Strategic Issues During Ww2

This essay will discuss four important strategic issues as they relate to U.S. and British strategy development and application during World War II. First, this essay will show the importance of understanding the current environment when framing a strategic problem. Second, how adherence to Clausewitz and Sun Tzu contributed to disagreements between U.S. and British strategist. Third, how Allied sea power followed Corbett’s theory and how Douhet would have appreciated the Combined Bomber Offensive. Fourth, the Casablanca Conference was the most important strategic conference of World War II.
Understanding the current environment is the crucial first step in strategic design. Stark’s Plan Dog memorandum and Wedemeyer’s Victory Plan provide

Corbett did not believe that navies could command the entire sea. He believed it was much more important to secure the lines of communication that best served the nation’s interest.9 The Allied strategy in the Atlantic focused on securing the safe passage of troop and material transport ships. Allied strategists understood that if troops and supplies could not get across the Atlantic any plan for a cross channel invasion would be pointless. To successfully achieve this, the strategists planned to defend the shipping lanes from German U-boats.10 This strategy of securing the sea faring lines of communication proved to be successful. By 1944 troop and material convoys were encountering negligible losses from

Viewing this conference through the lens of the USAWC Strategy Framework shows its importance to the victory in Europe and Japan. The Casablanca Conference developed a grand strategy through solidifying the “Germany first” strategy in which Great Britain promised to focus full support on defeating Japan after the defeat of Germany.16 There were two main strategic objectives agreed upon at the Casablanca Conference. The first was Operation Husky and second dealt with the objectives that must be met prior to the invasion of occupied Europe. The Allies agreed to execute Operation Husky, the attack on Sicily. This would force the Germans to divert large amounts of resources to protect Italy. This would spread out and weaken German forces across occupied Europe.17 The second objective agreed upon at the Casablanca Conference was the four conditions that must be met prior to the invasion of occupied Europe.18 The outcome of this conference forced the U.S. military leaders to reduce the focus on the Pacific campaign and apply resources to the European theater of operations. The decisions made during this conference guided the Allies to victory in both the European and Pacific Theaters of