Advantages And Disadvantages Of Allied World War II Strategy

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The formulation of Allied World War II strategy was an evolutionary process. It began with Admiral Stark’s “Plan Dog” memorandum providing the early outline for Allied strategy and ended with a unified Anglo-American-Russian plan for victory. British and American leadership discovered the advantages and disadvantages of coalition operations as they struggled to identify a unified grand strategy during numerous meetings during the war. The Germany First strategy that was solidified at the Arcadia Conference ensured Allied survival and the Tehran Conference produced a unified strategy that achieved victory. Britain’s Sun Tzu approach was prevalent early in the war when means were limited and they were the dominate partner. America’s Clausewitzian …show more content…
This agreement “formed the kernel of Allied grand strategy” and was solidified in Churchill’s WWI paper written at the Arcadia conference and was later “enshrined” in the CCS 94 agreement in August 1942.
Plan Dog provided the evidence for why the U.S. should adopt a Germany first strategy. American senior leaders agreed with Admiral Stark’s assessment. This, coupled with Britain’s existing desire for priority in Europe, set the stage for an agreement on an initial grand strategy.
WWII provides examples of advantages and disadvantages of coalition operations. The pooling of economic and intellectual resources offset material weakness of partner nations and enabled adroit strategic planners to compensate for inept ones. However, conflicting national interests fostered mistrust and hindered the formulation of a unified
…show more content…
The conference was the first meeting to include Stalin. His backing and America’s emergence as the leading supplier to the war effort forced Britain’s concurrence to a 1944 cross-channel invasion. This was the tipping point when the strategy changed from the Sun Tzu philosophy of the British to the Clausewitzian approach of the American’s. The new plan became one focused on a decisive attack against Germany’s center of gravity; the Third Reich. “Tehran was the decisive conference for the European strategy.” It set the final strategy for an Allied victory in Europe where Germany would be strangled by an Anglo-American advance in the west and a Soviet drive in the

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