British Policy and Strategy in the Middle East in 1941: Three Wars ‘East of Suez’

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-221
Author(s):  
A. M. Fomin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Policy And Strategy ◽  
British Military ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Uk

After the defeat of France in the summer of 1940, Great Britain was left face to face with the Nazi Germany. It managed to endure the first act of the ‘Battle of Britain’, but could not wage a full-scale war on the continent. Under these conditions, the defense of the British positions in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East became a top priority for W. Churchill’s cabinet. The author examines three episodes of Great Britain’s struggle for the Middle East in 1941 (Iraq, Syria, Iran), framing them into the general logic of the German-British confrontation during this period.The author emphasizes that potential assertion of German hegemony in the Middle East could have made the defense of Suez almost impossible, as well as the communication with India, and would have provided the Reich with an access to almost inexhaustible supplies of fuel. Widespread antiBritish sentiments on the part of the local political and military elites could contribute greatly to the realization of such, catastrophic for Britain, scenario. Under these circumstances, the British government decided to capture the initiative. The paper examines the British military operations in Iraq and Syria. Special attention is paid to the complex dynamics of relations of the British cabinet with the Vichy regime and the Free France movement. As the author notes, the sharpest disagreements aroused on the future of Syria and Lebanon, and the prospects of granting them independence. In the Iran’s case, the necessity of harmonizing policies with the Soviet Union came to the fore. The growing German influence in the region, as well as the need to establish a new route for Lend-Lease aid to the USSR, fostered mutual understanding. After the joint Anglo-Soviet military operation in August-September 1941, Iran was divided into occupation zones. Finally, the paper examines the UK position with regard to the neutrality of Turkey. The author concludes that all these military operations led to the creation of a ‘temporary regime’ of the British domination in the Middle East. However, the Anglo-French and Anglo-Soviet rivalries had not disappeared and, compounded by the growing US presence in the region, laid basis for new conflicts in the post-war period.

The Importance of Reindeer in Northern Finland during World War II (1939–45) and the Post-War Reconstruction

ARCTIC ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna T. Turunen ◽  
Sirpa Rasmus ◽  
Asta Kietäväinen
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Reindeer Herding ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Food Transport ◽  
Cattle Farming ◽  
Post War

We studied the consequences of World War II (WWII, 1939–45) for reindeer herding in northern Finland, evaluated the significance of the livelihood for the population during and after the war, and identified the factors that made successful reconstruction of the livelihood possible. The study is based on qualitative content analysis of articles published in the professional journal Poromies (‘Reindeer Herder’) during the period 1931–67. Reindeer were an important source of food, transport, clothing, footwear, and skins for soldiers during the war. Approximately 220 000 reindeer were slaughtered to provide food, averting the compulsory slaughter of 88 000 cows. Herders’ skills were highly valued during the war. The herds and herders figured in the reconstruction of northern Finland and contributed to the war reparations owed the Soviet Union. During the period 1939–45 the number of reindeer fell dramatically, and the cession of Finnish territories to the Soviet Union and destruction of fences made herding difficult. In addition, the area of pastureland available to reindeer decreased. The combined effects of military operations, a labour shortage, an increased number of predators, and difficult weather and snow conditions led to losses of reindeer. The recovery of the livelihood to its pre-war level took 10 years. We argue that in addition to improved post-war pasture conditions—a result of decreased reindeer densities and favourable weather—the rapid recovery of reindeer herding can be attributed to the high motivation, diligence, and experiential knowledge of herders and the herding administration gained in rebuilding the livelihood after WWI (1914–18). Both groups understood that in northern Finland it would be economically wiser to invest in reindeer husbandry rather than cattle farming since reindeer are better adapted than cattle to the harsh climate and to forage grown in low-productive soils. Reindeer herding was based on natural pastures and labour, whereas cattle farming relied on crop cultivation, as well as expensive buildings, machinery, and fertilizers.

Postwar Hungary

1947 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-321
Author(s):  
Andrew Gyorgy
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
National Elections ◽  
The Road ◽  
Political Upheaval ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Post War

Since the end of military operations Danubian Europe has been undergoing a social and political upheaval in which, paradoxically, both Communism and a resurgent nationalism seem to be powerful elements. The most significant contributing factor in this atmosphere of political unrest is the all-too-direct domination of the Soviet Union whose policies are guided by conflicting motivations and divergent objectives, results of the flexible strategic and economic considerations of the Kremlin.Hungary today is in the twilight zone of liberated states; her domestic politics are a mirror-like reflection of the fundamental tensions among the world powers. The post-war era has undoubtedly seen hopes for a real moral and economic transformation of the country spurred on by a series of significant, if temporary, liberal reform moves. Fair national elections resulting in a decisive Communist defeat and in an acceptable coalition government based on the Smallholders, a national party neither ultra-conservative nor revoluntionary, a thorough land reform, a reasonably free press, a stabilized currency, and a moderately successful process of industrial nationalization were promising landmarks at the beginning of the road toward reconstruction.

British Communists and the Palestine Conflict, 1929–1948

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kelemen
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Strategic Objectives ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Post War

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Communist Party of Great Britain was a significant force in Britain on the left-wing of the labour movement and among intellectuals, despite its relatively small membership. The narrative it provided on developments in Palestine and on the Arab nationalist movements contested Zionist accounts. After the 1941 German attack on the Soviet Union, the party, to gain the support of the Jewish community for a broad anti-fascist alliance, toned down its criticism of Zionism and, in the immediate post-war period, to accord with the Soviet Union's strategic objectives in the Middle East, it reversed its earlier opposition to Zionism. During the 1948 war and for some years thereafter it largely ignored the plight of the Palestinians and their nationalist aspirations.

RESTORATION OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF YALTA IN 1944

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (72) (4) ◽  
pp. 24-36
Author(s):  
N. D. Borshchik
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Southern Coast ◽  
Recreational Facilities ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Resorts ◽  
Post War ◽  
Short Time

The article considers little-studied stories in Russian historiography about the post-war state of Yalta — one of the most famous health resorts of the Soviet Union, the «pearl» of the southern coast of Crimea. Based on the analysis of mainly archival sources, the most important measures of the party and Soviet leadership bodies, the heads of garrisons immediately after the withdrawal of the fascist occupation regime were analyzed. It was established that the authorities paid priority attention not only to the destroyed economy and infrastructure, but also to the speedy introduction of all-Union and departmental sanatoriums and recreation houses, other recreational facilities. As a result of their coordinated actions in the region, food industry enterprises, collective farms and cooperative artels, objects of cultural heritage and the social and everyday sphere were put into operation in a short time.

Prokofieva Tamara Aleksandrovna: Engineer-topographer of the first rank

2017 ◽  
Vol 922 (4) ◽  
pp. 48-57
Author(s):  
V.L. Kashin ◽  
N.L. Kashina
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Aerial Photography ◽  
The North ◽  
Moscow Institute ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
Post War ◽  
Executive Positions

Biographic information about the veteran of geodetic service of the Soviet Union Tamara Aleksandrovna Prokofieva is provided in this article. On January 1, 2017, she turned 96 years old. T. A. Prokofieva’s biography is in many respects similar to destinies of her age-mates who met the Great Patriotic War on a student’s bench. In 1939 she entered the Moscow Institute of Geodesy, Aerial Photography, and Cartography. Since then all her life was connected with geodesy. In this article we use Tamara Aleksandrovna’s memories of a communal flat of the 1930s, peripetias of military years, of the North Caucasian and Kazakh aero geodetic enterprises where she worked with her husband Leonid Andreevich Kashin who held a number of executive positions in geodetic service of the USSR in the post-war time.

The Handbook of European Defence Policies and Armed Forces

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
National Security ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
National Defence

The armed forces of Europe have undergone a dramatic transformation since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Handbook of European Defence Policies and Armed Forces provides the first comprehensive analysis of national security and defence policies, strategies, doctrines, capabilities, and military operations, as well as the alliances and partnerships of European armed forces in response to the security challenges Europe has faced since the end of the cold war. A truly cross-European comparison of the evolution of national defence policies and armed forces remains a notable blind spot in the existing literature. This Handbook aims to fill this gap with fifty-one contributions on European defence and international security from around the world. The six parts focus on: country-based assessments of the evolution of the national defence policies of Europe’s major, medium, and lesser powers since the end of the cold war; the alliances and security partnerships developed by European states to cooperate in the provision of national security; the security challenges faced by European states and their armed forces, ranging from interstate through intra-state and transnational; the national security strategies and doctrines developed in response to these challenges; the military capabilities, and the underlying defence and technological industrial base, brought to bear to support national strategies and doctrines; and, finally, the national or multilateral military operations by European armed forces. The contributions to The Handbook collectively demonstrate the fruitfulness of giving analytical precedence back to the comparative study of national defence policies and armed forces across Europe.

Winter War, Anti-Communism and the volunteers from abroad, 1939-1940

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (21) ◽  
pp. 9-28
Author(s):  
Kristo Karvinen
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Foreign Country ◽  
Contemporary Research ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Winter War ◽  
The Uk

The 1939 invasion of Finland by the Soviet Union attracted more than just journalists to the frigid north. Thousands of volunteers around the world rallied under the Finnish flag, willing to risk their lives for a foreign country. Over ten thousand arrived before the end of the war, with more on their way, coming from Hungary and Estonia, Canada and the USA, Sweden and the UK. Were they all ardent anticommunists or did they have other motives? This article seeks to answer that question, utilising Finnish and British archives as well as contemporary research into war volunteering. The origins and motives of the volunteers are examined, revealing that their motives ran a wide gamut, including such reasons as anti-communism, linguistic fraternity and spirit of adventure, to name a few.

From Buzuluk to London: The Combat Trail and Everyday Service of Women Auxiliaries in the Polish Army (1941–1945)

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Marcinkiewicz-Kaczmarczyk
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Second World

This article explores the establishment of the Polish Women’s Auxiliary Service (was) as part of the complex story of the formation of a Polish army in exile. In 1941, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Polish Army in the Soviet Union was established. The Women’s Auxiliary Service was formed at the same time as a means to enable Polish women to serve their country and also as a way for Polish women to escape the Soviet Union. The women of the was followed the Polish Army combat trail from Buzuluk to London, accompanying their male peers first to the Middle East and then Italy. The women of the was served as nurses, clerks, cooks and drivers. This article examines the recruitment, organization and daily life of the women who served their country as exiles on the battlefront of the Second World War.

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