The reasons why both the British and the Americans agreed that the Allies should invade Italy was because the British favored a strike against the Axis southern flank that would avoid the strong German defenses in northern France.
Full Answer
The Allies decided to move next against Italy, hoping an Allied invasion would remove that fascist regime from the war, secure the central Mediterranean and divert German divisions from the northwest coast of France where the Allies planned to attack in the near future. The Allies’ Italian Campaign began with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
So the compromise was to try and come in through the back door, an idea that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill believed in. Churchill called Italy the “soft underbelly of the Third Reich”. That’s what Italy was to him and indeed to others as well.
The Italian campaign came about after the campaign in North Africa ended in May 1943 with the surrender of the Afrika Korps. The Allies had discussed at Yalta the need to open a second front in the war to relieve pressure on the eastern front.
The Allies’ Italian Campaign began with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. After 38 days of fighting, the U.S. and Great Britain successfully drove German and Italian troops from Sicily and prepared to assault the Italian mainland. The Allies Target Italy
The British and the Americans both agreed that the Allies should invade Italy because the Allies wanted to push the German troops away from the main Allied advance through Nazi occupied Europe to Germany.
Its primary objectives were to seize the port of Naples to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping Axis troops further south. The naval task force of warships, merchant ships and landing craft totaling 627 vessels came under the command of Vice Admiral Henry K.
Although the Allied attack on Italy made the Italians surrender and tied down German strength, it did not lead to the strategic results the British had hoped for. There was to be no 'soft underbelly'. Instead, the Allies found themselves attacking what US General Mark Clark called 'a tough old gut'.
The Allies decided to move next against Italy, hoping an Allied invasion would remove that fascist regime from the war, secure the central Mediterranean and divert German divisions from the northwest coast of France where the Allies planned to attack in the near future.
September 3, 1943 – September 17, 1943Allied invasion of Italy / Period
On July 10, 1943, the Allies began their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy. Encountering little resistance from demoralized Sicilian troops, Montgomery's 8th Army came ashore on the southeast part of the island, while the U.S. 7th Army, under General George S.
September 3, 1943 – September 17, 1943Allied invasion of Italy / Period
In general, the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy was incredibly successful and achieved what it set out to. The Allied armies were able to force Axis naval, air and land divisions out of the area and allowed Allied merchant ships into the Mediterranean for the first time since 1941.
SalernoCalabriaTarantoAllied invasion of Italy/Locations
In the 29 March 1941 report of the ABC-1 conference, the Americans and British agreed that their strategic objectives were: (1) "The early defeat of Germany as the predominant member of the Axis with the principal military effort of the United States being exerted in the Atlantic and European area; and (2) A strategic ...
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