272 - Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry

The WW2 Podcast

Angus Wallace

Rifle, Gun, Second, Army, Ww2, War, Society & Culture, Carlin, Aircraft, Military, Navy, Wwii, World, History, Plane, Armour, Infantry, Tank

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

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Summary

When we talk about the Second Front, most of us think of the Allied invasion of Northwest Europe—D-Day, June 1944. But in his new book, Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign, historian Professor Marc Milner offers a different perspective.

What if the real second front wasn’t in Normandy, but in Washington?

Milner argues that while Britain fought alongside the United States on the battlefields of Europe, it was also engaged in a very different kind of struggle across the Atlantic: a political and diplomatic battle to retain its influence over an increasingly dominant America.

By the time Allied troops landed in France, the United States had not only become the senior partner in the alliance but had begun reshaping the postwar world, often at the expense of British interests.

But as we’ll hear, this wasn’t just about wartime politics or military planning. The roots of Anglo-American rivalry ran much deeper, stretching back to the way each nation remembered the First World War.

Joining me to discuss all this is Professor Marc Milner.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This country is at war with Germany.
0:04.6	We shall go on to the end.
0:08.2	I remember the sheets of flame which came up and almost blinded us from our guns.
0:25.4	Hello and welcome to the World War II podcast. I'm Angus Wallace.
0:30.7	When we talk about the Second Front, most of us think about the Allied invasion of North West Europe, D-Day, June 1944. But in his new book, But in his new book, Second Front,
0:37.2	Anglo-American rivalry in the hidden history of the Normandy campaign, historian, Professor Mark Milner, offers a different perspective.
0:45.3	What if the real Second Front wasn't in Normandy, but in Washington? Milner argues that while Britain fought alongside the United States and the battlefields of Europe,
0:56.1	it was also engaged in a very different kind of struggle across the Atlantic,
1:00.2	a political and diplomatic battle to retain its influence over an increasingly dominant America.
1:06.9	By the time Allied troops landed in France, the United States had not only become the senior partner in the alliance, but had begun reshaping the post-war world, often at the expense of British interests.
1:19.8	But as we'll hear, this wasn't just about wartime politics or military planning.
1:25.0	The routes of Anglo-American rivalry ran much deeper, stretching back to
1:31.2	the way each nation remembered the First World War. Mark, thanks for joining me. So let's
1:37.5	start with the First World War. How did America and British narratives of victory in 1918 diverge?
1:46.5	Why did that matter in 1940?
1:50.0	Well, it's a good question.
1:51.1	When I started working on the book, I thought I would just write one chapter to get to 1939.
1:57.0	And by the time I had done, I'd written 500 pages and five chapters. And you can't start
2:02.5	with Genesis, because that would make it even longer still. Or the American Revolution, for that
2:07.2	matter. I started with the Great War because years ago, one of my students actually had done
2:13.2	a graduate student essay on kind of perceptions of victory in the 1920s. And I was gobsmacked by the
2:21.6	extent to which the American popular press, but even, I guess even the American official press
	...

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