Tehran Conference

Tehran Conference: WW2

The Tehran Conference in late 1943 focused on key strategic objectives in securing victory against Germany in Europe and Japan in the Asia-Pacific region. The conference also sketched out the postwar global order.

Background

The Second World War began in Europe in September 1939. In Asia, Japan attacked China's Manchuria in 1931, and by 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War began.

Grand Alliance

The Grand Alliance, or the Big Three, comprised the Soviet Union, the United States, and Britain. These three countries led the war effort and other Allies, including Canada, China, Australia, and New Zealand, to victory. The Allies fought against the Axis Powers.

• Germany, Italy, and Japan led the Axis Powers. They were supported by smaller states, such as Finland, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania.

The United States remained neutral in the Second World War until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, entering the war the next day. Since 1941, the Americans supplied Britain and the Soviet Union through Lend-Lease with military equipment, food, and oil.

Fig. 3 - Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill at the Tehran Conference, 1943.

Allied Conferences during the Second World War

There were three conferences at which all three leaders of the Big Three were present:

• Tehran (Iran), November 28-December 1, 1943;
• Yalta (Soviet Union), February 4-11, 1945;
• Potsdam (Germany), between July 17-August 2, 1945.

The Tehran Conference was the first such meeting. Other meetings, for instance, the Casablanca Conference (January 14, 1943-January 24, 1943) in Morocco, only involved Roosevelt and Churchill because Stalin was unable to attend.

Fig. 4 - Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, February 1945, Yalta, Soviet Union.

Each major conference focused on critical strategic goals relevant at the given time. For example, the Potsdam Conference (1945) ironed out the details of Japan's surrender.

Tehran Conference: Agreements

Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union), Franklin D. Roosevelt (U.S.), and Winston Churchill (Britain) arrived at four essential decisions:

Fig. 5 - A sketch by Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United Nations structure, Tehran Conference, November 30, 1943.

Tehran Conference: Significance

The significance of the Tehran Conference lay in its success. This was the first Allied World War II conference that featured the Big Three. The Allies represented different ideologies: colonial Britain; the liberal-democratic United States; and the socialist (Communist) Soviet Union. Despite ideological disagreements, the Allies met their strategic objectives, the most important of which was launching a second front in Europe.

Normandy Landings

Operation Overlord, also known as Normandy Landings or D-Day, began on June 6, 1944. This large-scale amphibious offensive in northern France launched a second front in Europe to help the Soviet Red Army fighting alone in the east since 1941. The campaign was led by the United States, Britain, and Canada.

Fig. 6 - American troops are moving inland toward Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, northwestern France, Operation Overlord, June 7, 1944.

Despite the dangers of such a landing, Overlord turned out to be successful. The American troops met the Red Army on April 25, 1945—Elbe Day—in Torgau, Germany. Ultimately, the Allies secured victory over Nazi Germany on May 8-9, 1945.

Fig. 7 - Elbe Day, April 1945, the American and Soviet troops linked up near Torgau, Germany.

Soviet War against Japan

As agreed upon at the Tehran Conference, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945: the day after the U.S. nuclear strike on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. These devastating new weapons and the Red Army offensive in Manchuria (China), Korea, and the Kuril Islands secured victory in the Asia-Pacific region. The Red Army—now free from the European theater—made the already failing Japanese retreat. Japan formally signed the surrender on September 2, 1945.

Fig. 8 - Soviet and American sailors celebrate Japan's surrender, Alaska, August 1945.

Tehran Conference: Outcome

The Tehran Conference was generally successful and met its objectives of opening the second front in Europe, the Soviet war against Japan, and forming the United Nations. The Allies went on to have two more Big Three conferences: Yalta and Potsdam. All three conferences secured victory in World War II.