Blockade of Germany (1939–45)

The Blockade of Germany (1939–1945), also known as the Economic War, was carried out during World War II by the United Kingdom and France in order to restrict the supplies of minerals, metals, food and textiles needed by Nazi Germany in order to sustain its war effort. The economic war consisted mainly of a naval blockade which formed part of the wider Battle of the Atlantic, and included the preclusive buying of war materials from neutral countries to prevent their sale to the enemy.

There were four distinct phases of the blockade. The first period was from the beginning of European hostilities in September 1939 to the end of the "Phoney War," during which the Allies and Axis Powers both intercepted neutral merchant ships to seize deliveries en route to the enemy. The blockade was rendered less effective because the Axis could get crucial materials from the Soviet Union until June 1941. The second period began after the rapid Axis occupation of the majority of the European landmass which gave them control of major centres of industry and agriculture. The third period was from the end of 1941 after the beginning of hostilities between the United States and the Empire of Japan. The final period came after the tide of war finally turned against the Axis after heavy military defeats up to and after D-Day, which led to a gradual withdrawal from the occupied territories in the face of the overwhelming Allied military offensive.

At the beginning of the First World War in 1914, Great Britain used its powerful navy and its geographical location to dictate the movement of the world's commercial shipping. Britain dominated the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and, due to its control of the Suez Canal with France, access into and out of the Indian Ocean for the allied ships, while their enemies were forced to go around Africa. The Ministry of Blockade published a comprehensive list of items that neutral commercial ships were not to transport to the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). This included food, weapons, gold and silver, flax, paper, silk, copra, minerals such as iron ore and animal hides used in the manufacture of shoes and boots. Because Britain and France together controlled 15 of the 20 refuelling points along the main shipping routes, they were able to threaten those who refused to comply, by the withdrawal of their bunker fuel control facilities.

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