What were the war stratagies of the US Germany Japan and Italy?

Answer 1

AnswerLet us start with the US. In WWII, the US strategy was Germany first. Pre-war, FDR was concerned that Britain might surrender before he could get the US into the war. There was a large anti-war movement in the US. Please remember that the US had just come out of the great depression, so many average Americans were not concerned with what was happening on the other side of the oceans, as long as it did not impact their daily lives. All of this FDR had to contend with, so Lend-Lease was part of the answer. Britain was literally running out of money to continue the war, so the US began providing war materials on a lease basis. Next, came the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war by Germany (the only time Germany actually declared war before taking hostile action in WW II), the US was finally in the war. Due to several factors, lands occupied, technology, etc, the big three (US, Britain & Soviet Union) decided that of the two belligerents (Germany and Japan) that Germany must be conquered first. To accomplish this, it was decided that a second front was needed against Germany. The US & UK realized that they could not do anything in 42; they set their sights on late 42 early 43. They discussed and Britain won on convincing the Soviets and US to start in the Med. This is what led to Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. This in turn led to the invasion of Sicily and later Italy, to knock them out of the war. All of this led to the invasion of Normandy in '44. Stalin kept pressing the US & UK for an earlier 2nd front in Europe. The US also wanted to land in France as early as ' 43. Churchill managed to convince FDR & Stalin to wait as they were not ready. This upset Stalin and there was some worry that he might negotiate a separate treaty with Germany. So the US' main strategy came down to dealing with Germany first, then Japan. To do this, the US came up with a two fold concept; take the war to Germany on the ground (already mentioned) and thru the air against their ability to wage war. The US' daylight bombing campaign was the result of this idea. The Allied bombing offensive (US during the day and UK at night) to bomb the industrial complex of Nazi Germany helped to deprive the Wehrmacht of much needed war material. This led to an easier time on the Eastern front for the Soviets. Germany's strategy was to take out the portions of eastern Europe (thru diplomacy where possible, then armed conflict) then turn west to deal with France and Britain, then back east to deal with Hitler's real concern, the Soviet Union. To make this happen, in the mid to late 30s Hitler employed a number of various tactics to re-occupy the Rhineland, seize Austria and Czechoslovakia and then move on Poland. Hitler did not declare war against the US because his navy was not capable of dealing with both the RN and the USN. That is one reason Germany courted Japan, to get a navy by proxy. Hitler thought that if the US was involved in a Pacific war, then he could unleash his U-boats against the convoys bringing the supplies to UK and Soviet Union. This would allow him to strangle these countries and force them to accept peace on his terms. Luckily this did not succeed. After the war turned against Germany on the eastern front, some of Hitler's generals tried to convince OKH that they should retreat and shrink their lines to allow for greater flexibility, but Hitler overrode them and demanded not one step back. This led to the dissipation of Germany's ability to wage war. In '41 Germany was able to attack everywhere, in '42 they could only attack in southern Russia, in '43 it was only at Kursk. As you can see there was a steady decline in the ability of Germany to sustain the levels of attacks needed. Hitler doomed the Axis cause. As for Japan, her aims were to create the Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. She wanted to dominate what is now considered Asia Pacific. Luckily for Japan, Germany helped her by taking out Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Japan moved in to claim vast areas of these three countries. They could do little to resist, as they themselves had been conquered. This helped Japan to expand, but she knew that her ultimate nemesis was the US. She had to deal with the US in such a way as to convince them that fighting a war was not worth it. When they asked Adm. Yamamoto about how to tackle the US, he told them of taking out the fleet at Pearl. Problem is here that the main target, the US carriers, were not in port. So when the attack was launched, the carriers were not there. Japan knew that the war in the Pacific would be decided by naval aviation, not battleships. And at Pearl, all the Japanese could hit were battleships, cruisers, and other naval ships, not the carriers. And this led to the ultimate collapse of Japan. Midway sealed the fate of Japan. Without her carriers and veteran pilots, she could no longer stand against the US. And the economic might that Yamamoto warned his gov't about kicked into high gear. AnswerUS strategyThe US strategy was to:1. Keep supplying the Allies with huge amounts of war materials(ships,,tanks,aircraft,etc...). Unlike the other countries the US war industry was unaffected by bombing or attacks. 2. Concentrate on the European Theatre first and then the Pacific Theatre. 3. Future Fronts were to be opened and the US Military learned important lessons in small and large scale operations and amphibious operations that prepared them for D-Day, Normandy, 1944. It took time to properly build and train a modern military for offensive operations.

German StrategyHitler used his success and popularity with the German People to launch Germany into WW-2 before the people realized his real ambitions. Hitler considered Russia to be his main threat to conquest in Europe. With their weak show in Norway, Hitler had nothing but open contempt for the Russian Military. He opened another front in the east, but still had large numbers of troops deployed in Western Europe and his Airforce was destroyed by the British. After he lost the initiative at Stalingrad he settled on a compromise. Stall the Russians and concentrate on defeating the invasion of Western Europe. Once this was done, he could transfer the bulk of his western forces to the east. Remember that Germany and Russia were carrying on secret peace negotiations thru Switzerland up until D-Day.

Japan Strategy The stategy was simply to destroy the American Navy and conquer as much territory and solidify it, before America could mobilize for war.

Italian Strategy Mussolini dreamed of another Roman Empire. He really had no strategy and made impulsive decisions in Africa that cost him dearly. The Italian Army had no concept of supply and logistics and the fighting in Ethiopia should have taught Mussolini something. It Didn't. Hitler was constantly bailing Italy out of trouble and the Italian Soldier didn't want to wage war on foreign soil.