"In February of 1941, Germany came to the aid of its ally"
In fact, the second volume of the UK's official WW2 history "The Mediterranean and Middle East" is subtitled "The Germans come to the help of their Ally (1941)". The Brits certainly considered it a major happening!
One thing that always amazes me in the famous battles of the Western Desert is that both sides used mostly the same plan of attack: Bind defenders to their static defensive fortifications running perpendicular to the coast, and then flank them from inland. It worked very regularly unless the attacker ran out of fuel. Why didn't the defenders do more to protect their flanks? El Alamein was the exception, because there was no room to go around.
Presumed error, you say “In the summer of the second year of the war, Germany acquired two new enemies, the Soviet Union and the United States, each with a potential war-making capacity far greater than that of the British Empire.” Instead the U.S. did not become an enemy until about six months later in December 1941 when Germany declared war on the U.S.
You are quite right where declarations of war are concerned. However, the shooting war at sea between the United States and Germany began well before 8 December 1941, as did the expansion of the US Armed Forces and industrial mobilization. This article, from Naval History Magazine, provides a handy synopsis: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2004/february/fdrs-undeclared-war
"In February of 1941, Germany came to the aid of its ally"
In fact, the second volume of the UK's official WW2 history "The Mediterranean and Middle East" is subtitled "The Germans come to the help of their Ally (1941)". The Brits certainly considered it a major happening!
One thing that always amazes me in the famous battles of the Western Desert is that both sides used mostly the same plan of attack: Bind defenders to their static defensive fortifications running perpendicular to the coast, and then flank them from inland. It worked very regularly unless the attacker ran out of fuel. Why didn't the defenders do more to protect their flanks? El Alamein was the exception, because there was no room to go around.
Presumed error, you say “In the summer of the second year of the war, Germany acquired two new enemies, the Soviet Union and the United States, each with a potential war-making capacity far greater than that of the British Empire.” Instead the U.S. did not become an enemy until about six months later in December 1941 when Germany declared war on the U.S.
You are quite right where declarations of war are concerned. However, the shooting war at sea between the United States and Germany began well before 8 December 1941, as did the expansion of the US Armed Forces and industrial mobilization. This article, from Naval History Magazine, provides a handy synopsis: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2004/february/fdrs-undeclared-war