Joint History Office (U.S.)
Published: 2017-09-15
Total Pages: 267
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The Terminal Conference (also known as the Potsdam Conference) marked the final meeting of the Allied leaders during World War II. Held in Potsdam, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945, the conference was notable for several reasons. First, Germany had unconditionally surrendered on May 8, allowing the Allies to devote the majority of Terminal’s planning to the war against Japan. Second, two members of the original Big Three would not attend the conference in its entirety. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had passed away on April 12, and his role at the meeting was filled by his successor Harry S. Truman. Winston S. Churchill, the British prime minister, was only present for the first part of the conference; he was replaced on July 26 by the newly elected Clement R. Attlee. Of the original Big Three leaders, only Soviet premier Joseph Stalin attended all of the meetings at Potsdam. Focusing almost exclusively on the Pacific campaign, the Allied leaders and the Combined Chiefs of Staff discussed numerous topics related to the war against Japan. Primary among these was the unconditional surrender of Japan at the earliest possible date; this was the overall objective in the Asian theater. Terminal was one in a series of high-level conferences held by the US and British leaders in Washington, DC; Casablanca; Quebec; Cairo; Tehran; Malta; Yalta; and Potsdam to formulate the Allied grand strategy. At the Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam conferences, the Soviet leader Stalin was also in attendance and played an important role. ISBN:9780160939235 (Mobi) and ISBN: 9780160939327 (PDF) formats are also available for this title. and are included within the WWII Inter-Allied Conferences series, Other eBook resources in this digital-only series are the following: Arcadia Conference (Washington, DC), December 24, 1941–January 14, 1942: ISBN 9780160938870 (Mobi); ISBN 9780160938863 (ePub); ISBN 9780160938887 (PDF) Post-Arcadia Conference (Washington, DC), January 23–May 19, 1942: ISBN 9780160938900 (Mobi); ISBN 9780160938894 (ePub); ISBN 9780160938917 (PDF) Casablanca Conference (Morocco), January 14–24, 1943: ISBN 9780160938931 (Mobi); ISBN 9780160938924 (ePub); ISBN 9780160938948 (PDF) Trident Conference (Washington, DC), May 12–25, 1943: ISBN 9780160938795 (Mobi); ISBN 9780160938788 (ePub); ISBN 9780160938801 (PDF) Quadrant Conference (Quebec City, Canada), August 14–24, 1943: ISBN 9780160938825 (Mobi); ISBN 9780160938818 (ePub); ISBN 9780160938832 (PDF) Sextant Conference (Cairo, Egypt), Eureka Conference (Tehran, Iran), and the Second Cairo Conference (Egypt), November 22–December 7, 1943: ISBN 9780160938856 (Mobi); ISBN 9780160938849 (ePub); ISBN 978016093926-6 (PDF) Octagon Conference (Quebec City, Canada), September 12–16, 1944: ISBN 9780160939259 (Mobi); ISBN 9780160939273 (ePub); ISBN 9780160939280 (PDF) Argonaut Conference (Malta and Yalta, Soviet Union), January 30–February 11, 1945: ISBN 9780160939303 (Mobi); ISBN 9780160939297 (ePub); ISBN 9780160939242 (PDF)