The Big Three Conferences
of WWII
Purposes and Results…
Purpose of the Meetings
• Civilian leaders of the Allies meet to discuss
“grand strategy” for the war.
• A time to “size up” each other and the
intentions of each country going forward.
• An opportunity to further your specific goals
by making them part of the overall strategy of
the alliance.
• To plan the post war world and how it will be
contolled.
Major “Big 3” Meetings
• Teheran (1943) held in the capital of Iran
close to the Soviet border.
• Yalta (Feb. 1945) held in the Soviet Union.
• Potsdam (July 1945) held in a suburb of Berlin.
Teheran
• First opportunity for the
three leaders to meet
“face to face”
• Churchill and FDR have
met numerous times
adding fuel to Stalin’s
fear of collusion
between the western
leaders.
Results of Teheran
• Allied leaders agree to a ‘second front’ in
Europe by the spring of 1944.
• Stalin meets with FDR and gets his assurance
of a ‘cross channel’ invasion in 1944.
• Stalin needs to have pressure taken off the
eastern front as soon as possible.
Yalta Conference
• Big 3 meet in Stalin’s
Soviet Union to discuss
the final defeat of
Germany.
• Maps that indicate the
areas of Allied control
are drawn up.
• Soviets gain E. Europe
• Germany will be divided
• Berlin will be divided
A failing FDR at Yalta
The Division of Europe
Potsdam Conference
• Allies meet in a suburb
of Berlin to finalize the
division of Europe
• Discuss the surrender of
Japan
• A shake up of the Big 3
• Growing mistrust
amongst the Allies
• Truman’s secret…
Results of the Conferences
• Allies made strategic plans for the defeat of
the Axis.
• The “seeds of the Cold War” were planted at
Yalta.
• The division of Europe agreed upon at Yalta
and Potsdam would remain for decades…
• Opened the door to the atomic age.
• Ushered in an era of tension between the
‘superpowers’.
Hiroshima
Nagasaki