Divided They Fall

In their conference in Washington, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were guided by a great fact: success in Russia and victory in Africa had guaranteed the division of the enemy.

Less than a year ago, Germany was reaching across Africa and into the Caucasus, preparing to strike at Suez. A huge pincers movement threatened to put the entire Middle East in Axis hands. Japan, victorious in Burma, stood at the threshold of an almost defenseless, politically confused India. The enemy had a very good chance to join hands; the result might easily have been the complete defeat of Russia, Britain, the U.S. and China.

But now, with Tunisia fallen, the continued division of the enemy was assured. Hitler had been pushed out of most of the Caucasus and out of Africa: he was backing across the Mediterranean. The Japs had lost no ground, but they had not moved beyond Burma. Now the Allies could operate, for the first time, on favorable and shortened communication lines. A strategic reserve of shipping, men and weapons--that pool behind the lines which can decide battles and wars--could now be conveniently shifted across the world.

Job in the East. The Allies could now plan, as they could not at the time of Casablanca, for the job to be done in the Far East. It was therefore significant that Field Marshal Sir Archibald P. Wavell, Lieut. General Joseph W. Stilwell and Major General Claire L. Chennault had been called in from India and China to join the discussions. Last week, Winston Churchill sent Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek a message which could be taken as the first fruit of the Washington conference: ". . . The United Nations . . . will surely drive the Japanese invader from the soil of China." President Roosevelt, in a similar message, expressed the hope that the offensive would be launched "in the very near future."

Schedule in the West. At Casablanca plural invasions were planned but not precisely scheduled. The fall of Tunisia, a month earlier than had been hoped, made it possible: 1) to schedule further attacks exactly; 2) to coordinate them with the military situation in Russia.

A separate group assembled in Cairo: Britain's Middle Eastern War Cabinet member, Richard G. Casey; General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, who directs operations in the eastern Mediterranean; Vice Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham, naval commander in the Levant, Lord Gort of Malta, and others.

United They Stand? If geographical division is a blow to Germany and Japan, it may also force them closer together in their political and military planning. If they would survive, Germany and Japan now have to coordinate their counter-measures most carefully.

Presumably, the Allied blows planned in Washington and Cairo will be timed to prevent any such collaboration on the part of the divided enemy.

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