July 12. 2001. The Encyclopedia of World History

The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.


July 12

Confused fighting in Syria ended with an armistice after British and Free French forces moved on Beirut and Damascus. British naval units landed troops on the Lebanon coast. This occupation terminated the authority of the French Vichy government over Syria and Lebanon and defeated the attempts of the Germans to obtain control of these territories. Possession of Syria and Iraq enabled the British to exert increased pressure upon Iran, the government of which was persuaded to cooperate (Aug. 28) after British and Soviet forces entered the country. The danger that the German successes in the Balkans would bring Istanbul and the Straits under Axis control was fully realized in Moscow and the possibility that a Soviet offensive might threaten the German flank explains in part why Hitler attacked Russia on June 22.	1


The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.