The Second World War. The Grand Alliance

1105 Pages·2002·4.91 MB·English

by  Churchill W.

THE GRAND ALLIANCE
WINSTON CHURCHILL
TheGrandAlliance 2
Copyright
The Grand Alliance
Copyright© 1948 byWinstonChurchill
Cover artandeForewordtotheelectroniceditioncopyright
© 2002 byRosettaBooks,LLC
Allrightsreserved. No partofthisbookmaybe usedor
reproducedinanymanner whatsoeverwithoutwritten
permissionexceptinthecase ofbriefquotationsembodied
incriticalayrticlesandreviews.
[email protected]
Firstelectroniceditionpublished2002 byRosettaBooks
LLC, New York.
ISBN 0-7953-0612-1
TheGrandAlliance 3
Contents
eForeword
Preface
Acknowledgments
BookOne:
Germany DrivesEast
1: The Desert andtheBalkans
2: The WideningWar
3: BlitzandAnti-Blitz,1941: Hess
4: The Mediterranean War
5: ConquestoftheItalian Empire
6: DecisiontoAidGreece
7: The BattleoftheAtlantic,1941 The Western Approaches
8: The BattleoftheAtlantic,1941 The American
Intervention
9: Yugoslavia
10: The Japanese Envoy
11: The Desert Flank:Rommel:Tobruk
12: The Greek Campaign
13: Tripoliand“Tiger”
TheGrandAlliance 4
14: The RevoltinIraq
15: Crete: The Advent
16: Crete: The Battle
17: The Fate ofthe“Bismarck”
18: Syria
19: General Wavell’s FinalEffort:“Battleaxe”
20: The SovietNemesis
BookTwo:
War Comes toAmerica
1: OurSovietAlly
2: AnAfricanPause: Tobruk
3: MyMeeting withRoosevelt
4: The AtlanticCharter
5: AidtoRussia
6: Persia andtheMiddleEast Summer andAutumn,1941
7: The MountingStrengthofBritainAutumn,1941
8: CloserContactswithRussiaAutumnandWinter, 1941
9: The Path Ahead
10: Operation“Crusader”Ashore,Aloft,andAfloat
11: Japan
12: Pearl Harbour!
13: AVoyage AmidWorldWar
14: ProposedPlan andSequence oftheWar
15: WashingtonandOttawa
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16: Anglo-AmericanAccords
17: ReturntoStorm
Appendices
Notes
AbouttheAuthor
AboutthisTitle
TheGrandAlliance 6
Maps and Diagrams
The AdvancefromTobruk
The Campaign inEast Africa
The BattleoftheAtlantic:MerchantShipsSunkbyU-Boats
intheAtlantic
Phase I. FromtheOutbreak ofWar totheInvasionof
Norway,September 3, 1939, toApril9, 1940
Phase II. The Western Approaches,April10, 1940, to
March17, 1941
Phase III. The Ocean uptotheEntryoftheUnitedStates
intotheWar, March18, 1941, toDecember 6, 1941
The Balkans
Rommel’sCounter-Offensive,April,1941
The German InvasionofGreece
Habbaniya-Falluja
SyriaandIraq
Crete andtheAegean
The Chase oftheBismarck
Map 1: Situationat 6.00 a.m. May 24
Map 2: Situationat 3.06 a.m. May 25
Map 3: Situationat 10.30 a.m. May 26
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Plan 1: Situationat 9.00 a.m. May 26
Plan 2: Situationat 8.48 a.m. May 27
Plan 3: Situationat 10.15 a.m. May 27
The SyrianCampaign
Diagram toIllustrateOperation“Battleaxe”
The German AttackonRussia
OperationsinPersia
The Mediterranean Area, June21, 1941
Enemy DispositionsNovember 18 OpeningPhase,
November 18-19
FirstBattleofSidiRezegh
Rommel’sRaid November 24–28 SecondBattleofSidi
Rezegh, November 29–30
The SouthChinaSea
Malaya
Cyrenaica
TheGrandAlliance 8
eForeword
One ofthemostfascinatingworksofhistoryever written,
WinstonChurchill’smonumentalThe SecondWorldWar is
a six-volumeaccountofthestruggleoftheAlliedpowersin
EuropeagainstGermany andtheAxis.Toldthroughthe
eyes ofBritishPrime MinisterWinstonChurchill,The
SecondWorldWar isalsothestoryofonenation’ssingular,
heroicroleinthefightagainsttyranny.Prideandpatriotism
are evidenteverywhereinChurchill’sdramaticaccountand
forgoodreason. Havinglearned a lessonat Munichthat
theywouldnever forget,theBritishrefusedtomake peace
withHitler,defyinghimeven afterFrance hadfallenand
afteritseemed as thoughtheNazis were unstoppable.
Churchillremained unbowedthroughout,as didthepeople
ofBritaininwhosedeterminationandcouragehe placed
hisconfidence.
Patrioticas Churchillwas, he managed tomaintaina
balancedimpartialityinhisdescriptionofthewar. What is
perhapsmostinteresting,andwhatlendstheworkits
tensionandemotion,isChurchill’sinclusionofa significant
amountofprimarymaterial. We hear hisretrospective
analysisofthewar, tobe sure,butwe are alsopresented
withmemos, letters,orders,speeches, andtelegramsthat
givea day-by-dayaccountofthereactions-bothmistaken
andjustified-totheunfoldingdrama. Strategiesand
counterstrategiesdeveloptorespondtoHitler’sruthless
conquestofEurope, hisplannedinvasionofEngland,and
TheGrandAlliance 9
histreacherousassaultonRussia.It isa mesmerizing
accountofthecrucialdecisionsthathave tobe made with
imperfectknowledgeandan awareness thatthefate ofthe
worldhangsinthebalance.
The GrandAlliance,thethirdvolumeofthiswork,describes
theendofan extraordinaryperiodinBritishmilitaryhistory
inwhichthatcountrystoodvirtuallyalone againstthe
German onslaught.Two crucialeventsbringabouttheend
ofBritain’sisolationandprovekeyturningpointsinthewar
againstHitler.The firstisHitler’swell-documenteddecision
toattacktheSovietUnion,openingupa battlefrontinthe
East. Stalin, whoa fewmonthsearlierhadbeen making
planswithHitlertocarve uptheBritishEmpirebetween
them, nowfindshimselflookingtotheBritishforsupport
andentreatingChurchilltoopenupa secondfrontin
France. Churchillincludesthefascinatingcorrespondence
between himselfandtheRussianleader.
The secondevent isthebombingofPearl Harborandthe
entryoftheUnitedStates intothewar. U.S. supporthad
longbeen seen as crucialtotheBritishwareffort,and
ChurchilldocumentshiseffortstodrawtheAmericansto
theaidoftheiralliesacrosstheocean, includinghisdirect
correspondencewithPresidentRoosevelt. The attackon
Pearl Harbor,ofcourse,changeseverything,andsoonafter
theBritishbegan coordinatetheireffortsagainstNazi
Germany withthecooperationoftheUnitedStates. The
GrandAllianceisformed.
ChurchillwontheNobel Prize forLiteraturein1953 duein
nosmallparttothisawe-inspiringwork.
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