Teheran Conference
The Teheran Conference, held from November 28 to December 1, 1943, marked a pivotal moment in World War II, as the leaders of the Allied powers—President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union—gathered in Iran to discuss military strategies against Nazi Germany. A key outcome of the conference was the agreement to launch Operation Overlord, which aimed to open a second front in Europe by invading France, thereby relieving pressure on Soviet forces engaged on the eastern front. The leaders set a target date for the invasion around late May or early June 1944, adjusting earlier timelines based on the pressing need for a coordinated military effort.
In addition to the primary focus on the European front, discussions included the possibility of a secondary invasion of southern France and the reopening of Mediterranean routes, particularly to support the Soviet Union. The conference also addressed postwar intentions regarding Iran, with assurances given to respect its sovereignty amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions in the region. Despite these discussions, the realities of postwar politics and influence were complex, highlighted by tensions over Soviet presence in Iran that persisted even after the war. The Teheran Conference thus stands as a significant event that shaped not only military strategy but also the political landscape of the postwar world.
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Teheran Conference
The Teheran Conference
The Allied decision to carry out Operation Overlord, thus opening a second front in western Europe during World War II, was made at the Teheran Conference from November 28 to December 1, 1943. At this historic conference of the Big Three heads of state-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain, and Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union-they met at Teheran, the capital of Iran.
During previous conferences, Roosevelt and Churchill had discussed the idea of launching an invasion from Great Britain across the English Channel into northern France. Such a move, long urged by Stalin, was expected to put considerable additional pressure on Nazi Germany, which was already fighting along an extended eastern front ever since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The American and British plan would necessitate the diversion of German troops not only from that sector, but probably also from Italy where Allied forces were trying to advance northward after their invasion of Sicily.
When Roosevelt and Churchill met in mid-January 1943 at Casablanca, Morocco, they agreed that they would not be militarily prepared to open a second front that year. By the time of their next meeting in Washington, D.C., in May 1943, Roosevelt and his American advisers were eager to formulate plans for a cross -Channel invasion of France the following spring. Agreement was reached on a target date of May 1, 1944. Plans for Operation Overlord, which had been prepared by a joint Anglo-American staff, were considered by the Roosevelt and Churchill at a conference in Quebec, Canada, in August 1943. Despite differences of opinion, the importance of the cross-Channel invasion and the target date were reaffirmed.
At a meeting in Cairo, Egypt, in November 1943 that immediately preceded the Teheran Conference, Churchill had proposed delaying Overlord until about July 1, 1944 in order to concentrate more forces in Italy and the Mediterranean. The proposition made the Americans dubious about the expansion of Mediterranean involvements.
Stalin was joined in Teheran by Roosevelt and Churchill on November 28, 1943, and his insistence that the principal emphasis of the European war in 1944 should be a second front strongly influenced the final decision. A new target date of late May or early June 1944 was set. For some time the sorely pressed Russians had been insistent, contending that because of the lack of another major front their troops were virtually the only ones engaging the German military in Europe. During the Teheran Conference, Stalin also endorsed a plan for an invasion of southern France, to which the other leaders agreed. Churchill was particularly eager to reopen the Mediterranean Sea routes to the Soviet Union through the Dardanelles straits, which were controlled by neutral Turkey. He obtained from Stalin a promise to support Turkey if the latter could be induced to enter the war on the side of the Allies.
On June 6, 1944, the second front was opened as Allied forces crossed the English Channel to land on the beaches of Normandy in northern France . The proposed assault on southern France was postponed, however, in order to not take men and equipment from the offensive then under way in Italy. The southern invasion was actually begun on August 15, 1944, by a combined American and French army. As for British hopes concerning Turkey, they were dashed by what were considered outrageously large Turkish demands for military aid in return for the abandonment of neutrality.
The conferees at Teheran also discussed postwar plans. Formal assurances was given to their host country, Iran, of their respect for its “independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity” even though Great Britain and the Soviet Union had been vying for spheres of influence in the area. The two countries had occupied Iran in August 1941 to prevent its possible takeover by Germany and to provide a route for the shipment of supplies from the Allies to the Soviet Union. In 1943 Iran protested that the Soviets had isolated the area that they were occupying, preventing contact between it and the rest of the country. The Teheran agreement ostensibly rectified the situation, but in reality it did not. After the end of World War II, in 1945 an allegedly Soviet -influenced rebellion broke out in the region. Not until a number of international protests had been lodged did the Soviet Union withdraw its troops from Iran in 1946.