War Aims in the Second World War

This is the first study of the aims that motivated the major powers -- the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, Germany, and, Japan -- to fight in the Second World War. The book shows how some war aims were constants, unlikely to be abandoned except as a result of total defeat, while others arose as a result of the fortunes of war. Rothwell sheds light on the wartime transition of the United States and the Soviet Union to superpower status. He shows that consistency of purpose is most evident in Great Britain, content with the international prewar status quo, and Nazi Germany, intent on replacing it with a new order in which all liberal and civilized values would be annihilated.

Victor Rothwell is Reader in History at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of several books including The Origins of the Second World War (2001), Britain and the Cold War, 1941-47 (1982) and British War Aims and Peace Diplomacy, 1914-18 (1971).

Maps; German war aims map; American war aims map; Soviet war aims map; Japanese war aims map; 1. War aims in modern history; 2. Germany and Italy; 3. Britain and France; 4. The United States; 5. The Soviet Union; 6. Japan and the Grand Allies in East Asia; 7. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.