A corner of the Casablanca Conference

During World War II, when the Battle of Stalingrad was about to end, the US PresidentRooseveltWith the British Prime Ministerby ChurchillSecret talks were held between 14 and 23 January 1943 in Casablanca, in the newly liberated French Morocco.by De GaulleGeneral and H.-H.GirauThe general also attended the meeting.

Roosevelt had tried for months to invite Stalin to the meeting, but the Soviet chief refused. His position was relatively simple, and the U.S. and British armies had to have some sign that they really wanted to fight the German ground forces, rather than let the Russian armies be completely in front of the battle. There was a doubt inside the Soviet Union that someone wanted Germany and Russia to kill each other so that capitalist nations could rule Europe. In short, the only way to solve the huge losses of the Russian armies was to open a second battlefield in Europe. In Stalin¡¯s view, a new meeting was a bit superfluous.

Although Roosevelt was disappointed that Marshal Stalin did not participate in the talks, the meeting agreed on a number of plans to guide the war. Some of the plans were compromised between the U.S. and British military plans. For example, British staff were shocked by the U.S. Navy's demand to emphasize the Pacific battlefield despite Europe's central battlefield, resulting in agreement to let Japanese operations in the Pacific battlefield go beyond the level of complete defense. U.S. Army generals were firmly opposed to the British strategy of delaying operations in the "Hegemony", but acknowledged the need to strengthen transport forces to come to a powerful anti-submarine battlefield before launching an attack on the English Strait.

The major military decision made at the Casablanca conference was to unanimously agree to invade Sicily as the first step to defeat Italy. The British General Staff successfully argued that this strategy would use the Mediterranean route that could be opened by North Africa's victory to launch a bipartisan operation against Hitler's comrade Mussolini. The assault launched with Africa as a convenient springboard would hit the biggest weaknesses of the Axis country. The possible consequence was that the Mediterranean neutral Turkey could join the war against Germany, and some pressure on the German Eastern Front would also be shifted. At the same time, in order to attack the European mainland, the Allied forces would continue to gather in Britain and gradually increase supply to Russia.

On the last day of the meeting, President Roosevelt made some explosive remarks, telling reporters that the three axis countries (Germany) had to ¡°abdicate unconditionally¡± and that the allies would not tolerate higher terms than this. He also spoke to Churchill occasionally a few days ago, and the British leader quickly awoke from shock and promised wholeheartedly.