southern Tunisia and destroy the Allied supply dumps in eastern Algiers
Rommel attacked on February 14 and punched his way through the Kasserine Pass
It was a tactical victory, but Rommel was unable to continue with his larger plan and began withdrawing on Feb 22
Germans Defeated Rommel then turned
south against the British who were arriving from Egypt
Montgomery dealt Rommel a stunning defeat and Rommel personally left Africa
The Axis position in North Africa steadily deteriorated and in early May the Allies controlled Tunisia
American soldiers enter Kasserine Pass
First Battle The Americans did
not perform very well in their first combat experience and senior leadership was horrible• General Eisenhower
was forced to relieve Lloyd Fredendall of command and replace him with George Patton
Lloyd Fredendall, commander of the American II Corps
Results of North Africa The Germans had wasted valuable
resources in an indecisive theater Mussolini was severely weakened
domestically The Americans learned from their
poor performance and made the necessary changes
The British and American coalition weathered a potentially threatening storm