The 1942 Garmisch Conference: A Snapshot of Mid-War Axis Naval Strategy

Abstract

On 14 and 15 January 1942, a German and Italian maritime strategy conference occurred in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in order to coordinate a joint plan of action for the ongoing conduct of naval warfare. Drawing upon extensive exploration in German and Italian archives, this article challenges coventional wisdom and argues that coordination improved as a consequence of the meeting and that strategic realities, not a lack of intent to coordinate the two nations’ naval efforts, robbed the conference of its ability to create war-changing decisions.