WWII Hypothetical: The Mediterranean Strategy

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse

You rather underrate the spirited fight that was put up by the Republic.

Spirit was the only thing they had going for them, and the Stalinists strangled that in '37, two years before the end of the war.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
Yes quite true Doc but that was a negotiating position on Franco's part and he deliberately set a high price because the shrewd old coot was risk averse and wanted to see how the war turned out. He also got support during the civil war from the Western powers as well - particularly from Britain and The United States and he didn't want to upset those powers.

Right. That was the most diplomatic way of "just saying no" to war. He asked for a price that he knew Hitler would/could not pay.

[Ted Striker]

One thing to keep in mind about Japan and Russia.

One of the things that saved the Soviets was the arrival of Siberian troops from the east. Stalin had to keep several divisions stationed in the east in case of a Japanese attack.

But, of course we are all familiar with the EVEN DUMBER mistake Japan made and that was attacking the United States. So once the US came into the Pacific, the Japanese threat to Siberia was not on the table, and Stalin was able to release those divisions and send them over to the west against the Nazis.

Man how stupid were the Axis!!! So much azz kicking and then making some dumbass mistakes.

[Drake Tungsten]

The Axis were pretty much an alliance in name only. There was no real cooperation between the Germans and the Japanese.

[Alexander's Horse]

But it was only a starting point and never seriously pursued by Germany. Anyone who thinks Franco would have stood up to an ascendant Nazi Germany in 1940, which had just overrun France in 6 weeks, has an interesting view of that little relationship.

[Ted Striker]

Speaking of another board game.

If you play Axis and Allies, all you really have to do is play Japan, and start rolling tanks through Asia, link up with Africa, and hold the US off. Wins most of the time.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Man how stupid were the Axis!!! So much azz kicking and then making some dumbass mistakes.

The world was very, very lucky.

[Ned]

Just a thought, but if the supply-line issue decisively favored the Brits (assuming the US is not in the war) could Germany have reversed the situation by landing a parachute corps behind British front lines thereby cutting them completely off from supplies? I think this was feasible after they took Crete.

[Drake Tungsten]

The world was very, very lucky.

No, the West was very lucky. Much of the rest of the world ended up under communism after WWII, which was probably not much better than being under fascism.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

The world was very, very lucky.

No, the West was very lucky. Much of the rest of the world ended up under communism after WWII, which was probably not much better than being under fascism.

Given that the Nazis managed to kill fifty million people in the space of six years, I think that they would have been far worse off under Hitler.

[Drake Tungsten]

How many did Stalin and Mao kill?

[Ted Striker]

tie

[DanS]

One of the arguments for the validity of the Mediterranean strategy was that this was where the Allies put most of their early resources. It shows that the Allies thought they were vulnerable there and it was worthwhile to shut off the possibility of just such a strategy.

[Alexander's Horse]

The supply thing is actually a non issue. If the Axis had put appropriate resources into the Mediterranian they would have easily achieved air superiority and been able to control the sea lanes.

The role of the British navy would have been nullified by the combination of air power and the loss of bases.

Taking Gibraltar, and thus the involvement of Spain, is not actually essential to the success of the strategy. If Britain loses Alexandria and Port Suez, its Western Mediterranian fleet is also neutralised and can be effectively bottled up. Its main role then is to prevent a break out of Axis of naval forces, particularly Italian capital ships, into the Atlantic.

[Ted Striker]

What about the Guns of Navaronne?!