14
General Eisenhower in addition to his purely military duties. The
gist of the commitment signed by Admiral Darlan was that the
French were to give the Allies immediately as much active assistance
in the seizure of Tunisia as lay within their powers. They were to
organize the government of North Africa, under Darlan, for effecï؟¾tive cooperation and, under General Giraud’s leadership, were to
begin the reorganization of selected military forces for active parï؟¾ticipation in the fighting. The way was now paved toward attaining
the principal objective, the occupation of Tunisia and the annihilaï؟¾tion of German forces in Africa.
The principal factors that contributed to the success of the landï؟¾ings in French North Africa were: (1) strategic surprise, (2) lack
of organized French resistance, and (3) effective joint militaryï؟¾naval planning and execution. Errors were made in the execution
of the plans, but these were to be expected from green troops. The
experience was to serve them in good stead in the future.
By the end of November there had been a definite turning point
in the Allied military situation as a whole. General Montgomery
had commenced the pursuit of the remnants of Rommel’s army
across Egypt and Libya, the Americans and British had landed
successfully in French North Africa and had started the invasion
of Tunisia, and the Russians had begun their winter offensive at
Stalingrad. All of these offensive steps gathered momentum with
each passing month. The initiative had passed to the Allies, and
for the first time during the war the German military situation had
deteriorated to an enforced strategic defensive. The tide*had likeï؟¾wise turned in the Pacific. Americans had invaded the Solomons
at Guadalcanal and had secured the lifeline to Australia. The Japï؟¾anese were being forced from southeastern New Guinea, and the
Allies had started on the long road back to the Philippines.
TUNISIAN CAMPAIGN
The conclusion of the landing phase paved the way for the next
operation, the Tunisian campaign (Map 3). This campaign, which
was to last six months, will be divided into three phases. The first
will cover the race between the Allies and the Axis to build up a
force in the Bizerte-Tunis area strong enough to deny the loser this
key terrain. The Germans were to win this race by a narrow marï؟¾gin. The second phase will comprise the period of Axis initiative,
during which time the Germans were to develop and expand a strong
perimeter defense around their holdings in Tunisia. The third phase
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