History
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The conference brought together the top British and American military leaders, as well as Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt and their aides, in Washington from December 22, 1941, to January 14, 1942, and led to a series of major decisions that shaped the war effort in 1942–1943.
From the start, significant differences in strategic priorities appeared. The British sought to push the Axis out of the Mediterranean, securing their lines of communications to their forces in India and the Far East. The American Navy, led by Admiral King, wished to prioritize fighting Japan, while the American Army, led by George C. Marshall, argued in favor of an immediate cross-channel invasion of Europe in 1942. Marshall suggested withdrawing from the liberation of Europe if the British did not agree to his plan. Roosevelt, favoring naval strategy, was persuaded by Churchill to prioritize the Mediterranean, and even suggested to the Soviet Ambassador Litvinoff that a landing in North Africa might enable attacking German-occupied Europe from the south. On Churchill's last day in Washington, the invasion of Guadalcanal was approved.
Roosevelt ultimately overruled Marshall after the British studied the feasibility of a cross-channel invasion and found it to be impossible in 1942. General Mark Clark, commander of all American forces in Britain, corroborated this conclusion later that year, pointing out that only one infantry division (the 34th Infantry Division) was available, but had neither amphibious training, anti-aircraft guns, tanks, nor landing craft. The 1st Armored Division also lacked equipment, as were the new divisions arriving in-theater.
The main policy achievements of Arcadia included the decision for "Germany First" (or "Europe first"—that is, the defeat of Germany was the highest priority); the establishment of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, based in Washington, for approving the military decisions of both the US and Britain; the principle of unity of command of each theater under a supreme commander; drawing up measures to keep China in the war; limiting the reinforcements to be sent to the Pacific; and setting up a system for coordinating shipping. All the decisions were secret, except the conference drafted the Declaration by United Nations, which committed the Allies to make no separate peace with the enemy, and to employ full resources until victory. [10] [11]
In immediate tactical terms, the decisions at Arcadia included an invasion of North Africa in 1942, sending American bombers to bases in England, and for the British to strengthen their forces in the Pacific. Arcadia created a unified American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA) in the Far East; the ABDA fared poorly. It was also agreed at the conference to combine military resources under one command in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). [12]
