Everything about Two-front War totally explained
In
military terminology, a
two-front war is one in which fighting takes place on two geographically separate fronts. It is usually executed by two or more separate forces simultaneously or nearly simultaneously, in the hope that their opponent will be forced to split their fighting force to deal with both threats, therefore reducing their odds of success.
Examples
World War I
During
World War I,
Germany under
Kaiser Wilhem II fought a two-front war against French, British, Belgian, and (later) American forces on the
Western Front while simultaneously fighting the Russians on the
Eastern Front, until the
Bolshevik Revolution of
1917 took Russia out of the war. Germany had foreseen such a scenario, and developed the
Schlieffen Plan in order to counteract being surrounded by its enemies. Under the Schlieffen Plan, German forces would invade France via
Belgium,
Luxembourg, and the Netherlands (the idea to go through the Netherlands was abandoned because of the country's neutrality), quickly capturing
Paris and forcing France to sue for peace. The Germans would then turn their attention to
Russia in the east before the
Tsar could mobilize his massive forces. Due to
several factors however, the Germans failed to achieve the plan's aims.
World War II
Perhaps the most famous example of a two-front war was the
European theatre during
World War II, when
Hitler's Nazi Germany had to deal with the Western Allies on the west and the
Soviet Union to the east. The Nazis were unable to repel either of the two front's advances and eventually lost the war. While there were other contributing factors, such as the insufficiency of the
Wehrmacht for a long war, and the abandonment of
blitzkrieg tactics due to fuel shortages and a rising need to defend territory, the two-front war was an important factor in deciding when the German military would be forced to surrender.
The Allies, especially the
United States, also fought a two-front war, splitting their forces between the European theatre against
Nazi Germany and the
Pacific War against
Japan. It should be noted that the
Axis Powers had the opportunity to force the Soviet Union into a two-front war by means of a Japanese attack on the Pacific Coast of the Soviet Union, but the Japanese declined to do so.
Cold War
A major rationale for the American
600-ship Navy plan in the 1980's was to threaten the Soviet Union with a two-front war (in Europe and the Pacific Ocean) in the event of hostilities.
Metaphorically
Additionally, the term is often used metaphorically. An example is when a
moderate politician faces political "attacks" from those to his
left and those to his
right.
Further Information
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