Britain,the Middle East,and the `Northern Front',1941—1942

Abstract

This article explores British plans for the defence of the `Northern Front' of the Middle Eastern theatre of war — Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran — in the event of a German defeat of the Soviet Union in 1941—42. It demonstrates that, despite a traditional emphasis on the war in Libya and Egypt, the Northern Front mattered enormously to the British. Rather than undertaking to defend their ally Turkey against a German invasion, the British instead relied on Turkey to `defend us' while British armed forces prepared a fighting defence of the Middle East proper.