The Soviets complained that the Americans and British were prepared to fight until the last Russian fell.

There were, for example, heated disagreements over a second military front in Europe. Wartime unity was difficult to maintain, however. The principal goal of the 'Big Three' Allied leaders-President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet premier Josef Stalin-was winning the war, and most of their early diplomacy focused on military issues.

The 'Grand Alliance,' as Churchill phrased it, was a shaky expedient held together by the common desire to defeat the Axis Powers.