Wartime Conferences

WWII Wartime Conferences

There were a series of three significant conferences by the Allied Powers during World War II:

• Tehran Conference
• Yalta Conference
• Potsdam Conference

The conferences were a chance for the Allied Powers, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States to meet and discuss wartime and post-war strategies.

Diplomacy And Wartime Conferences

Each nation involved in World War II had reasons for entering the war and visions of how the post-war world should look.

Diplomacy was essential for the Allied forces during World War II as the Big Three often butted heads because of differing political and economic views. The US wanted to protect democracy and capitalism, Great Britain was a large empire at the time, and the Soviet Union was a communist nation.

The conferences were when the Allied countries could make either joint decisions or compromises.

Allied Wartime Conferences

The Big Three met three times during World War II. These conferences brought the major Allied powers together to discuss wartime plans.

Tehran Conference

The Tehran Conference occurred between November 28 and December 1, 1943, with Joseph Stalin, President FDR, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in attendance. The meeting was convened in Tehran, Iran, and was the first of the three wartime conferences.

Fig 1: From left: Joseph Stalin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill pose at the Tehran Conference.

FDR, Stalin, and Churchill discussed the future of the war, including operations and strategy. One of the most critical strategic decisions to come from this meeting was the decision to launch Operation Overlord, a plan for the Allied powers to invade Northern France in May 1944 - eventually evolving into D-Day - while the Soviet Army launched an attack on the Eastern Front, distracting the German troops from that campaign in Northern France.

Another essential aspect discussed at the Tehran Conference was the war in the Pacific Theatre, mainly fought by the US. Stalin agreed to come to their aid in the Pacific, but only after Germany was defeated. In exchange for military support, Stalin negotiated with the US and Great Britain a deal in which the Soviet Union got to keep the territory gained during the war in Eastern Europe, like in the Baltic States, Finland, and Romania. The US allowed Stalin to keep the land; however, they violated the Atlantic Charter.

In terms of diplomatic matters, the Big Three arranged the fate of Iran–occupied by both British and Soviet forces at that point. Iran was to be independent.

The Yalta Conference

The Yalta Conference took place in the town of Yalta, located in the Crimean Peninsula, between February 4 through 11, 1945, and was the second Allied Wartime Conference. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the Soviet Union Premier Joseph Stalin attended the conference.

The Allied position was seemingly headed toward a decisive European victory in the war. However, fighting in the Pacific still raged, especially between the Japanese and American forces. The Allied powers used the Yalta Conference to plan their next moves, including convincing the Soviet Union to join the fight.

Fig 2. Joseph Stalin and Franklin Roosevelt conversing at the Yalta Conference.

The Soviet Union agreed to join the fight in exchange for a sphere of influence in Manchuria, giving them power and a communist ally in that region. Many would later criticize President Roosevelt for not getting enough in return.

Their primary task was figuring out how to defeat Nazi Germany and what the country and Europe would look like after the war. Stalin agreed to sign the Declaration of Liberated Europe at Yalta, which stated that the lands liberated from Germany would install democratic governments. It was at the Yalta Conference that Stalin agreed to join the United Nations.

They also agreed to a clause that would force Germany to pay heavy postwar reparations–a large amount of which would go to the Soviet Union. They also planned to put Germany into occupation zones, one for each Allied country, and decided Germany would undergo denazification.

This was the last wartime conference attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He died on April 12, 1945. The subsequent meeting, Potsdam, was attended by President Harry S. Truman.

The Potsdam Conference

Potsdam held on July 17 to August 2, 1945, was the last of the three Wartime Conferences. Germany surrendered earlier that year, on May 7, 1945.

By this time, the lineup of the Big Three had changed; President Truman was not the only newcomer. Winston Churchill had lost his reelection bid to be Prime Minister, and Clement Attlee stepped in to represent Great Britain. The conference's dynamic had changed with the additions, especially between the US and the Soviet Union. President Truman was warier of the Soviet Union than his predecessor, President Roosevelt.

The Potsdam Agreement, signed by all Allied powers on August 1, 1945, planned to demilitarize Germany and remove the Nazi party from power.

Fig 3. The round table at the Potsdam Conference.

Cold War Wartime Conferences

While the wartime conferences took place during World War II, they all influenced and shaped how the Cold War evolved. The subjects discussed at the wartime conferences transcended warfare strategy and often led to diplomatic compromises, where one country would make concessions to solidify alliances during the war.

These decisions would have lasting effects after the war. Despite the United States and the Soviet Union working together at wartime conferences, the tepid relationship turned cold after World War II ended. The Soviet Union did not keep its promises, such as those made during the Yalta Conference. The Soviet Union failed to ensure free and democratic elections in Eastern European countries such as Poland and Bulgaria.