Tehran conference
By Nick Turner
Description
The Tehran conference took place a few days after the Cairo conference and was held in Tehran Iran from November 28 to December 1. The reason for the two separate conferences was that Russia didn't want to hurt the terms of the Russian-Japanese neutrality by meeting with the Chinese president; however, it was necessary for Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, to meet with the allied powers of the United States and Great Britain in order to discuss the creation of a new front against Nazi Germany.
Significance
The Tehran conference was essential for the allied powers in coming together to open up the western front on Nazi Germany. The new front is what allowed the allies to pressure the Nazis in two separate areas, forcing hitler to spread his troops rather than reinforcing one area. However this agreement came at a price, in order to get Stalin to agree to help detour enemy forces Britain and America had to give Russia full control over Eastern Europe post-war. Thus operation overload, the storming of northern France to attack the western front, was formed and to be carried through before may of 1944.
Bibliography
- Best, Geoffrey. Churchill: A Study in Greatness. London: Hambledon and London, 2001.
- Feis, Herbert. Churchill-Roosevelt-Stalin (Princeton U.P. 1967), pp. 191–279
- Mayle, Paul D. Eureka Summit: Agreement in Principle & the Big Three at Tehran, 1943 (1987, U of Delaware Press) 210p.