Black Gold and Blackmail: Oil and Great Power Politics by Rosemary A Kelanic

Author:Rosemary A Kelanic [Kelanic, Rosemary A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Trade & Tariffs, Middle Eastern, Political Science, World, Security (National & International)
ISBN: 9781501749209
Google: 7cetDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 52126653
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2020-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

According to an estimate by the Strategic Bombing Survey, lost fuel production directly attributable to the Allied bombings totaled about five million tons in the last year of war.116 This had a disastrous effect on the military, particularly the Luftwaffe. Synthetic fuel plants provided the Luftwaffe with over 90 percent of its aviation fuel. Aviation fuel consumption plummeted in tandem with the destruction of hydrogenation plants (see table 5.2). By the end of the year, aircraft sat idle on runways, and flight training for new pilots was curbed to an hour per week.117 The dearth of aviation fuel “gave Allied air forces virtual command of the skies, allowing them to attack Germany’s meager oil supply lines at will.”118

By 1945, severely depleted stocks left the Wehrmacht hamstrung. Large portions of the army and air force could no longer be deployed, leaving Germany with “more tanks and planes than she could possibly use.”119 Nearly all domestic transportation within the Reich was powered by generators, which themselves ran on charcoal, peat, lignite, or timber from leveled buildings.120

Despite the indisputable difficulties German military forces encountered, especially in the wake of the Allies’ air campaign, Hitler refused to surrender no matter how desperate the situation became. The Allies expected as much and pinned their hopes on a military coup by a small group of officers with whom they were negotiating terms for Germany’s surrender. The conspirators believed there was no longer any chance of victory for the Reich, and thus continued resistance would be futile. However, the group’s attempt to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944—shortly after Allied bombings had decimated German fuel supplies—failed. Meanwhile, public opinion remained a nonissue even in the face of military strikes that reduced entire German cities to rubble. Civilians endured the privations of wartime petroleum rationing, in addition to many other hardships, without demanding capitulation from the government. Although the German case constitutes a failure of oil coercion, it demonstrates just how important oil was to military power. Petroleum was a major reason Germany lost the war. Hitler did not surrender as Western leaders demanded, but a more responsible leader may have.

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