Churchill and Roosevelt balked for years as Stalin begged them to open a western front to vent some pressure from the ostfront. I know Churchill considered it a win-win if the Nazi and Soviet menaces ground themselves down to nothing. Eventually, the weaker 2/3rds of the Allies tickled the Axis in Africa and Italy long before they landed at Normandy. It wasn't until a year and a half after the Soviets won at Stalingrad and had already made it clear they were headed to Berlin that the Allies decided to get serious about liberating Western Europe.
The US wanted a '43 invasion of France, it was the British that stalled it so hard because they were petrified of losing their own men. I'd say you have an accurate assessment of Churchill and the British but the Americans definitely wanted to be more active on the Western Front, you have to remember until Truman the climate around Roosevelt and his cabinet was that of a post-war partnership and collaboration with the USSR.
(In case it comes off that way, this isn't apologia for US imperialism or anything)
I mean inevitably it would have fallen apart but the USSR would be in a much stronger position at the start of the Cold War had there been a short period of co-operation.
Even if you view it from a cynical imperialist lens, it was still benefitial to open a second front to secure a better position in post-war negotiations. If the Western Allies left the RKKA to do everything, then there likely would have been a full DDR encompassing the whole of Germany as part of the Warsaw Pact or whatever the Eastern Bloc would be called in this alt-history.
In the short, meme way, if the Normandy landings hadn't happened then Stalin would not have stopped at Berlin.
Churchill and Roosevelt balked for years as Stalin begged them to open a western front to vent some pressure from the ostfront. I know Churchill considered it a win-win if the Nazi and Soviet menaces ground themselves down to nothing. Eventually, the weaker 2/3rds of the Allies tickled the Axis in Africa and Italy long before they landed at Normandy. It wasn't until a year and a half after the Soviets won at Stalingrad and had already made it clear they were headed to Berlin that the Allies decided to get serious about liberating Western Europe.
The US wanted a '43 invasion of France, it was the British that stalled it so hard because they were petrified of losing their own men. I'd say you have an accurate assessment of Churchill and the British but the Americans definitely wanted to be more active on the Western Front, you have to remember until Truman the climate around Roosevelt and his cabinet was that of a post-war partnership and collaboration with the USSR.
(In case it comes off that way, this isn't apologia for US imperialism or anything)
:sicko-wistful:
deleted by creator
I think about this one a little too much
I mean inevitably it would have fallen apart but the USSR would be in a much stronger position at the start of the Cold War had there been a short period of co-operation.
Exactly. The US understood the utility and need for a second front from day one. Eisenhower grew progressively pissed at the British for delaying
Even if you view it from a cynical imperialist lens, it was still benefitial to open a second front to secure a better position in post-war negotiations. If the Western Allies left the RKKA to do everything, then there likely would have been a full DDR encompassing the whole of Germany as part of the Warsaw Pact or whatever the Eastern Bloc would be called in this alt-history.
In the short, meme way, if the Normandy landings hadn't happened then Stalin would not have stopped at Berlin.