After the conquest of British Somaliland the Italians adopted a more defensive posture. In late 1940, Italian forces suffered defeats in the Mediterranean, the Western Desert, the Battle of Britain and in the Greco-Italian War. This prompted General Ugo Cavallero, the new Italian Chief of the Chief of the General Staff in Rome, to adopt a new strategy in East Africa. In December 1940, Cavallero thought that Italian forces in East Africa should abandon offensive actions against the Sudan and the Suez Canal and concentrate on the defence of the AOI. In response to Cavallero and Aosta, who had requested permission to withdraw from the Sudanese frontier, the army high command in Rome ordered Italian forces in East Africa to withdraw to better defensive positions.