The months immediately following the great decisions of the summer of 1940 look like a time filled by a series of unrelated and unconnected events, ranging from diplomatic travels by Hitler as far as the border of Spain on the one side of the globe to a conflict between Thailand and French Indo-China on the other. In between there were struggles in the Balkans and Near East, anxious diplomatic activities by the Soviet Union, new initiatives by the United States, and fighting on and below the surface of the oceans. The time from the summer of 1940 to the summer of 1941 in Europe and from the summer of 1940 to the end of 1941 in the Pacific can best be understood if it is seen as the first working out of the choices made in July and August of 1940—as these implementations interact with each other and as they were affected by the independent initiatives of others, especially Italy.

GERMANY HEADS EAST

One of the most fateful of those decisions of the summer of 1940, and one which drew others in its train, was the German decision to attack the Soviet Union. This project not only entailed a number of preparations by Germany but also established a time limit for other German initiatives. As will be seen, German moves in regard to Spain, Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean were very much affected by the recognition in Berlin that forces would be needed for the attack on the Soviet Union in the spring of 1941 and that major troop commitments elsewhere had to be brought to a conclusion by that time. Over and over again Hitler stressed the need to concentrate the nation's striking forces for a particular blow, and the diversion of power over several theaters of war in the latter part of the War reflects the loss of German initiative in the conflict.

The military planning itself had begun in the summer of 1940. By the end of July, the decision had been made to attack in the spring of 1941 rather than in the fall of 1940.