The history of oil is a chapter in the story of Europe's
geopolitical decline in the twentieth century. During the era of
the two world wars, a lack of oil constrained Britain and Germany
from exerting their considerable economic and military power
independently. Both nations' efforts to restore the independence
they had enjoyed during the Age of Coal backfired by inducing
strategic over-extension, which served only to hasten their demise
as great powers. Having fought World War I with oil imported from
the United States, Britain was determined to avoid relying upon
another great power for its energy needs ever again. Even before
the Great War had ended, Whitehall implemented a strategy of
developing alternative sources of oil under British control.
Britain's key supplier would be the Middle East - already a region
of vital importance to the British Empire - whose oil potential was
still unproven. As it turned out, there was plenty of oil in the
Middle East, but Italian hostility after 1935 threatened transit
through the Mediterranean. A shortage of tankers ruled out
re-routing shipments around Africa, forcing Britain to import oil
from US-controlled sources in the Western Hemisphere and depleting
its foreign exchange reserves. Even as war loomed in 1939,
therefore, Britain's quest for independence from the United States
had failed. Germany was in an even worse position than Britain. It
could not import oil from overseas in wartime due to the threat of
blockade, while accumulating large stockpiles was impossible
because of the economic and financial costs. The Third Reich went
to war dependent on petroleum synthesized from coal, domestic crude
oil, and overland imports, primarily from Romania. German leaders
were confident, however, that they had enough oil to fight a series
of short campaigns that would deliver to them the mastery of
Europe. This plan derailed following the victory over France, when
Britain continued to fight. This left Germany responsible for
Europe's oil requirements while cut off from world markets. A
looming energy crisis in Axis Europe, the absence of strategic
alternatives, and ideological imperatives all compelled Germany in
June 1941 to invade the Soviet Union and fulfill the Third Reich's
ultimate ambition of becoming a world power - a decision that
ultimately sealed its fate.
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