The Second World War saw grand military strategy play out on the largest scale ever seen, stretching across most of the globe. Shaping this complex strategic situation were what historian Phillips O’Brien calls “The Five”: Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini and Franklin D Roosevelt.
In The Strategists, O’Brien rejects the prevailing view among his contemporaries to argue that Second World War strategy was individualistic, shaped by the idiosyncrasies of these individuals. Laying out each leader’s experience of the First World War, the interwar period and their ascendency to power, O’Brien paints a vivid picture of how their wartime character and decision-making was formed.
O’Brien spoke with History of War to discuss each of The Five’s background and character, and how that translated into the way they led their nation’s grand strategy. He then considers how the Allied ‘Big Three’ (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) began to butt heads as the war came to an end and the post-war world began to take shape. He also shares his thoughts on how the Russo-Ukraine War shows that flawed individuals can still hijack grand strategy.
How do you compare and contrast each of The Five’s upbringings, as well as their participation (or not) in the First World War?
The Five come in two categories. First, you can call them the aristocrats – Churchill and Roosevelt – who came from very privileged backgrounds. People sometimes say Churchill didn’t have much money, but his family had enormous social capital. Roosevelt was very much the same way. He came from an elite northeast family, raised in a life of great wealth. What it gave them was confidence that the others gained through war experience.
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