"The Middle East Campaign in World War II"

- CONTENT -
THE CAMPAIGN IN THE MIDDLE EAST WAS A CAMPAIGN IN WORLD WAR II, IN WHICH BRITISH FORCES FOUGHT TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND PREVENT THE PENETRATION OF NAZI GERMANY. THE BRITISH FORCES FOUGHT THE FRENCH FORCES OF VICHY, BUT ALSO LOCAL FORCES, WHICH OPERATED FROM A VARIETY OF MOTIVATIONS AGAINST BRITISH PRESENCE AND POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THE FIGHTING IN THIS ARENA WAS INFLUENCED BY OTHER ARENAS, ESPECIALLY THE NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

DURING THE CAMPAIGN IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THE BRITISH FACED THE FOLLOWING ARENAS:

CARRYING OUT ACTIONS IN THE AREA OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL UNDER THE BRITISH MANDATE RULE BOTH AGAINST THE ARABS AND AGAINST ELEMENTS OF THE COMMUNITY WHO OPPOSED THEIR CONTROL.
THE OPPRESSION OF THE REBELLION OF RALEIGH AL-AKHANI IN IRAQ.
FIGHTING THE FRENCH FORCES OF VICHY DURING THE CAMPAIGN IN SYRIA AND LEBANON.
COOPERATION WITH THE SOVIET UNION IN THE INVASION OF PERSIA TO PREVENT NAZI INFLUENCE ON THE PERSIAN GOVERNMENT.

ALTHOUGH THE SOUTHWESTERN ASIA REGION DID NOT DEVELOP INTO A SIGNIFICANT ARENA IN WORLD WAR II, IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO KNOW IT IN ADVANCE. THE FALL OF FRANCE IN MAY 1940, WHICH INCREASED SYRIA AND LEBANON TO THE INFLUENCE OF VICHY'S COOPERATION REGIME, AND THE PROGRESS OF THE GERMANS IN THE WESTERN DESERT DURING THE CAMPAIGN IN NORTH AFRICA, WAS A SIGNIFICANT THREAT TO THE BRITISH PRESENCE IN EGYPT, ESPECIALLY THE CONTROL OF THE SUEZ CANAL, WHICH WAS A COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY AXIS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO THE BRITISH. PRIOR TO THE BATTLE OF ALAMEIN, AND THE TURNING OF THE WHEEL IN THE SOVIET ARENA AFTER THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD, THERE WAS A FEAR OF GERMAN DOMINATION OVER THE REGION IF THROUGH TURKEY, OR IN THE INVASION OF CYPRUS OR LEBANON, OR THROUGH THE DEFEAT OF THE EIGHTH ARMY IN EGYPT. THE FEAR WAS AGAINST GERMAN PROGRESS THROUGH SINAI AND THE LAND OF ISRAEL, AND IT BECAME CLEAR TO THE GERMAN FORCES THAT ATTACKED THE SOVIETS IN THE SOUTH OF THE SOVIET UNION, OR PROGRESS TO TAKE OVER BRITISH COLONIES IN INDIA, AND THE CAPITAL OF JAPAN'S FORCES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. FURTHER CONCERNS STEMMED FROM NEUTRALITY OF STATES AS TURKEY AND PERSIA THAT WERE SOMETIMES BLOCKED ON THE SIDE OF THE AXIS COUNTRIES, THREATENING EXISTING AND POTENTIAL SUPPLY ROUTES BY THE ALLIED FORCES TO THE SOVIET UNION AFTER THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE ON THE SOVIET UNION.

STRUCTURE OF COMMAND

THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH FORCES IN THE MIDDLE EAST WERE USUALLY UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE GENERAL COMMAND IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAT WOULD SIT IN CAIRO. THE EXTRAORDINARY FORCES WERE IN PERSIA THAT SOMETIMES CAME UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE COMMANDER OF FORCES IN INDIA.

BRITISH GENERALS IN THE MIDDLE EAST WERE:

ARCHIBALD WEWELL - JULY 1939 - JULY 1941
CLAUDE OCLINSK - JULY 1941 - AUGUST 1942
HAROLD ALEXANDER - AUGUST 1942 AND LATER.

LAND OF ISRAEL

THE ATTITUDE OF THE RESIDENTS OF PALESTINE, JEWS AND ARABS, TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, WAS NOT UNIFORM. MANY OF THE ARABS JOINED THE BRITISH IN THEIR STRUGGLE AGAINST THE NAZIS, BUT MANY VIEWED THE WAR AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REMOVE BOTH THE BRITISH AND THE ZIONISTS. SOME OF THE PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP BROUGHT THIS APPROACH TO PRACTICAL STEPS. THE MUFTI HAJMIN AL-HUSSEINI, WHO WAS EXPELLED FROM THE LAND OF ISRAEL, DECLARED ON 25 NOVEMBER 1941 JIHAD AGAINST THE ALLIES, IN THE DARKNESS OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN IRAQ AND ENDED THERE AGAINST THE ALLIES, AND EVEN CAME TO GERMANY, MET WITH HITLER AND ACTED THERE AS A SIGN AND A BELLIGERENT, AND EVEN WORSE. THE NAZIS ENCOURAGED ANTI-BRITISH TENDENCIES AMONG THE ARABS. HOWEVER, IN GENERAL, IT CAN BE NOTED THAT AFTER THE SUPPRESSION OF THE GREAT ARAB REVOLT, EVEN BEFORE THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR, THE ARAB ARENA IN ISRAEL WAS GENERALLY QUIET.

THE JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL, LARGELY SUPPORTED THE ALLIED CAMP AND VIEWED NAZI GERMANY AS AN ENEMY OF HUMANITY – AND FIRST FOR ALL, AN ENEMY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. IN THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR, DAVID BEN-GURION DECLARED, "WE MUST HELP ENGLAND IN HER WAR AS IF THERE WAS NO WHITE BOOK AND STAND AGAINST THE WHITE BOOK AS IF THERE WAS NO WAR." THE BREAKING INTO THE BRITISH, WHILE THE HOLOCAUST IS HAPPENING IN EUROPE,