Chasing the Soft Underbelly

Chasing the Soft Underbelly examines the role of Turkey during the Second World War. While it was non-belligerent until February 1945, there were many attempts to push it into the conflict.

Studies of the Second World War traditionally begin with the rise of Hitler and the failure of the Western democracies to challenge fascism. Important though these events were, Turkey and the Balkans played a crucial role at key moments during the conflict. Hitler understood Germany's need for the natural resources of the Balkans, whilst Turkey was also important to Stalin, who saw the Straits as a route into the Black Sea and the Soviet Union.

Churchill was another key player whose interest in Turkey went back to the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War. This was an interest, some might say, an obsession, which he maintained during the interwar years and throughout the Second World War.