Page v Contents Number Page INTRODUCTORY ESSAY by Kent Roberts Greenfield..................... 1 1. GERMANY FIRST: THE BASIC CONCEPT OF ALLIED STRATEGY IN WORLD WAR II by Louis Morton......................................... 11 The Color Plans, l919-1938..................................... 12 Strategic Adjustment, 1938-1940................................ 20 The Critical Summer of 1940.................................... 27 Shift to the Atlantic, September 1940-January 1941............. 33 The Decision Is Made........................................... 41 2. THE GERMAN DECISION TO INVADE NORWAY AND DENMARK by Earl F. Ziemke.............................................. 49 German Interest in Norway...................................... 50 The First Planning Phase ...................................... 56 The Final Planning Phase....................................... 60 The Decision in Retrospect..................................... 70 3. DECISION TO LAND UNITED STATES FORCES IN ICELAND, 1941 by Byron Fairchild............................................. 73 The Shifting Focus of American Interest........................ 75 The President's Decision and the War Department's Response..... 80 Problems, Remote and Immediate................................. 82 INDIGO Planning, First Phase................................... 87 A New Decision: Reinforcement, Not Relief...................... 94 A Final Glance at the INDIGO Planning.......................... 96 4. JAPAN'S DECISION FOR WAR by Louis Morton....................... 99 The Journey Begins............................................. 100 The Road to War................................................ 103 The Fatal Turn................................................. 112 The End of the Road............................................ 122 5. THE DECISION TO EVACUATE THE JAPANESE FROM THE PACIFIC COAST by Stetson Conn................................................ 125 6. THE DECISION TO WITHDRAW TO BATAAN by Louis Morton............. 151 War Plan ORANGE................................................ 152 MacArthur's Plan............................................... 154 "WPO-3 Is in Effect"........................................... 158 Effects of the Decision........................................ 165 Page vi Number Page 7. THE DECISION TO INVADE NORTH AFRICA (TORCH) by Leo J. Meyer.... 173 Plans for Cross-Channel Operations Get the Green Light ........ 176 The President Breaks the Deadlock.............................. 186 The Issue of Inside Versus Outside Landings.................... 188 The Transatlantic Essay Contest................................ 189 8. U.S. MERCHANT SHIPPING AND THE BRITISH IMPORT CRISIS by Richard M. Leighton......................................... 199 Anglo-American Shipping Collaboration in 1942.................. 200 Casablanca and the Six-Million-Ton Misunderstanding............ 206 The Shipping Crisis of March 1943.............................. 210 The President Disposes......................................... 218 9. THE PERSIAN CORRIDOR AS A ROUTE FOR AID TO THE USSR by Robert W. Coakley........................................... 225 The Soviet Protocols and the Routes of Delivery................ 227 Early Failure to Develop the Persian Gulf...................... 229 The Northern Route and the Second Protocol..................... 232 The Problem in Iran............................................ 234 The July Crisis................................................ 237 The Decision on American Responsibility........................ 241 The Military Plan.............................................. 245 The CCS Decision............................................... 248 The Results of the Decision.................................... 251 10. OVERLORD VERSUS THE MEDITERRANEAN AT THE CAIRO-TEHRAN CONFERENCES by Richard M. Leighton............................ 255 Tools of Amphibious War....................................... 256 Alarums and Excursions........................................ 261 First Cairo: The Options...................................... 264 Tehran: Enter ANVIL, Compromise on OVERLORD................... 271 Second Cairo: Scratch BUCCANEER............................... 278 11. MACARTHUR AND THE ADMIRALTIES by John Miller, jr.............. 287 The Background: Rabaul and the Central Pacific................ 287 Decision To Expand Into the Bismarck Archipelago.............. 291 Japanese Decisions............................................ 295 Decision To Send a Reconnaissance Force to the Admiralties.... 295 The Decision to Remain........................................ 299 12. HITLER'S DECISION ON THE DEFENSE OF ITALY by Ralph S. Mavrogordato...................................... 303 13. GENERAL LUCAS AT ANZIO by Martin Blumenson.................... 323 Page vii Number Page 14. GENERAL CLARK'S DECISION TO DRIVE ON ROME by Sidney T. Mathews.......................................... 351 15. THE 90-DIVISION GAMBLE by Maurice Matloff..................... 365 16. THE ANVIL DECISION: CROSSROADS OF STRATEGY by Maurice Matloff............................................ 383 17. GENERAL BRADLEY'S DECISION AT ARGENTAN (13 AUGUST 1944) by Martin Blumenson........................................... 401 18. LOGISTICS AND THE BROAD-FRONT STRATEGY by Roland G. Ruppenthal.......................................... 419 19. THE DECISION TO LAUNCH OPERATION MARKET-GARDEN by Charles B. MacDonald....................................... 429 20. THE GERMAN COUNTEROFFENSIVE IN THE ARDENNES by Charles V. P. von Luttichau................................ 443 The Background................................................ 444 Strategic and Tactical Considerations Influencing the Decision.................................... 448 The Consequences of the Ardennes Decision..................... 458 21. LUZON VERSUS FORMOSA by Robert Ross Smith..................... 461 The Strategic Background...................................... 461 The Debate Over Luzon......................................... 466 22. THE DECISION TO HALT AT THE ELBE by Forrest C. Pogue ......... 479 The Situation in the Spring of 1945........................... 480 Berlin........................................................ 482 A Line of Demarcation......................................... 488 Prague........................................................ 489 Conclusion.................................................... 492 23. THE DECISION TO USE THE ATOMIC BOMB by Louis Morton........... 493 The Interim Committee......................................... 494 Military Considerations....................................... 500 The Decision.................................................. 506 The Japanese Surrender........................................ 514 CHRONOLOGY ....................................................... 519 CODE NAMES........................................................ 529 BASIC MILITARY MAP SYMBOLS........................................ 533 INDEX............................................................. 535 Page viii MAPS Number Page 1. The Landings in Norway, 9 April 1940.......................... 51 2. The Occupation of Denmark, 9-10 April 1940.................... 65 3. Japanese Plan and Disposition of the Armies, November 1941 107 4. Luzon......................................................... 153 5. Corregidor.................................................... 159 6. Persian Corridor Supply Routes................................ 226 7. The Mediterranean, 1943....................................... 257 8. Allied Advance Toward the Bismarck Sea, as of 29 February..... 292 9. The Arnhem Operation, 17-26 September 1944.................... 431 10. Battle of the Ardennes, 16-26 December 1944.................. 456 Maps I-X Are in Inverse Order Inside Back Cover I. The World Map (National Geographic Society Map) II. Lines of Communication in French North Africa III. American Transoceanic Supply, 1942-1943 IV. Allied Strategy in Italy, January 1944 V. The Anzio Beachhead, 31 January 1944 VI. Allied Situation in Italy, May 1944 VII. Breakout and Advance to the Seine, 25 July-25 August 1944 VIII. Pursuit to the German Border, 26 August-15 September 1944 IX. Pacific Ocean Areas, 1 August 1942 X. Drive to the Elbe, 4 April-7 May 1945