238: North Africa 1940 Pt. 2 - The Key to Empire

History of the Second World War

Wesley Livesay

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.5 • 626 Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

While the Italians were preparing for war, what were the British doing? This episode dives into the British perspective on the North African campaign in 1940. We'll explore the strategic importance of the Suez Canal, the desperate attempts to keep Italy out of the war, and the state of the British army in Egypt. Led by the often-underestimated General Wavell, the British were about to embark on a campaign that would defy all expectations. Contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to advertise on History of the Second World War. History of the Second World War is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:02.8	setup.
1:16.8	Hello everyone and welcome to History of the Second World War,
1:23.3	Episode 238, North Africa, 1940, Part 2, The Key to Empire.
1:30.2	This week, a big thanks goes out to Rodrigo, Quinn, and Iran for supporting the podcast by becoming members.
1:36.8	Members get access to ad-free versions of all of the podcast episodes, plus special member-only episodes roughly once a month.
1:41.6	Head on over to History of the Second World War.com slash members to find out more.
1:47.8	Last episode discussed the position of Italy in the 1930s and how its goals of territorial expansion related to the situation in North Africa in 1940.
1:52.3	This episode will focus on the other side of the North African Front, the British, discussing
1:57.6	both the role that North Africa and the Mediterranean played in pre-war British planning
2:01.9	before discussing the events of the phony war period between September 1939 and June
	...

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