The Important WW2 Conferences

              Most people remember the general idea of the world war ii conferences, but not what each one did specifically.  Here is a quick review of the most important pre war (and post war) conferences to remember because the decisions made had a profound impact on post war Europe.

Atlantic Conference (August 1941): This conference created the Atlantic Charter Document that stated the peace aims of Churchill and Roosevelt.  It would later serve as the foundation for the United Nations.  Ironically, the US didn't join the UN until 1945, under Harry Truman.

Casablanca (Jan 1943): The Casablanca conference hosted the first meeting of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.  Churchill, Roosevelt, and the then-French-leader, Charles Degaull agreed on an unconditional surrender from the axis powers.  It is important to understand the motives for Churchill to demand an unconditional surrender.  England had been fighting the war for many years before the US entered, and he realized after years of fighting that appeasement would by no means a way end the war.  At Casablanca, the powers also planned the Italian Campaign to defeat Mussolini, who they feared would soon be as dangerous as Hitler.

Tehran (Nov 1943): The Big 3 meet for the first time and try to plan the final stages of their attack against the Nazis.  They also began planning "Operation Overlord" a.k.a the Battle of Normandy. Though the Big 3 had different ideals and ideas, the main goal was to create a second front against Nazi Germany.  There were also a few side agreements that didn't affect the course of the war significantly. For example, Iran was given its independence.

Yalta (Feb 1945): Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin planned the first UN conference, planned for the Soviet Union to go fight against Japan, and divided up a map of what would be post-war Europe.  Interestingly, Stalin had hastened the arrival of this conference, and requested that it take place in the USSR.  At Yalta, it was decided that Poland would be run as a communist government, and many Poles felt betrayed.

Potsdam (July 1945): At the time of Potsdam, Germany was basically defeated.  However, the war was prolonged in Japan and the United States was currently fighting a war of "island hopping" which meant the navy and the pilots would sail to the islands in the Pacific until reaching Japan.  However, they knew they couldn't sustain this, and in the summer of 1945, the three victors, Stalin, Truman, and Attlee declare their unconditional surrender on Japan.  Early in 1945 Japan was given a warning that it must surrender--or be destroyed!

However, despite the "civility" of these conferences, peace wasn't immediately achieved.  Japan refused to surrender in August of 1945, and so, the US dropped the largest bomb of all time on Hiroshima, and another extremely large bomb on Nagasaki, just 2 days later.
After WWII, the United States would not have immediate peace, but the country would be the dominant political force for many years.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/potsdam-conference
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/yalta-conf
http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/fdr/ideas/portfolio/hoag/hoag.html
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