German plans for the offensive in the Near and Middle East, 1941-1942

Relatively little attention is devoted to Berlin’s intentions relating to the period after a possible victory on the Eastern Front (in contrast to the knowledge about the assumptions of the general German plan of operations against the Soviet Union). The draft of Directive 32 "Preparations for the period after Barbarossa" - a culmination of inter-staff exchange of opinions - was elaborated on June 11, 1941, and then sent to the commands of the three branches of armed forces. It assumed "intercepting British fortresses in the Middle East and the Mediterranean by means of concentric attacks carried out from Libya to Egypt, from Bulgaria through Turkey, and perhaps from the Caucasus through Iran." However, ultimately the planning never went beyond the sphere of staff analysis. A significant documentation of these considerations is preserved in the Bundes-Militärarchiv in Freiburg im Breisgau in the OKW / OKH files