On Tuesday, April 15, Joseph Goebbels ordered his propaganda staff to exploit Britain’s impending retreat from Greece. He directed them to portray Winston Churchill as a reckless gambler who sacrificed other nations to save Britain, and to hammer home the mocking slogan, “Instead of butter—Benghazi; instead of Benghazi—Greece; instead of Greece—nothing.” Goebbels treated the Greek setback as proof that Britain was nearing collapse.

Hermann Göring also hoped Britain was finally close to surrender, and he wanted the Luftwaffe to receive the credit. But that ambition was complicated by the RAF’s recent success in bombing central Berlin, including damage along Unter den Linden and the destruction of the State Opera House just before an anticipated Italian performance.

The Berlin raid enraged Adolf Hitler and led to a furious argument with Göring, according to Nicolaus von Below. Hitler’s anger, combined with Göring’s resentment over the embarrassment, helped drive Göring’s decision to launch a new series of especially fierce attacks on London, beginning on Wednesday, April 16.

At the same time, Churchill was irritated on a diplomatic front. Nearly two weeks earlier, Churchill had sent a deliberately cryptic warning to Joseph Stalin about Hitler’s invasion plans, concealing that the information came from Bletchley Park, and had instructed Sir Stafford Cripps to deliver it personally.

Churchill then learned that Cripps had not delivered the message. Viewing the delay as unacceptable insubordination and a dangerous failure to grasp the military stakes, Churchill wrote sharply to Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and insisted the warning be passed on. Cripps finally delivered Churchill’s message to Stalin, but Stalin gave no reply.