Why despite intense Soviet urging did Britain and America delay until 6 June 1944 before opening
Why, despite intense Soviet urging, did Britain and America delay until 6 June 1944 before opening a ‘second front’ in Western Europe? ... The real possibility of a Soviet collapse in the face of an intense Nazi onslaught made the concept of a second front vital, as it would relieve the desperate situation of the Red Army. Indeed, the Western Allies (Britain and the United States) promised the USSR a second front as early as August 1942 . ... Britain’s quagmire in North Africa in 1942 was initially important in drawing the Western Allies into a Mediterranean strategy. ... Frivolous logistical issues aside, it seems the reasons for this most significant postponement lie in Britain’s basic war strategy and Churchill’s own reservations about the quality of land-based British troops . The importance of these two factors became increasingly clear as Britain continued resisting a second front until the United States and USSR ultimately forced it upon her. From the outset of the war, Britain’s strategy for defeating the Axis powers was one of attrition with a Mediterranean focus. ... Indeed, American Field Marshal Dill told his fellow generals that, “the general (British) idea was that it would not be possible to undertake land operations on a large scale in Europe until the Germans showed signs of cracking” . Instead, even before the outbreak of war, Britain had intended to focus her war effort on securing the Middle East and an Italian surrender . While protecting the Suez Canal and her vital oil interests in the Middle East, Britain had in its pre-war plans to invade Sicily and move on to southern Italy . It was in this strategic context that Britain later viewed the prospect of opening of a second front across the English Channel. On the other hand, Britain’s closest wartime ally, the United States, relied on no such ‘Collapse Doctrine’ in formulating its strategy against Germany. Before the United States’ entry into the war in December 1941, President Roosevelt had commissioned a report into how the United States could best defeat Nazi Germany. ... When the United States entered the war, Britain was already embroiled in North Africa and this became the immediate focus of the Western Allies’ strategy. ... Britain was determined to prevail. ... Britain, of course, flatly rejected Sledgehammer given her ‘Collapse Doctrine’ . Britain believed that this operation would “have no beneficial effect on the Russian situation, and second, because the chances of tactical disaster are very great” . ... However, Britain did not reject Operation Roundup, but instead continued to push for a more North-African orientated outlook. ... Torch was to be the focus of Western Allied planning until its completion in late April 1943. ... A second front was again delayed when Britain and the United states met at Casablanca in January 1943 to discuss the next stage of the war.