Professional paper
OPERATION SEA LION AND THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE GREAT POWERS (1939 – 1941)
Miroslav Goluža
; Hrvatsko vojno učilište „Petar Zrinski“ u Zagrebu
Abstract
From the political and strategic point of view, the period of the Second World War until the German attack on the Soviet Union is extremely complex. The main reasons are the Hitler-Stalin pact and the unexpected German victories in the West. Due to the fact that the British refused Hitler’s peace offers, Hitler formally started the invasion preparations known under its codename, Sea Lion. Throughout Operation Sea Lion the interests of the great powers overlapped. While taking a strategic break between the victories in the West and the attack on the Soviet Union, Hitler tried to use the operation as a strategic deception. In fact, without a serious plan, the Germans were never likely to have attempted the invasion. In the West, Hitler wanted to exert a pressure on Great Britain to accept his terms of peace while in the East, the goal of the Operation was to convince Stalin that the Germans would take no offensive attacks before the war against Great Britain had been finished. Hitler’s deception proved to be successful in Stalin’s case whereas in Great Britain it did not achieve its aim. The threats of invasion further enabled Churchill to gain supporters after defeats in Norway and France in May, 1940.
Keywords
Dunkerque; seaborne assault; Great Britain; the Soviet Union; Kriegsmarine; Luftwaffe
Hrčak ID:
64302
URI
Publication date:
18.6.2010.
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