The British and French fleets patrolling the Atlantic and the Mediterranean ensured their access to the raw materials of the world. Only if Germany was able to combine its puny naval forces with those of Italy and Japan could it even contemplate an open battle with the Royal Navy.18 In the air race, Goering’s Luftwaffe definitely had the lead. But there was no reason to doubt that the British and French aircraft industries had the potential to catch and overtake Germany’s. Above all, a confrontation with the Western powers forced the Nazi regime to reckon with the enormous economic power of
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