North Africa campaigns summary

Learn about the defeat and surrender of the Axis forces in North Africa Campaigns

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see North Africa campaigns.

North Africa campaigns of World War II
Military drives, defensive lines, and key battles during the North Africa campaigns of World War II, 1940–43.

North Africa campaigns, (1940–43) Battles in World War II for control of North Africa. After the 1940 victory by Italian troops in Egypt, the Italians were driven back into Libya by British troops. German reinforcements led by Erwin Rommel forced the British to retreat into Egypt after the defense of Tobruk. In 1942 the British under Bernard Law Montgomery counterattacked at the Battles of El Alamein and pushed the Germans west into Tunisia. In November 1942 U.S. and British forces under Dwight D. Eisenhower landed in Algeria and Morocco, then moved east into Tunisia. In May 1943 the Allies, advancing from east and west, defeated the Axis forces and forced the surrender of 250,000 Axis troops.

British Empire Summary

British Empire, a worldwide system of dependencies—colonies, protectorates, and other territories—that over a span of some three centuries was brought under the sovereignty of the crown of Great Britain and the administration of the British government. The policy of granting or recognizing

Suez Canal Summary

Suez Canal, sea-level waterway running north-south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt to connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. The canal separates the African continent from Asia, and it provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western

Africa Summary

Africa, the second largest continent (after Asia), covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth. The continent is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and on the south by the mingling waters

Free French Summary

Free French, in World War II (1939–45), members of a movement for the continuation of warfare against Germany after the military collapse of Metropolitan France in the summer of 1940. Led by General Charles de Gaulle, the Free French were eventually able to unify most French resistance forces in