23. The Widespread But Untrue Belief About Just How Vitally Important Hitler Viewed North Africa and the Middle East
A widely believed but untrue World War II narrative centers on the belief that Hitler had grand designs in the Middle East and viewed it as vitally important. As a result, if the Axis had won the North Africa Campaign and seized Egypt, they would have gone on to seize the rest of the Middle East and its oilfields. More importantly, they would then have gone on to win the war by outflanking the Soviet Union and attacking it from the south. The concept looks good on a map, but it was unrealistic, and the belief that Hitler cared greatly about the Middle East is untrue. Far from any ambitious plans for the Middle East, Hitler only got involved in North Africa in order to bail out Mussolini.
When the Germans first sent forces to the deserts of North Africa, they saw that theater as peripheral. They accordingly sought to keep their investment – and exposure – there to a bare minimum. They had greater objectives elsewhere with a higher claim on their resources. Had the Germans won in North Africa and conquered Egypt, they would have interdicted the Suez Canal. That would have discomfited the British and their supply lines to India and Asia, but not severed them. At various times, the Axis made the Mediterranean too hazardous for shipping and forced the British to reroute around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. It took longer, but the supplies reached their destination.