There is another aspect of the invasion of Greece that I alluded to the other day though that I think is very significant.
As we have seen the last few days, Hitler has been trying to secure the support of Vichy France as well as Spain. Franco was really on the fence at this point, but the Italian invasion of Greece helped him make a decision to stay neutral. After all, how could he rely on the promises of Hitler when he couldn't even keep his allies from running off and starting new wars with other neutral countries.
Imagine if Spain had signed on with the Axis. There is a good possibility that Gibraltar would have been attacked by land and the entry into the Mediterranean would have been effectively sealed from the British. This would have completely changed the game in that theater which may have lead to the collapse of the area giving Italy it's desired private lake. It also would have taken the command post away from Eisenhower for the TORCH landings two years later. He would have commanded initial operations from London.
Churchill acknowledged that Franco held the keys to Gibralter and could have at any time made that fortress untenable for Great Britain. He said that while Franco always acted in his self-interest he was grateful that included nuetrality.
I had not thought of the effect of Mare Nostrum on Ike’s career. Marshall was able to move Ike into command of Overlord because of his successful command experience in the Mediterranean. Ike got that command in the first place because it was never intended to be the main effort, so it was a “safe” theater to send someone of his relatively junior grade.
I wonder who would have been sent to London instead? Maybe Devers? Do you think they might have recalled MacArthur from the Pacific?
PS: There were at least two, maybe three command grade officers in the Pacific who later held commands in Europe. Can you name two of them?