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Italy first attacked Abyssinia in 1935 in order to obtain a more territory. Germany and Italy had gained control of most of Europe and parts of North Africa. They were advancing into colonies of England and threatening to take control of the Suez Canal.
The Allies had to begin fighting to stop the advance of the Axis powers. It would have been very risky to attack directly at Germany or even into France. So they had to attack the fringes of their territory.
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Italy invaded the British colony of Libya and suffered huge losses to the British troops. Seeing his Ally, Mussolini, was in trouble, Hitler sent a force to assist the Italians. The Afrika corp was formed. So basically, Africa became the next battlefield and the British and commonwealth army's were unprepared for war against the Germans and Japanese forces who were highly trained and ready so Africa became a huge training ground. A history book won't say this because it's heartless and not too important. A massive factor, however, which usually gets overlooked is that more German and Axis troops were captured in the final phases of the battle in Tunis than were lost at Stalingrad!
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ProfessorItaly had 2 colonies in Africa: Lybia & Italian Somaliland, now Eritrea. They invaded Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, and Haile Selassie, the Emperor was in Exile in Britain. Eventually the British & Empire forces freed Ethiopia from Italian control. Similarly the Italians had the idea of taking Egypt & the Suez canal from British influence, but were repelled. Then the Germans sent aid to their ally in the shape of a small moble force called the Afrika Korps under a young general called Erwin Rommel: The British & Commonwealth forces having advanced to Agadabia were sent Eastwards in a very great hurry & Tobruk was besieged, garrisoned as it was by Australian forces. The British had detached some units to aid Greece, but these were too few & were soon evacuated. Also the island of Crete was taken by German seaborne & parachute landing. Many New Zealand & other forces were taken prisoner. Rommel continued to advance through Lybia & reached Egypt. The British had yet another change of command, Alexander & Montgomery were the new leaders, and the German advance was halted & repelled by the 2 battles of el Alamein. (As well as Alam Halfa) This is up to November 1942. The US & British landed in the Torch landings in Algeria & Morrocco, and there was some resistance from the French, despite the fact that the Allies were trying to free them from German control ! The British were held up by the Mareth Line in Lybia for a time & the Americans were given a sharp reverse at Kasserine pass in Tunisia. Rommel was by this time unwell & was replaced by von Arnim (They did not see eye to eye !) & in 1943 the Germans & Italians were unable to withstand the pressure of the Allies & surrendered. Subsequently the Allies landed in Sicily & then the Italian mainland at Salerno & Anzio...
It was a start up to the war for the United States, really. The Allies wanted to make sure that the U.S. was ready for war, and used North Africa to "warm up" the United States soliders. Hitler invaded N. Africa because he was going for World Domination.
Even before the US entered WWII, North Africa was a battle ground. Hitler did not have designs on North Africa. Mussolini's botched attempt to capture the Suez Canal forced Hitler to bail Italy out by committing German troops to support and then supersede his partner. Hitler would have preferred using the troops in Russia.
Britain fought in north Africa to prevent Germany and Italy dominating the Mediterranean and to prevent German control of the Suez Canal.
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When Italy declared the war on Great Britain there were no German units in Libya but only an Italian army, which after a short offensive were counter attacked by the British and decisively defeated.
After that decisive defeat inflicted to the Italian Army and the conquest of the region Cyrenaica, the British were further advancing with but very poor resistance from the Italian side, whose units were next to collapse opening the gate to the conquest of Libyan region of Tripolitania.
Therefore the German General Staff decided to send an armoured Army Corps (called Afrikakorps) to relieve the Italian Army, which was not able to stop or keep at bay the British, thus preventing huge negative tactical, strategical and political consequences for the Axis powers in the Mediterranean.
North Africa became a battleground of World War 2. This is because the Germans wanted to protect their oil fields in Romania.
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What theater did the battle of El Alamein take place?
The Battle of El Alamein took place in North Africa, specifically in the western desert region of Egypt.
Where did the World War 2 battles take place?
The battles of World War Two took place all over the world: Europe, the Pacific, China and Southeast Asia, Middle East, the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Atlantic and even in North and South America.
Where did world war 2 take place between Britain and Germany?
As the name "World War" might imply, it took place across the world - one land, principally in Europe and Africa, and on many of the world's oceans.
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The Seven Years' War was basically a fight to control land. The fighting took place in the Philippines, Europe, Africa, and India, as well as in North and South America.
Where was the harrying of the north?
The harrying of the north took place in the north of England in the winter of 1069 and 1070.
