Europe first - wikipedia Europe first Europe first, also known as Germany first, was the key element of the grand strategy agreed upon by the United States and the United Kingdom during World War II. According to this policy, the United States and the United Kingdom would use the preponderance of their resources to subdue Nazi Germany in Europe first. Simultaneously, they would fight a holding action against Japan in the Pacific, using fewer resources. After the defeat of Germany -- considered the greatest threat to the UK -- all Allied forces could be concentrated against Japan. At the December 1941 Arcadia Conference between President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Washington, shortly after the United States entered the War, the decision for the `` Europe First '' strategy was affirmed. However, U.S. statistics show that the United States devoted more resources in the early part of the war to stopping the advance of Japan, and not until 1944 was a clear preponderance of U.S. resources allocated toward the defeat of Germany. Contents 1 Grand strategy 2 United States 3 Opposition 4 Analysis 5 See also 6 Bibliography 7 References Grand strategy Germany was the United Kingdom 's primary threat, especially after the Fall of France in 1940, which saw Germany overrun most of the countries of Western Europe, leaving the United Kingdom alone to combat Germany. Germany 's planned invasion of the UK, Operation Sea Lion, was averted by its failure to establish air superiority in the Battle of Britain, and by its marked inferiority in naval power. At the same time, war with Japan in East Asia seemed increasingly likely. Although the U.S. was not yet at war with either Germany or Japan, it met with the UK on several occasions to formulate joint strategies. In the March 29, 1941 report of the ABC - 1 conference, the Americans and British agreed that their strategic objectives were : ( 1 ) `` The early defeat of Germany as the predominant member of the Axis with the principal military effort of the United States being exerted in the Atlantic and European area ; '' and ( 2 ) A strategic defensive in the Far East. '' Thus, the Americans concurred with the British in the grand strategy of `` Europe first '' ( or `` Germany first '' ) in carrying out military operations in World War II. The UK feared that, if the United States was diverted from its main focus in Europe to the Pacific ( Japan ), Hitler might crush both the Soviet Union and Britain, and would then become an unconquerable fortress in Europe. The wound inflicted on the United States by Japan at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 did not result in a change in U.S. policy. Prime Minister Churchill hastened to Washington shortly after Pearl Harbor for the Arcadia Conference to ensure that the Americans did n't have second thoughts about Europe First. In 1941, Roosevelt appointed John Gilbert Winant ambassador to Britain, and Winant remained in that post until he resigned in March 1946. In a 2010 book, Citizens of London : The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour, author Lynne Olson described Winant as dramatically changing the U.S. stance as ambassador when succeeding pro-appeasement ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. Also of note, in the spring of 1941, W. Averell Harriman served President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a special envoy to Europe and helped coordinate the Lend - Lease program. The two countries reaffirmed that, `` notwithstanding the entry of Japan into the War, our view remains that Germany is still the prime enemy and her defeat is the key to victory. Once Germany is defeated the collapse of Italy and the defeat of Japan must follow. '' United States The Europe first strategy, in conjunction with a `` holding action '' against Japan in the Pacific, had originally been proposed to Roosevelt by the U.S. military in 1940. When Germany declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941, the United States faced a decision about how to allocate resources between these two separate theaters of war. On the one hand, Japan had attacked the United States directly at Pearl Harbor, and the Japanese Navy threatened United States territory in a way that Germany, with a limited surface fleet, was not in a position to do. On the other hand, Germany was universally considered the stronger and more dangerous threat to Europe because only the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union remained un-occupied by Nazi Germany ; Germany 's geographical proximity to the UK and the Soviet Union was therefore a greater threat to their survival. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, American planners foresaw the possibility of a two - front war. Chief of Naval Operations Harold Rainsford Stark authored the Plan Dog memo, which advocated concentrating on victory in Europe while staying on the defensive in the Pacific. However, the U.S. reassurance to the UK notwithstanding, the U.S. 's immediate concern was with Japan. As Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall later said, `` we had a fair understanding of what we had best do rather than the necessity of engaging in prolonged conversations... This understanding, which included a recognition that Germany was the main enemy and that the major effort would be made initially in Europe, was obviously not applicable in the present situation. Of first importance now was the necessity to check the Japanese. '' Nonetheless, Marshall and other U.S. generals advocated the invasion of northern Europe in 1943, which the British rejected. After Churchill pressed for a landing in French North Africa in 1942, Marshall suggested instead to Roosevelt that the U.S. abandon the Germany - first strategy and take the offensive in the Pacific. Roosevelt `` disapproved '' the proposal saying it would do nothing to help Russia. With Roosevelt 's support, and Marshall unable to persuade the British to change their minds, in July 1942 Operation Torch was scheduled for later that year. The Europe First strategy remained in effect throughout the war, however the terms `` holding action '' and `` limited offensive '' in the Pacific were subject to interpretation and modification by U.S. senior military commanders, and at allied leaders conferences. The strategic situation in the Pacific and related logistical requirements dominated the United States ' actions after its entry into the war and led to an initial focus on the Pacific. Even in the later stages of the war, there was intense competition for resources as operations in both regions were scaled up. Opposition The `` Europe First '' strategy did not go down well with factions of the US military, driving a wedge between the Navy and the Army. While USN Fleet Admiral Ernest King was a strong believer in `` Europe First '', contrary to British perceptions, his natural aggression did not permit him to leave resources idle in the Atlantic that could be utilized in the Pacific, especially when `` it was doubtful when -- if ever -- the British would consent to a cross-Channel operation ''. King once complained that the Pacific deserved 30 % of Allied resources but was getting only 15 %. In spite of ( or perhaps partly because of ) the fact that the two men did not get along, the combined influence of King and General Douglas MacArthur increased the allocation of resources to the Pacific War. General Hastings Ismay, chief of staff to Winston Churchill, described King as : tough as nails and carried himself as stiffly as a poker. He was blunt and stand - offish, almost to the point of rudeness. At the start, he was intolerant and suspicious of all things British, especially the Royal Navy ; but he was almost equally intolerant and suspicious of the American Army. War against Japan was the problem to which he had devoted the study of a lifetime, and he resented the idea of American resources being used for any other purpose than to destroy Japanese. He mistrusted Churchill 's powers of advocacy, and was apprehensive that he would wheedle President Roosevelt into neglecting the war in the Pacific. At the Casablanca Conference, King was accused by Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke of favoring the Pacific war, and the argument became heated. The combative General Joseph Stilwell wrote : `` Brooke got nasty, and King got good and sore. King almost climbed over the table at Brooke. God, he was mad. I wished he had socked him. '' The American people favored early action against Japan, In one of the few public opinion polls taken during the war, in February 1943, 53 percent of Americans said that Japan was the `` chief enemy '' compared to 34 percent choosing Germany. A later poll showed that 82 percent of Americans believed that the Japanese were more `` cruel at heart '' than Germans. As a consequence of the immediate threat and the need to contain Japan 's advance across the Pacific, American resources allocated to the defeat of Japan initially exceeded those allocated to Europe. In the first six months the U.S. was in the war, the U.S. army deployed more than 300,000 soldiers overseas to the Pacific while less than 100,000 were sent to Europe. The U.S. 's first major offensive during World War II was in the Pacific : Guadalcanal in August 1942. Concurrently, Australian forces attacked and pushed back the Japanese in the Kokoda Track Campaign in New Guinea. Analysis Three U.S. Army divisions were deployed to Australia and New Zealand in February and March 1942 at the request of Prime Minister Churchill so that divisions from those countries could remain on operations in the Middle East. Through this sizeable deployment to the Pacific, the U.S. aided the Europe First strategy by defending Australia and New Zealand and thus enabling experienced troops from those countries to remain deployed against German forces. Nonetheless, the inability of the two allies to mount an invasion of German - controlled northern Europe in 1943 permitted the U.S. to maintain more military forces arrayed against Japan than Germany during the first two years the U.S. was in the war. As late as December 1943, the balance was nearly even. Against Japan, the U.S. had deployed 1,873,023 men, 7,857 aircraft, and 713 warships. Against Germany the totals were 1,810,367 men, 8,807 airplanes, and 515 warships. In early 1944, the military buildup of American forces for the invasion of France shifted the balance of American resources toward the European theater and made Europe First a reality. However, despite the majority of American resources going into Europe in 1944, the U.S. still had sufficient resources to mount several major military operations in the Pacific that year : Saipan ( June 1944 ) ; Guam ( July 1944 ) ; Peleliu ( September 1944 ) ; and the invasion of the Philippines at Leyte in October 1944. In 1944 and 1945, the balance of U.S. resources shifted heavily toward Europe as the Europe First strategy became a reality rather than just a stated objective. At war 's end in Europe, the U.S. Army had 47 divisions in Europe and 21 divisions, plus 6 Marine Corps divisions, in the Pacific. Seventy - eight percent of Army and Army Air Force manpower was deployed against Germany versus 22 percent deployed in the Pacific. The plan to invade Japan envisioned that 15 of the European divisions would be transferred to the Pacific. The uncritical view that `` Europe First '' dictated the allocation of resources throughout the war has caused many scholars to underestimate the resources required to defeat Japan. For example, historian H.P. Willmott stated that the United States `` allocated little more than one - quarter of her total war effort to the struggle against Japan. '' That may be an underestimate which does not take into account that, according to official U.S. statistics, 70 percent of the U.S. Navy and all the Marine Corps were deployed in the Pacific as well as the 22 percent of the Army deployed to the Pacific at the time of Germany 's surrender in May 1945. See also Asia First Theatres of World War II European Mediterranean and Middle East Pacific Bibliography Jump up ^ Hornfischer p. 151 - 153, 383 Jump up ^ Morton, Louis. Strategy and Command : The First Two Years. The United States Army in World War II. Washington : GPO, 1962, p. 88 Jump up ^ Morton, p. 158 Jump up ^ Stoler, Mark A. `` George C. Marshall and the `` Europe - First '' Strategy, 1939 -- 1951 : A Study in Diplomatic as well as Military History '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 4 April 2016. Jump up ^ Hornfischer p. 11 - 15, 130, 151 -- 153, 382, 383 Jump up ^ Morton, 141 -- 142 Jump up ^ Husen, editor, David T. Zabecki ; assistant editors, Carl O. Schuster, Paul J. Rose, William H. Van ( 1999 ). World War II in Europe : an encyclopedia. Garland Pub. p. 1270. ISBN 9780824070298. CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Mackenzie, S.P. ( 2014 ). The Second World War in Europe : Second Edition. Routledge. p. 54 - 55. ISBN 1317864719. Jump up ^ Ward, Geoffrey C. ; Burns, Ken ( 2014 ). `` The Common Cause : 1939 - 1944 ''. The Roosevelts : An Intimate History. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 0385353065. Jump up ^ Routledge Handbook of US Military and Diplomatic History. Hoboken : Taylor and Francis. 2013. p. 135. ISBN 9781135071028. ^ Jump up to : Gray, Anthony W., Jr. ( 1997 ). `` Chapter 6 : Joint Logistics in the Pacific Theater ''. In Alan Gropman. The Big ' L ' -- American Logistics in World War II. Washington, D.C. : National Defense University Press. Retrieved 2007 - 12 - 30. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Morison, Samuel Eliot ( 1957 ). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. XI : Invasion of France & Germany : 1944 -- 1945. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 13 -- 14. ISBN 0 - 316 - 58311 - 1. Jump up ^ Simkin, John. `` Ernest King ''. Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 2007 - 12 - 29. Retrieved 2007 - 12 - 30. Jump up ^ Pogue, Forrest C. ( 1973 ). George C. Marshall : Organizer of Victory 1943 -- 1945. Viking Adult. p. 305. ISBN 0 - 670 - 33694 - 7. Jump up ^ Gallup, George H. The Gallup Poll : Public Opinion, 1935 -- 1971. New York : Random House, 1972, pp. 370,509 Jump up ^ Leighton, Richard M. and Coakley, Robert W. Global Logistics and Strategy : 1940 -- 1943, Vol 1, Part 5 of The U.S. Army in World War II Washington : GPO, 1995, p. 716 Jump up ^ Matloff, Maurice, Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare : 1943 -- 1944, Vol. 1, Part 4, The U.S. Army in World War II Washington : GPO, 1955, p. 398 Jump up ^ Frank, Richard B. Downfall : The End of the Japanese Empire New York : Random House, 1999, p 123 Jump up ^ Willmott, H.P. Empires in the Balance. Annapolis : Naval Institute Press, 1982, p. xv Jump up ^ Leighton, Richard M. and Coakley, Robert W. Global Logistics and Strategy : 1943 -- 1945, of The U.S. Army in World War II Washington : GPO, 1995, p. 834 References Hornfischer, James D. Neptune 's Inferno : The US Navy at Guadalcanal. New York : Bantam Books, 2011. ISBN 978 - 0 - 553 - 80670 - 0. Winston Churchill Life Winston Churchill as historian Winston Churchill as painter Winston Churchill as writer Winston Churchill in politics, 1900 -- 1939 Timeline War Rooms conferences Percentages agreement Quebec Agreement Statement on Atrocities European Advisory Commission Honours of Winston Churchill Later life of Winston Churchill funeral gravesite The Other Club Blenheim Palace Chartwell Writings The Story of the Malakand Field Force ( 1898 ) Savrola ( 1899 novel ) The River War ( 1899 ) London to Ladysmith via Pretoria ( 1900 ) Ian Hamilton 's March ( 1900 ) Lord Randolph Churchill ( 1906 ) The World Crisis ( 1923 -- 1931, five volumes ) My Early Life ( 1930 ) Marlborough : His Life and Times ( 1933 -- 1938, four volumes ) Great Contemporaries ( 1937 ) Arms and the Covenant ( 1938 ) The Second World War ( 1948 -- 1963, six volumes ) A History of the English - Speaking Peoples ( 1956 -- 1958, four volumes ) Speeches `` Blood, toil, tears, and sweat '' `` Be ye men of valour '' `` We shall fight on the beaches '' `` This was their finest hour '' `` Never was so much owed by so many to so few '' `` Iron Curtain '' Legacy and depictions Palace of Westminster statue Parliament Square statue Washington, DC, statue Epstein bust Memorial Trusts Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Centre US Churchill Museum Cultural depictions Churchillian Drift Related Norway Debate Terminological inexactitude Siege of Sidney Street Tonypandy riots May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis Sword of Stalingrad Operation Unthinkable Family Lord Randolph Churchill ( father ) Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill ( mother ) Jack Churchill ( brother ) Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer - Churchill ( wife ) Diana Churchill ( daughter ) Randolph Churchill ( son ) Sarah Churchill ( daughter ) Marigold Churchill ( daughter ) Mary Soames, Baroness Soames ( daughter ) Descendants John Spencer - Churchill ( grandfather ) Frances Anne Spencer - Churchill ( grandmother ) Leonard Jerome ( grandfather ) Clarissa Eden ( niece ) Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President of the United States ( 1933 -- 1945 ) 44th Governor of New York ( 1929 -- 1932 ) Assistant Secretary of the Navy ( 1913 -- 1920 ) New York State Senator ( 1911 -- 1913 ) Presidency Inaugurations ( 1st 2nd 3rd 4th ) New Deal overview New Deal coalition First 100 days Second New Deal Federal Emergency Relief Administration Civilian Conservation Corps Agricultural Adjustment Administration Emergency Banking Act Tennessee Valley Authority National Labor Relations Act National Industry Recovery Act Public Works Administration National Recovery Administration Works Progress Administration National Youth Administration Social Security Act Aid to Families with Dependent Children Communications Act of 1934 Federal Communications Commission Securities and Exchange Commission Monetary gold ownership Gold Reserve Act Silver seizure Record on civil rights Defense industry non-discrimination Fair Employment Practices Commission Indian Reorganization Act Executive Orders 9066, 9102 War Relocation Authority Japanese American internment German - American internment Italian - American internment Brownlow Committee Executive Office of the President G.I. Bill of Rights Cullen -- Harrison Act Roerich Pact Four Freedoms Four Freedoms Monument Black Cabinet Jefferson 's Birthday holiday Judicial Court - Packing Bill Federal Judicial appointments Supreme Court Cabinet `` Brain Trust '' Modern Oval Office Official car Criticism Presidential Foreign policy Banana Wars U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, 1912 -- 1933 U.S. occupation of Haiti, 1915 -- 1934 Good Neighbor Policy ( 1933 -- 1945 ) Montevideo Convention ( 1933 ) Second London Naval Treaty ( 1936 ) ABCD line ( 1940 ) Export Control Act Four Policemen Lend - Lease 1940 Selective Service Act Atlantic Charter ( 1941 ) Military history of the United States during World War II Home front during World War II Combined Munitions Assignments Board War Production Board Declaration by United Nations ( 1942 ) Dumbarton Oaks Conference World War II conferences Quebec Agreement Europe first Morgentau Plan support Presidential speeches Commonwealth Club Address Madison Square Garden speech `` Four Freedoms '' Infamy Speech Arsenal of Democracy ``... is fear itself '' Fireside chats `` Look to Norway '' Quarantine Speech `` The More Abundant Life '' Second Bill of Rights State of the Union Address ( 1934 1938 1939 1940 1941 1945 ) Other events Early life, education, career Warm Springs Institute Governorship of New York Business Plot Assassination attempt Elections New York state election, 1928 1930 Democratic National Convention, 1920 1924 1932 1936 1940 1944 United States presidential election, 1920 1932 theme song 1936 1940 1944 Life and homes Early life and education Groton School `` Springwood '' birthplace, home, and gravesite Campobello home Paralytic illness Top Cottage Little White House, Warm Springs, Georgia Legacy Presidential Library and Museum Roosevelt Institute Roosevelt Institute Campus Network Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Roosevelt Island Four Freedoms Park White House Roosevelt Room Roosevelt Study Center Four Freedoms Award Four Freedoms paintings Unfinished portrait U.S. Postage stamps Roosevelt dime Films The Roosevelt Story 1947 Sunrise at Campobello 1960 Eleanor and Franklin 1976, The White House Years 1977 World War II : When Lions Roared Warm Springs 2005 Hyde Park on Hudson 2012 The Roosevelts 2014 documentary Other namesakes Roosevelt family Delano family Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( wife ) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( daughter ) James Roosevelt II ( son ) Elliott Roosevelt ( son ) Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. ( son ) John Aspinwall Roosevelt II ( son ) Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves ( granddaughter ) Curtis Roosevelt ( grandson ) Sara Delano Roosevelt ( granddaughter ) Franklin Delano Roosevelt III ( grandson ) John Roosevelt Boettiger ( grandson ) James Roosevelt III ( grandson ) James Roosevelt I ( father ) Sara Ann Delano ( mother ) James Roosevelt Roosevelt ( half - brother ) Isaac Roosevelt ( grandfather ) Jacobus Roosevelt ( great - grandfather ) Fala ( family dog ) ← Herbert Hoover Harry S. Truman → Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Europe_first&oldid=831930931 '' Categories : Politics of World War II United Kingdom -- United States relations Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list Talk Contents About Wikipedia Dansk Español Français Italiano Lietuvių Norsk Português Română 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 22 March 2018, at 22 : 00. About Wikipedia

Question: who did the allies decided to focus on defeating first after pearl harbor
Answer: Nazi Germany