162 TURNING THE TIDE 1943 –194 4
△ Tehran conference
Allied leaders Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill were all present at a conference in November
1943, held in the USSR's legation in Tehran. The leaders reached agreement over the invasion
of occupied France and discussed the division of Germany.The Allies faced conflicting priorities. At a
summit in Moscow in September 1941, they
discussed the distribution of Lend-Lease
Aid, the US scheme to help their allies by
giving military supplies and raw materials
on credit (see pp.70–71). This was followed
in January 1943 by a conference in Morocco,
attended by British prime minister Winston
Churchill and US president Franklin D.
Roosevelt. The two leaders decided on
a combined bomber offensive against
Germany, and on the policy of Germany’s
unconditional surrender. They also agreed a
“Mediterranean First” strategy, prioritizing
the defeat of Axis forces in North Africa and
Italy over opening a new front in France.Cairo and Tehran
In November 1943, the Allies met in Cairo and Tehran. In Cairo,
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek discussed
strategies for the defeat of Japan, agreeing that an offensive against the
Japanese in China took priority over recapturing Malaysia. In Tehran,
Stalin joined the Allied leaders to discuss Poland, Japan, and more.SUMMIT
CONFERENCES
The global alliance that emerged in 1941 to oppose the
Axis powers needed to make difficult strategic decisions.
As a result, a series of summit meetings were arranged
in 1943 to coordinate a joint Allied approach.
△ Soviet anti-German poster
The shared goal of beating
Germany encouraged Soviet
collaboration with other powers.US_162-163_F_Summit_conferences.indd 162 04/03/19 10:47 AM