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Tehran conference definition context resolutions Consequences

Tehran Conference

Meeting held by the main allied leaders during World War II. In this article we will provide you the definition of  Tehran conference.

The Tehran Conference was a meeting held by the main Allied leaders in late 1943, during World War II .

This took place between November 28 and December 1, and it was attended by the so-called “Big Three”, that is, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin .

The objective of the summit was to coordinate the war plans of the allies, at a time when almost all the burden of operations against the Axis powers fell on the Soviet Union . For this reason, the main topic of debate centered on the opening of a second war front in Western Europe , to force Nazi Germany to divide its forces.

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Historical context of the Tehran Conference

The Tehran Conference was the continuation of a series of meetings between the leaders of the Allies that began with the Moscow Conference in August 1942 and continued with the Casablanca Conference in January 1943.

Before traveling to Tehran, Roosevelt and Churchill met in Cairo, Egypt, with Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the ROC. Although the objective of the conference was to agree on the position of the Allies towards Japan, Churchill wanted to take the opportunity to agree with Roosevelt on a common position in the face of what he assumed would be Stalin’s demands. However, Roosevelt was elusive and did not want to debate on that subject.

After the Cairo Conference ended , on November 26, Churchill and Roosevelt traveled together to Iran. By the time the Tehran Conference began, Axis forces were occupying much of Europe, but after the Battle of Kursk and the Allied occupation of Sicily (July-August 1943) they had begun to retreat, both in Italy and in the Soviet Union.

Stalin demanded from Churchill and Roosevelt that the western allies invade France in order to open a new war front and force Germany to divide its forces. In this way the German pressure on the eastern front would be relieved.

Resolutions of the Tehran Conference

The main resolutions of the Tehran Conference were as follows:

  • Poland would be displaced to the west, yielding to the Soviet Union the territories it had occupied after the signing of the German-Soviet non-aggression treaty of August 1939. It would be compensated with territories seized from Germany, located east of the Oder River.
  • The Yugoslav partisans, led by Marshal Josip Tito, were to receive supplies and military equipment and would be supported by organizing commando operations and aerial bombardments on German positions.
  • The Western Allies would launch “Operation Overlord” (the Normandy landings) in May 1944, at the same time as a diversionary attack would be carried out in southern France. In parallel, the Soviet Union would unleash an offensive on the eastern front to prevent Germany from moving troops from the east to the west.
  • The military staffs of the 3 great allied powers should remain in close contact from then on, to ensure the effectiveness of the opening of a new front in Western Europe.
  • Turkey would be pressured to have its government declare war on Germany.
  • The Soviet Union promised to declare war on Bulgaria, if it attacked Turkey, and Japan, after the defeat of Germany had been consummated.
  • The allies recognized Iran’s role in the war, guaranteed its independence and territorial integrity, and agreed to provide financial assistance to its government.
  • Talks began to establish an international organization to replace the League of Nations, discredited for failing to prevent the outbreak of World War II.

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Consequences

The main consequences of the Tehran Conference were the following:

  • Collaboration between the allies was consolidated , and thereafter closely coordinated their military actions to bring about the defeat of the Axis forces and thus accelerate the end of the Second World War. In this sense, both the Tehran Conference and its successor, the Yalta Conference, are considered the greatest exponents of collaboration between the allies during the war.
  • Preparations were launched for the landing of the Western Allies in Normandy . This landing would involve forces from the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Free France.
  • The Soviet Union secured the dominion of the territories located to the east of the Curzon Line , that is to say of all the regions of Poland that it had occupied in 1939.
  • The government of Iran, led by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlaví, was strengthened by the support of the Big Three.
  • The foundations were created for the constitution of a new international organization, the United Nations .

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