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((Short description|Title description for military command))
((about|the commander of Allied forces in Europe|the general concept of a supreme military commander|Commander-in-chief))

'''Supreme Allied Commander''' is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] during [[World War I]], and is currently used only within [[NATO]] for [[Supreme Allied Commander Europe]] and [[Supreme Allied Commander Transformation]].

==Historical titles==
===World War I===
On 26 March 1918, the French marshal [[Ferdinand Foch]] was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, gaining command of all Allied forces everywhere, and coordinated the British, French, American, and Italian armies to stop the [[German spring offensive]], the last large offensive of the German Empire.<ref>((Cite book|title=Reader's Guide to Military History|last=Messenger|first=Charles|year=2001|pages=170–71))</ref> He was the one who accepted the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|German cessation of hostilities]] in his private train.

On 16 April 1918, at his own request, Foch was appointed "Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies". Despite his promotion 19 days earlier, and the subsequent [[Beauvais Conference]] of 3 April 1918, he was not provided a title. He remedied this by making up his own title and by writing to Prime Minister [[Georges Clemenceau]] to request it, which was immediately granted. This is important because the Doullens Conference of 26 March was kept a secret until 30 March, and still not known to most of the army once it was published.((citation needed|date=January 2021|reason=your explanation here))

===World War II===
((More citations needed|date=January 2021))
During [[World War II]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allied leaders]] appointed Supreme Allied Commanders to manage the multi-nation, multi-discipline fighting forces for a particular [[Theater (warfare)|theater of war]].  These Supreme Allied Commanders were given operational control over all air, land, and sea units in that theatre. In other cases, senior commanders were given the title [[Commander-in-Chief]].

These Supreme Allied Commanders were drawn from the [[Five-star rank|most senior leaders]] in the [[British Armed Forces]] and [[United States Armed Forces]]. These commanders reported to the British/American [[Combined Chiefs of Staff]], although in the case of the Pacific and South East Asia, the relevant national command authorities of the American [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] or the British [[Chiefs of Staff Committee]] had responsibility for the main conduct of the war in the theatre, depending on the Supreme Commander's nationality.

[[General of the Army (United States)|General of the United States' Army]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] served in successive Supreme Allied Commander roles.  Eisenhower was the [[Allied Force Headquarters|Commander-in-Chief, Allied Force]] for the [[Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II|Mediterranean theatre]].  Eisenhower then served as Supreme Commander [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force|Allied Expeditionary Force]] (SCAEF) in the [[European Theatre of World War II|European theatre]], starting in December 1943 with the creation of the command to execute [[Operation Overlord]] and ending in July 1945 shortly after the [[End of World War II in Europe]].   In 1951, Eisenhower would again be a Supreme Allied Commander, the first to hold the post for [[NATO]] (see next section).

[[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Henry Maitland Wilson]] succeeded Eisenhower in the Mediterranean theatre, given the title Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean. Wilson was succeeded by Field Marshal [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|Harold Alexander]], who continued in charge of those Allied forces until the end of the war.

[[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Louis Mountbatten]] was [[South East Asia Command|Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia]] (SACSEA) throughout most of its existence. He replaced General [[Archibald Wavell]].

[[Generalissimo]] [[Chiang Kai-shek]] was named the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the [[China Burma India Theater|China war zone]] (CBI) on 1942.<ref>((Cite web|date=30 July 2020|title=75th anniversary of the end of WWII: Ashes to glory in the China-Burma-India Theatre|url=https://www.thinkchina.sg/75th-anniversary-end-wwii-ashes-glory-china-burma-india-theatre|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=ThinkChina))</ref> However, [[US forces]] in practice were usually overseen by General [[Joseph Stilwell]], the Deputy Allied Commander in China and [[South East Asia Command]] (SEAC). Until late 1944 that the land forces chain of command was clarified, after Stilwell was recalled to Washington.((Clarify|date=December 2022)) His overall role, and the CBI command were then split among three people: Lt Gen. [[Raymond Albert Wheeler|Raymond Wheeler]] became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia; Maj. Gen. [[Albert Coady Wedemeyer|Albert Wedemeyer]] became Chief of Staff to Chiang, and commander of US Forces, China Theater (USFCT). Lt Gen. [[Daniel Isom Sultan|Daniel Sultan]] was promoted, from deputy commander of CBI to commander of US Forces, India-Burma Theater (USFIBT) and commander of the NCAC.

General of the Army [[Douglas MacArthur]] was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, [[South West Pacific Area (command)|South West Pacific Area]] (SWPA) on 18 April 1942.<ref>((cite book| last = Milner| first = Samuel| year = 1957| title= Victory in Papua| publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]]| location = Washington, D.C.| url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/005/5-4/CMH_Pub_5-4.pdf| access-date = 9 July 2012|lccn=56-60004| oclc = 220484034|page=22))</ref> However, he preferred to use the title Commander-in-Chief. During the [[Allied occupation of Japan]] following the war, MacArthur held the title of [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers]] (SCAP). The [[Pacific Ocean Areas]] (POA), divided into the Central Pacific Area, the North Pacific Area and the South Pacific Area,<ref name="p&n">Potter & Nimitz (1960).</ref>((rp|652–653)) were commanded by Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]], Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Areas.

Although not bearing any official title of Supreme Allied Commander, the commanders of the [[1st Belorussian Front|1st Belorussian]], [[1st Ukrainian Front|1st]], [[2nd Ukrainian Front|2nd]], [[3rd Ukrainian Front|3rd]] and [[4th Ukrainian Front|4th Ukrainian Fronts]] of the Soviet [[Red Army]] - [[Georgy Zhukov|Zhukov]], [[Konstantin Rokossovsky|Rokossovsky]], [[Ivan Konev|Konev]], [[Rodion Malinovsky|Malinovsky]], [[Fyodor Tolbukhin|Tolbukhin]], [[Vasily Sokolovsky|Sokolovsky]], [[Andrei Yeremenko|Yeremenko]], [[Ivan Yefimovich Petrov|Petrov]], [[Nikolai Vatutin|Vatutin]], etc. - acted in de facto capacity of Supreme Allied Commanders in that units of foreign Allied armies were incorporated into the fronts' order of battle and fought against the European [[Axis powers]] under their command during the [[Great Patriotic War]]: The [[Polish Armed Forces in the East]], [[1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in the Soviet Union|1st Czechoslovak Army Corps]], French [[Normandie-Niemen]] Fighter Regiment and Romanian [[Tudor Vladimirescu Division]] from 1943 onwards, then from 1944 onwards until the end of the war the [[Romanian Army]], [[Bulgarian Army]] and [[Yugoslav National Liberation Army]].

After the end of the Soviet Union's European theater of World War II, during the [[Soviet-Japanese War]], the commanders of the Red Army's [[Far Eastern Front|1st]] and [[2nd Far Eastern Front|2nd Far Eastern fronts]] and [[Transbaikal Front]] - [[Aleksandr Vasilevsky|Vasilevsky]] (in overall command of all three fronts), Malinovsky, [[Kirill Meretskov|Meretskov]] and [[Maksim Purkayev|Purkayev]] - once again acted in de facto capacity of Supreme Allied Commanders as the [[Mongolian People's Army]] and partisans of the Chinese [[Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army]] and [[Korean People's Army|Korean People's Revolutionary Army]] were incorporated into their order of battle for the liberation of [[Mengjiang|Northern China]], [[Manchukuo|Northeastern China]] and northern [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]] from Japanese imperialist occupation.

==Cold War-era to present-day titles==
((Main|Supreme Allied Commander Europe|Supreme Allied Commander Transformation|Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization))
The term came into use again with the formation of [[NATO]] in 1949. In 1952, [[Allied Command Europe]] was established, led by Eisenhower. He became the ''Supreme Allied Commander'' (SACEUR). Soon afterwards, Allied Command Atlantic was established, at Norfolk, Virginia, under [[Lynde D. McCormick|Lynde McCormick]], a U.S. Navy admiral. His title was ''[[Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic]]'' (SACLANT), and the entire command was usually known as SACLANT. Both Supreme Commanders have, until 2009, been American, with a deputy commander from another NATO member, though only British and Germans have held the post.

Responding to the establishment of NATO, the [[Warsaw Pact]] was established in 1955 along with their own posts of [[Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization|United Armed Forces Supreme Commander]] and [[Chief of Combined Staff of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization|Chief of Combined Staff]]. Until the disbandment of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, both posts had always been held by a [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]] or [[Army General (Soviet rank)|Army General]] due to their expertise in commanding and coordinating forces of enormous sizes in the [[Soviet Armed Forces]].

In June 2003, the commands were reshuffled. One command was given responsibility for operations, and one for transforming the military components of the alliance to meet new challenges. In Europe, Allied Command Operations was established from the former Allied Command Europe, and given responsibility for all NATO military operations worldwide. However, for legal reasons,((explain|date=October 2017)) SACEUR retained the traditional title including Europe.<ref name=PedlowNATO>Pedlow, [http://www.aco.nato.int/resources/21/Evolution%20of%20NATO%20Cmd%20Structure%201951-2009.pdf Evolution of NATO's Command Structure 1951-2009].</ref> In the United States, SACLANT was decommissioned and [[Allied Command Transformation]] established. The headquarters of ACT is at the former SACLANT headquarters in [[Norfolk, Virginia]], USA. Each has a Supreme Allied Commander as its commander.

* [[Allied Command Operations]] (ACO) has its headquarters at [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe]] (SHAPE), at [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]], [[Belgium]]. It is headed by the '''[[Supreme Allied Commander Europe]]''' (SACEUR), a U.S. four-star general or admiral also heading [[United States European Command|U.S. European Command]]. The current Commander is General [[Christopher G. Cavoli]] ([[United States Army|Army]]), who succeeded General [[Tod Wolters]] ([[United States Air Force|Air Force]]).
* [[Allied Command Transformation]] (ACT) is located in [[Norfolk, Virginia]], USA. It is headed by the '''[[Supreme Allied Commander Transformation]]''' (SACT), a four-star general or admiral. General [[Stéphane Abrial]], the commander from 2009 until 2012, was the first non-American to hold a supreme commander role within NATO. Since then this position has been held by a [[French Air Force]] officer. The commander of the organization is currently General [[Philippe Lavigne]].<ref>((cite web| url = http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/who_is_who.htm| title = NATO - Who's who?)) </ref>

==See also==
*[[Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force]]
*[[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe]]

==References==
((Reflist|30em))

==External links==
*[http://www.shape.nato.int ACO/SHAPE homepage]
*[http://www.act.nato.int ACT homepage]

((Highest Military Ranks))
((Star officer ranks))

[[Category:Allied commands of World War II]]
[[Category:Positions of authority]]
[[Category:NATO Supreme Allied Commanders|*]]

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