>>43769
>For starters those who have power over others don't really like to give up that power, it really makes sense wanting to get back the influence. Then it is good for Britain's global empire's global economy. Those Balkanite cogs could be placed back in the machine and make it chug on.

That's more postwar. I'll get to that.

>Then via the Balkans two strategic resources of the Germans can be attacked, the Romanian oil, and the Hungarian bauxite.

Yes, but not in any practical way. They can and did attack Romanian oil fields with air raids through Russia and could have done so through Turkey, that is about the extent of any kind of practical action against them. Actually taking them would take far too much effort and time and divert resources from more important areas. Maybe they could have landed in Greece and worked their way up the Balkans by 1945, maybe(it's not like Greece and the Balkans have favourable terrain either). But they were not going to be able to do that at the same time as invading France or even Italy, doing that would see the war drag far longer whilst angering the soviets at the same time. Striking at the Balkans will not knock out Italy either.

>And then for geopolitical reasons. Denying the Soviet their influence growing there, and especially the warm see access, and a springboard for them to interfere with the Mediterranean reserved for the Anglos.

That's really the only reason. But you are threatening the success of the war you are actually fighting to do so. You are also ruining your relations with the soviets. If the west went for the Balkans that ruins the cooperation between them so the Soviets are going to stop pushing towards Berlin and move towards the Balkans to get there before you do or if they do get to Berlin they may decide to keep going, assuming they can as the Germans will not be fighting in France or Italy. But then because of that very thing if they do get to Berlin and keep going they may reach the shores of Britain.

>An action on the Balkans didn't depend on the "want" but on the reason. They lacked the resources, the ability to wage war there, in the hierarchy of importance it fall back in the list, there were more urgent tasks to do and places to be. This is Realpolitik, they could measure what is fantasy and what is reality, and they knew what to let go.

Exactly, they were not going to bother with the Balkans. The amount of resources it would take for such little reward meant it was not even a vague idea to them.