Question

What dangers do you think Churchill foresaw that encouraged him to support a second front against europe's soft underbelly rather than solely an invasion of france as the initial relief for soviet troops?

Answer 1

Churchill saw the danger of getting expelled from Europe by the Nazi Army, as it happened years before after the Battle of Dunkirk.

The Allies were dominant in Northern Africa, and had military bases in Malta. Churchill thought that the Italian army was poorly equipped and trained, and thought that it was the most vulnerable point of the Axis. He referred to Italy as the "soft underbelly" of the Axis because of that.