Crusade in Europe Quotes

“True delegation implies the courage and readiness to back up a subordinate to the full; it is not to be confused with the slovenly practice of merely ignoring an unpleasant situation in the hope that someone else will handle it.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Morale is the greatest single factor in successful war. Endurable comparisons with the enemy in other essential factors—leadership, discipline, technique, numbers, equipment, mobility, supply, and maintenance—are prerequisite to the existence of morale. It breeds most readily upon success; but under good leaders it will be maintained among troops even during extended periods of adversity.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Public health, conduct, sanitation, agriculture, industry, transport, and a hundred other activities, all normal to community life, were supervised and directed by these officers. Their task was difficult but vastly important, not merely from a humanitarian viewpoint, but to the success of our armies. Every command needs peace and order in its rear; otherwise it must detach units to preserve signal and road communications, protect dumps and convoys, and suppress underground activity.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“four other pieces of equipment that most senior officers came to regard as among the most vital to our success in Africa and Europe were the bulldozer, the jeep, the 21/2-ton truck, and the C-47 airplane. Curiously enough, none of these is designed for combat.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Nothing creates trouble between allies so often or so easily as unnecessary talk—particularly when it belittles one of them. A family squabble is always exaggerated beyond its true importance.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“It seemed to me that constant stressing of the individual rights and privileges of American citizenship had overshadowed the equally important truth that such individualism can be sustained only so long as the citizen accepts his full responsibility for the welfare of the nation that protects him in the exercise of these rights.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“يجب أن نتذكر أن هناك بون شاسع بين الحذر والجبن، كما أن هناك بون بين الشجاعة والتهور.”
― دوايت ايزنهاور, Crusade in Europe

“لأني تحققت أن إختيار الأشخاص للأماكن الحساسة يصادف معارضة لأسباب تقليدية لا فنية، وسطحية لا جوهرية، لأن أكثر الخلق عبيد عرف وعادة أكثر مما هم أنصار تجدد وإحداث أعمال مجدية.”
― دوايت ايزنهاور, Crusade in Europe

“To insure that none would be forgotten and that records for subordinates would always be available, we had resorted to an automatic recording system that proved most effective.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Militarily, they felt, their difficulties came about because of internal political weaknesses. One French businessman said to me, “We defeated ourselves from within; we tried to oppose a four-day work week against the German’s six- or seven-day week.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“it will always be a crime to excuse men from the types and kinds of training that will give them a decent chance for survival in battle.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“I well knew that Patton delighted to startle his hearers with fantastic statements; many men who believed they knew him well never penetrated past the shell of showmanship in which he constantly and carefully clothed himself. But he was essentially a shrewd battle leader who invariably gained the devotion of his subordinates. From early life his one ambition was to be a successful battlefield commander. Because of this he was an inveterate reader of military history and his heroes were the great captains of past ages.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Concerning the origination of plans and decisions: it is my conviction that no commander could normally take oath that a particular plan or conception originated within his own mind. Preoccupation with the concerns of his command are such that it is impossible for any person later to say whether the first gleam of an idea that may eventually have developed into a great plan came from within his own brain or from some outside suggestion. One of his problems is to keep his mind open, to avoid confusing necessary firmness with stubborn preconception or unreasoning prejudice.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Soldiers like to see the men who are directing operations; they properly resent any indication of neglect or indifference to them on the part of their commanders and invariably interpret a visit, even a brief one, as evidence of the commander’s concern for them.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Our Mediterranean experiences had reaffirmed the truth that unity, co-ordination, and co-operation are the keys to successful operations. War is waged in three elements but there is no separate land, air, or naval war. Unless all assets in all elements are efficiently combined and co-ordinated against a properly selected, common objective, their maximum potential power cannot be realized. Physical targets may be separated by the breadth of a continent or an ocean, but their destruction must contribute in maximum degree to the furtherance of the combined plan of operation. That is what co-ordination means.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Finally, it is always a good thing to move a headquarters when its personnel begin to get so well “dug in” as they were in Algiers—when directing staffs become too much concerned with the conveniences of living they grow away from troops and from the real problems of war.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“The relief of a combat leader is something that is not to be lightly done in war. Its first effect is to indicate to troops dissatisfaction with their performance; otherwise the commander would be commended, not relieved. This probable effect must always be weighed against the hoped-for advantage of assigning to the post another, and possibly untried, commander. On the other hand, really inept leadership must be quickly detected and instantly removed. Lives of thousands are involved—the question is not one of academic justice for the leader, it is that of concern for the many and the objective of victory.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Long periods of inaction for regrouping are justified only by sheer necessity. Veteran troops realize that by continuing the advance and attack against a shaken enemy the greatest possible gains are made at minimum cost. Speed requires training, fitness, confidence, morale, suitable transport, and skillful leadership. Patton employed these tactics relentlessly, and thus not only minimized casualties but shook the whole Italian Government so forcibly that Mussolini toppled from his position of power in late July.[6”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Immediate and continuous loyalty to the concept of unity and to allied commanders is basic to victory.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“For me World War II was far too personal a thing to entertain such feelings. Daily as it progressed there grew within me the conviction that as never before in a war between many nations the forces that stood for human good and men’s rights were this time confronted by a completely evil conspiracy with which no compromise could be tolerated. Because only by the utter destruction of the Axis was a decent world possible, the war became for me a crusade in the traditional sense of that often misused word.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“Moreover, Middle East oil was a great prize.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II

“وليس بعيدًا أن الخوف، الخوف من الفناء والزوال سينجح في وضع حدٍّ للحروب أكثر مما تنجح محاولات أرباب السياسة والدبلوماسية حتى والدين نفسه.”
― دوايت ايزنهاور, Crusade in Europe

“تعتقد بكسب المجد على حساب دم الشبان فإني أقول لك أنه لا يوجد مجد يضاهي بقيمته ما يسفك من دماء لأجله.”
― دوايت ايزنهاور, Crusade in Europe

“ليست الحرب إلا إمتدادًا لوجهة سياسية واسطتها القوة لا الكلام.”
― دوايت ايزنهاور, Crusade in Europe