Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, chairman Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime Minister Winston Churchill sit together during the Tehran Conference in Tehran, Iran. | AP Photo


On this particular day in 1942, Soviet Premier Josef Stalin sent a memorandum to British element Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushing them come reverse their decision no to launch very early invasion that German-occupied west Europe.

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In his memo, Stalin, whose beleaguered Russian armies had been contending with a German invasion for much more than a year, seek to admire upon the Americans and also the brother the necessity of relieving the push on Russia’s western front.


On the complying with day, Churchill sent a “most secret” cable come Stalin that check out in part: “ strike with 6 or 8 Anglo-American departments on the Cherbourg Peninsula and the Channel Islands would be a hazardous and also futile operation.

“The Germans have sufficient troops in the West come block united state in this small peninsula with strengthened lines, and also would concentration all your air forces in the West top top it. In the opinion of every the british naval, military and air authorities the operation might only finish in disaster.

“Even if the lodgment to be made, it would not lug a single division back from Russia. It would also be far much more a running sore for us than for the enemy, and also would use up wastefully and wantonly the crucial men and also the landing craft required for real activity in 1943. This is our resolved view.”

Churchill break up by telling Stalin: “We reaffirm our fix to help our Russian allies by every practicable means.”

The Anglo-American plan, which was executed in the wake up of a summit conference between FDR and also Churchill in Casablanca, dubbed for kicking the Germans out of Africa and then knocking Italy, which had actually initially cast its lot v the Germans, the end of the war.

The alliance between the united States, great Britain and also the Soviet Union started to unravel quickly after the German risk was vanquished in might 1945. Indications that the depth that the tensions in between the allies had surfaced in February of that year at the black color Sea resort of Yalta, wherein Churchill, Stalin, and also Roosevelt met to setup the last defeat and occupation the Nazi Germany, which to be to be sculpted up into four occupation zones.


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Also top top the agenda in ~ Yalta to be the concern of how to deal with the defeated or liberated countries of east Europe, specifically Poland, i beg your pardon had created a government-in-exile in London the Moscow shunned.

Roosevelt was later on criticized for failing to have actually taken a more decisive stance at Yalta to stop Stalin indigenous seizing and holding ~ above to large swaths the pre-war east Germany and East Prussia. These lands were turned end to a pro-Soviet federal government to Poland come compensate the Poles for Stalin’s decision come annex much of pre-war east Poland and to connect it to the Soviet Union.

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SOURCE: MEMO indigenous STALIN, AIDE MEMOIRE IN RUSSIAN, AMERICAN prizes OF THE U.S. LIBRARY the CONGRESS. MANUSCRIPT DIVISION.