West European Studies

Based on the lessons of the First World War, the leadership of nations involved in the Second World War was aware of the importance of oil due to the high mechanization of the military. Efficient and constant supply of oil to the military was essential for any nation that planned to involve itself in the war. By owning oil or securing a constant supply of the important commodity, Hitler believed that he world be able to rule the whole world. Although Hitler had several military faults which led to his failure in the Second World War, he can be credited for his strategies to secure economic stability and constant supply of oil years before the war erupted. When he acquired the leadership of Germany in the early 1930s, he implemented strategies aimed at increasing oil supply in the country. This included exploration of oil fields and production of synthetic oils.

By 1939, six years after Hitler had acquired power, crude oil had increased by three folds to about 4.5 million barrels annually. However, Germany like other European countries had no petroleum but had coal. Hitler ordered German engineers to produce manmade fuels from coal which increased to 31 million barrels of synthetic oil per year in 1941. In anticipation for the war, Hitler had also imported and stockpiled fuel from Soviet Union and other small counties such as Romania. Before the war started, the Germans were therefore aware that conquering was not enough to win the war. They made appropriate use of the oil field in the conquered territories which they defended with passion. Capturing the enemies sources of oil was therefore a primary task and if necessary, they were forced to destroy them if overwhelmed by the enemy. They used this strategy in Poland where they captured 30 percent of oil fields in Galicia in the year 1939. They were also able to secure oil supply from the Soviet Union where they negotiated sale of up to 70 percent of their oil with Stalin. Due to the role of oil commandos in capturing oil fields, Hitler was delighted by their work and he established the oil brigade with an aim of expanding their operations.

As the war progressed, capturing oil field became Hitlers major war strategy. The defeat of France was particularly a big achievement in the Germans oil supply since Hitler was for the first time able to control more oil fields than anticipated. In the west, the Germans had vast reserves of oil which was over 20 million barrels captured from France, Belgium and the Dutch. In the west invasion, the Germans had used only 12 million barrels and therefore had a net gain of eight million barrels. The oil commandos successively acquired up to 1.5 million French oil gallons without a gun shot. However, the Germans concentrated on the quantity of oil and not the quality which led to poor machine performance. This was as opposed to the British who had access to more quality oil from the United States during the Battle of Britain which led to the fall of Hitler.
         
In conclusion, the main source of oil for the Germans in the Second World War was from captured oil fields and oil reserves. The Germans had established an oil commando within its army which its main assignment was to capture and manage oil fields. However, they also had a fast supply of synthetic oil.