JOINT BOARD ESTIMATE OF
               UNITED STATES OVER-ALL PRODUCTION
                          REQUIREMENTS
 
IV.       MAJOR STRATEGY OF THE UNITED STATES AND ITS ASSOCIATES. 25.
(Cont'd)
 
     f.   The maintenance of   an active front in   Russia offers   by
far the best opportunity for       a suc  cessful land offensiv  e
against Germany, because only Russia possesses             adequate
manpower,   situated in favorable pro  ximity to the center of German
military power.  For Russia, ground and aviation forces are most
important.  Predictions as to the result of the present conflict in
Russia are premature.  However, were the Soviet forces to be driven
even beyond the Ural Mountains, and were they there to continue an
organized resistance, there would always remain the hope of a final and
complete defeat of Germany by land operations.  The effective arming of
Russian forces, both by the supply of munitions from the outside and by
providing industrial capacity in the Volga Basin, or to the east of the
Ural Mountains, would be one of the most important moves that could be
made by the Associated Powers.
 
     g.   P  revention of Axis penetration into Northwe  st Afr  ica
and the Atlantic Islands i s          very important, not only as a con
tribut  ion to the defense of the Western             Hemisphere, but
also   as security to Bri  tish sea communications and as a potential
base for a future land offensive.  In French North and West Africa,
French troops exist which are potential enemies of Germany, provided
they are re-equipped and satisfactory political conditions are
established by the United States.  Because the British Commonwealth has
but few troops available and because of the unfriendly relations
between the British and the Weygand regime, it seems clear that a large
proportion of the troops of the Associated Powers employed in this
region necessarily must be United States troops.
 
 
 
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