abstract
| - Due to the stubbornness of Hitler and his refusal to change his mind about the Russian situation, Germany focused its energy, thoughts and power on the destruction of Russia. This left Great Britain and its potential ally the United States as threats in the west. The decision to concentrate primarily on Russia and allow the British to continue resisting them in the west eventually forced the Germans to fight a two-front war, a war they never did win. But what if top army generals, along with their staffs, amassed arguments to convince Hitler to neutralize Britain before turning on Russia? With the possibility of striking across the channel not possible given the amount of time that had passed since the fall of France, the Mediterranean offered the best arena to defeat Britain. None saw this better than the German navy commander, Erich Raeder, and the chief of operations for the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), Alfred Jodl. Only Raeder was open to the possibility of a Mediterranean strategy against the British with Jodl being less forceful on the matter and never bringing it up to Hitler. But what if Jodl was in fact very forceful for the adoption of a strategy in the Mediterranean? What if this were the final push Hitler needed to at least postpone the attack on Russia and focus instead on the neutralization of the British? This alternate timeline explores the possibility of the Germans postponing the invasion of Soviet Russia and instead pursuing a campaign in the Mediterranean to defeat the British. This is The Mediterranean Strategy.
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