War from the Top
German and British Military Decision Making during World War II
Publication Year: 1990
Published by: Indiana University Press
Front Matter
Contents
Preface
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pp. x-ix
Acknowledgments
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pp. x-
ONE. Directing the War
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pp. 1-23
In war, as in other endeavors, decision making is most often concentrated at the top. This has been the case in the twentieth century as in the past, and it certainly applies to Germany and Great Britain during World War II. These two countries, like the others, depended on civilian leaders to direct the war, and whatever one thinks of...
TWO. Running the War: The Organization
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pp. 24-41
Just as Hitler and Churchill dominated the military aspects of World War II in Germany and Great Britain, their personal preferences determined the systems each of them created for conducting the war. Nevertheless, their control over their respective systems was less than absolute.1 In a war of such vast dimensions...
THREE. Running the War: The Personalities
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pp. 42-61
As the organizational aspects determined in part the effectiveness of both nations' high-command systems, so too did the leading personalities involved.1 Yet the heads of the services, whether designated commanders-in-chief or chiefs of staff, were seldom in the public eye and were certainly...
FOUR. Planning the War: The Early Years
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pp. 62-85
Before comparing the strategies of Great Britain and Germany during the war, it is necessary to explicate some basic terms which, though used in previous chapters, now require more precise definition.1 The most inclusive of these is "grand strategy," by which is meant utilizing a country's total resources--political, economic, social...
FIVE. Planning the War: The Middle and Later Phases
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pp. 86-119
Germany's and Britain's strategy between 1942 and 1945 can conveniently be divided into two phases. The first consists of the nineteen months from January 1942 through July 1943, a period of transition, during which the initiative passed slowly, but decisively, to the Allies. The second phase continued...
SIX. Fighting the War, 1939–1940
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pp. 120-153
When one turns to the carrying out of British and German strategy, several difficulties immediately become apparent. First is the impossibility of analyzing all of the many operations in which the two nations were involved. The emphasis here, therefore, will be on only eleven campaigns, which, nevertheless, represent a cross-section of the land, sea,...
SEVEN. The Russian Front, 1941–1943
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pp. 154-176
One of the most striking aspects of Germany's campaigns in the east is the extent of its commitment to that theater once operations had begun.1 Between 1941 and 1944, approximately three of Germany's four million combat troops were deployed in the east. The army and air force, despite horrendous losses, had available...
EIGHT. North Africa and Sicily, 1941–1943
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pp. 177-206
A telling point, discussing earlier, about German strategy is the disparity between its effort in the east and that in the other theaters. Between 1941 and 1943 while the Germans had at least 3,000,000 combat troops, 3,000 tanks, and 2,700 aircraft deployed along the Soviet front, on the other land front, North Africa,...
NINE. The Battle of the Atlantic
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pp. 207-225
When considering naval and air aspects of World War II, two points almost immediately come to mind. One is the dominant roles that tradition and geography assumed in the forging of Britain's and Germany's naval and air strategies. The other is that naval and air power were both separate and highly integrated features of these two countries' war efforts. They were separate...
TEN. Strategic Bombing vs. Air Defense
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pp. 226-245
When comparing the Allies' strategic bombing offensive with Germany's defensive effort against it, one is struck by the relative importance the two sides attributed to those aspects of their air strategies. For the British, and later in combination with the Americans, there was never any question as to the significance of strategic bombing. It was part of the overall...
ELEVEN. Burma and Western Europe, 1944–1945
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pp. 246-285
Although the Allied victories during the final stages of the war have been described elsewhere as "stunning," the word is in sense misleading. For although Allied operations resulted in victories, they were far from overwhelming until toward the very end. Only in the spring of 1945 did Allied conquests on land reach truly monumental proportions,...
Conclusion
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pp. 286-294
Ultimately, when future historians write about the twentieth century, they may well focus their attention on the moribund nature of the nation-state and how the demise of that outdated institution was speeded along by events during the century's fourth decade. They may also note that the people at...
Appendix: Code Names
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pp. 295-298
Notes
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pp. 299-349
Bibliography
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pp. 350-377
Index
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pp. 378-390
E-ISBN-13: 9780253003553
E-ISBN-10: 0253003555
Print-ISBN-13: 9780253364555
Publication Year: 1990
