The Battle of Crete in 1941 - Research Paper Example

The leadership, going into the battle already defeated, did not bother to put together a coherent strategy for battle, but, rather, seemed to make it up as they went along. These are all reasons for the defeat, and lessons that were learned. Nevertheless, as the Allies did delay Hitler’s forces for a few weeks, which, in turn, delayed Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, which was the turning point of the war, one could say that the battle of Crete set into motion a chain of events that led to Hitler’s destruction.

This paper will examine the reasons why Crete was fought¸ and how the British tried to defend it¸ coupled with an analysis of the mistakes made and an analysis of why the battle might not have been so bad after all, as it delayed Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.The Battle for Crete had its roots in a demand by Benito Mussolini, Italy’s fascist dictator, to Greece to allow an Italian occupation of Greece in October of 1940. When the premiere of Greece, John Metaxas, defied this request, the Italians began the invasion of Greece, a move that would prove to be a “disaster” for Mussolini, and would make Mussolini a “laughingstock” in Greece.

This move by Mussolini was precipitated by Germany sending soldiers into the Ploesti oilfields, which enraged Mussolini enough for him to launch this invasion.The reason that the German action of sending soldiers to Greece so piqued Mussolini was because Mussolini was jealous of Hitler, and felt that he stood in Hitler’s shadow while Hitler rampaged Europe.