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Barbarossa or Sealion?

© Ralph Zuljan

To outside observers, an invasion of the UK was the obvious strategic direction for Germany to pursue after the defeat of France, but there is a great deal of doubt about Hitler's seriousness about it. The planning that went into Operation Sealion - the German plan to invade the British Isles - was halfhearted when compared to that for the invasion of the USSR - Operation Barbarossa. Hitler ordered contingency planning for an attack on the Soviet Union in the summer of 1940, shortly after the fall of France and around the time an invasion of Britain was being considered. Planning and preparation for both possibilities continued into the summer of 1941, but it was obvious by then that the campaign against the USSR was taking shape while that against the UK was not.

The best hope of militarily defeating the UK was to invade the home island and occupy London. German military contingency planning for an invasion of Britain began shortly after the conclusion of the French campaign. With the forces available in 1940, it might have been a risky undertaking. Nazi Germany was a traditional continental power with a large army and a small navy. It was not ready to do battle with a naval power such as the UK. Preparing to invade in 1941 was probably more feasible but it would have required the Third Reich to focus on the production of naval and air assets at the expense of its army. Furthermore, even if the Nazis conquered the British Isles, they would not improve their overall strategic situation. There are no significant resources to be had in the UK, and the bulk of the imperial territories would have fallen to the US - enriching an already rich great power - or declare independence.

Another alternative toyed with was a peripheral attack on the British empire. Strikes against British territories in North Africa and the Middle East were given some consideration, but such actions would have involved the same production and planning problems as Operation Sealion. To begin with, a substantial German naval presence would have to be brought into the Mediterranean Sea. At best, Germany would conquer Egypt, or possibly all of the Middle East by the end of 1941, turning the Mediterranean into a German lake. But the infrastructure required to benefit from any resources found there would have to be created. By 1942, all Hitler would have is a huge pile of sand, populated by militant nationalists. More importantly, taking the Middle East would not defeat the UK. The war would continue.

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