ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the former views concerning Anglo-American assessments of Soviet military prospects during 1942. The question of an Anglo-American invasion of Western Europe, in order to alleviate German pressure on the USSR, was an important consideration for the Western Allies – of course, closely connected to the perceptions of Soviet strength and future prospects. The Americans favoured a direct approach, which included an early invasion of the European continent, and were less interested in the option of an Anglo-American invasion of North Africa. In May 1942 the Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov warned Roosevelt that the Germans could defeat the Red Army, unless an Anglo-American invasion could draw off 40 German divisions from the Soviet–German front. Roosevelt promised Molotov that there would be an Anglo-American invasion of Europe before the end of 1942, and War Department (WD) strategists began planning an invasion of the French coast in the autumn of 1942.
