The paper focuses on the North African Campaign of 1940-1943 and studies its role in the World War II. It stresses the key role of the Suez Canal in the foreign policy of the United Kingdom in the first half of the 20 th Century and reviews overall strategies of the conflicting parties paying a special attention to German tactics in desert conditions, which partially explain phenomenal success of the German troops headed by field marshal Rommel in this theater of military operations.
The battle for North Africa was a struggle to control the Suez Canal and get access on oil from the Middle East and raw materials in Asia. Oil in particular had become a critical strategic commodity due to the increased mechanization of modern armies. Britain, which was the first major nation to field a completely mechanized army, was particularly dependent on the Middle East oil. The Suez Canal also provided Britain with a valuable link to it overseas colonies: part of the lifeline that ran through the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, the North African campaign and the naval campaign to control the Mediterranean were virtually very closely linked to each other.
