First, it would remove some of the burden from the Red Army, which until then had done the vast majority of fighting against the German forces. Secondly, it would allow the Western powers to directly influence events on the European mainland. This operation would also help to reduce Stalins suspiciousness of the West by showing that they were not content to leave the actual fighting to the Soviets. The latter was of particular importance to the Western powers as they sought to ensure that the Soviet Union would not attempt to negotiate a unilateral peace with Germany as it had done in 1918. In may of 1942, United States President Franklin Roosevelt promised the Soviet Unions Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, that he would attempt to have a second front established in Europe by the end of 1942. However, Roosevelt had spoken too quickly. The American presidents military advisors soon made it clear to him that an invasion of France during 1942 was out of the question. At best, such an operation could take place no earlier than 1943. The Americans attempted to compromise by proposing to send small contingents of troops to the French coast in order to test Germanys strength. The British deemed this to be too risky. The British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, instead persuaded Roosevelt that it would be wiser to begin an invasion of North Africa. This infuriated Stalin. He questioned the commitment of his allies to the war effort and inquired if Britains troops were simply afraid of facing the German army. In the end, the assault of Northern France codenamed Operation Overlord did not begin until June of 1944.1 .
Perhaps the most significant dilemma facing the Allies following their victory in Europe was how post-war Europe was to be divided. Almost all of Eastern and South-Eastern was under the control of the Soviet Union, but the allies urgently sought to change this. One of the primary reasons the Western nations were so determined to wrestle Eastern and South-Eastern Europe back from the clutches of the Soviet Union was that it would strengthen the Western economy.
