Casablanca Conference

• 1. Conference Origins And Participants

  ›

  The Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, hosted a gathering from January 14 to 24, 1943. US President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill led their respective military staffs into the conference rooms. Joseph Stalin declined to attend because the Battle of Stalingrad required his presence in Moscow. Sultan Muhammad V of Morocco attended as the sovereign host alongside his 14-year-old son Crown Prince Moulay Hassan. General Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud represented Free French forces but played minor roles in the actual planning sessions.

• 2. Unconditional Surrender Doctrine

  ›

  Roosevelt borrowed the phrase unconditional surrender from Civil War era General Ulysses S Grant during the American Civil War. He announced this policy at a press conference on the 24th of January 1943. The declaration demanded total defeat for Germany Italy and Japan without negotiation. Historian Charles Bohlen later stated that responsibility for this doctrine rested almost exclusively with President Roosevelt. Some sources suggest Churchill was startled by the public announcement even though he had cabled his War Cabinet four days earlier. Drew Middleton reported that Churchill tried to hide his surprise while remaining an ardent lieutenant to Roosevelt.

• 3. European Theater Strategy Debates

  ›

  General George Marshall lobbied for a cross-Channel invasion of Europe throughout the conference. British Chief of Staff Sir Alan Brooke argued against immediate action across the English Channel. Brooke favored an Allied assault on Sicily followed by mainland Italy instead. The British argument centered on pulling German reserves down into Italy where poor north-south lines of communication prevented easy extraction. Delaying the cross-Channel landing meant any future invasion would face a weakened German army after months fighting the Red Army on the Eastern Front. Roosevelt eventually acceded to Churchill's approach for Europe as a compromise.

• 4. Pacific War Commitments

  ›

  Roosevelt faulted the British for what he felt was not full commitment against Japanese entrenchment during discussions. He approved a US Navy plan to advance on Japan through the central Pacific and the Philippines. This approval authorized the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific which shortened the war. Churchill pledged more troops and resources to the Pacific and Burma to reinforce positions held by Chiang Kai-shek. The United States provided assistance to the British in the Pacific by supplying escorts and landing craft.

• 5. Free French Leadership Complications

  ›

  Charles de Gaulle had to be forced to attend the meeting with a chilly reception from Roosevelt and Churchill. No French representatives were allowed to attend the military planning sessions. The conference called for official recognition of joint leadership by de Gaulle and Henri Giraud. Notable tension existed between the two men who limited interactions to formalities like pledging mutual support. Roosevelt encouraged them to shake hands for photographers but the ritual handshake was done with reluctance. Elliott Roosevelt described Franklin Roosevelt wanting the French provisional government set up with both leaders equally responsible for its composition.

• 6. Postwar Colonial And Regional Planning

  ›

  Roosevelt became the first US president to visit Africa when he stayed at Bathurst Gambia before arriving in Casablanca. The poor situation of Gambians under the British Empire increased his anti-colonialism leading him to discuss an international trusteeship system. During the Conference Roosevelt met privately with Sultan Muhammad V of Morocco about postwar independence. He also spoke with the French resident general at Rabat about Jewish immigrants in North Africa. Roosevelt proposed limiting the number of Jews engaged in professions to match their percentage of the total population.