Arcadia — Germany or Japan First?

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet at the White House for the **Arcadia** Conference, barely 2 weeks after the attack on **Pearl Harbor**. America burns with humiliation: in the streets, in the press, in Congress, a near-unanimous fury demands the nation turn to the Pacific to crush Japan. General MacArthur and Admiral King await only a signal to demand massive reinforcements toward Asia.

Churchill has crossed the **Atlantic** in urgent haste precisely to prevent that shift. The secret **ABC-1** agreement, negotiated in early 1941, had already established the principle: Nazi Germany, the dominant industrial power of the European continent, represents the priority existential threat. Breaking that agreement under public pressure would hand Hitler the breathing room he needs, while the USSR fights alone in the east.

The 2 men must decide: reaffirm the '**Germany First**' doctrine — defeat Germany before all else, holding defensively in the Pacific for as long as needed; yield to popular pressure and shift the Allied centre of gravity to the Pacific to avenge Pearl Harbor, at the risk of leaving Europe to Hitler; or split resources equally between the 2 theatres, a half-measure that would weaken the chances of victory on each front.