The Crisis of the Mediterranean Command, June–December 1944

Abstract

The period leading from the fall of Rome and the tortuous end to the ‘Anvil’ debate, ushered in a new phase in the history of AFHQ and its management of the Mediterranean Command, culminating in the Athens revolt and subsequent upheaval in Greece in December, and producing great strains in Anglo-American relations. With the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944, the Mediterranean had effectively become a strategic backwater in the war against Germany. Nevertheless, despite these fundamental changes in the military and strategic position, the political significance of developments in a widened Mediterranean theatre was assuming ever larger proportions, making the activities of AFHQ of continued concern to decision-makers in London and Washington.