Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "Santisima Trinidad - Guide 325" video.

  1.  @baileyd5210  It seems the Axis had eyes on Iraqi oil. Vichy was allowing the Luftwaffe to operate from airfields in Syria. The Germans and Italians supported a coup in Iraq that put an Axis friendly strongman in charge. Iraq, at that time, was producing 3.438MT/year. Not a huge gusher, but it would be helpful, and there was an existing pipeline from the Iraqi oil fields to the Med. The pipe forked in western Iraq, with one branch going into British held Palestine, and the other fork going into French held Syria. The Ottoman built rail line from near the Iraqi oil fields to the Med would probably have been problematic, as it wandered across the Turkish border in a couple places, which might cause the Turks to object to the Axis shipping oil by rail. With the fall of Greece, and abandonment of the invasion of the UK, Germany had the resources to invade Syria and Iraq, but, as you said, invaded Russia instead.
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  2.  @baileyd5210  Spain holds a slice of North Africa, on the south side of the strait, so, with Spain in the war, the strait could effectively be blocked to Allied surface ships. Gibraltar itself would be reduced to the same status as Corregidor, and, eventually be starved out.
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