,
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Winston Churchill, and the
Earl of Athloneat
La Citadelle in
Quebec City Although Churchill suggested that Mackenzie King be involved in all discussions, Roosevelt vetoed the idea owing to concern that future conferences would be burdened by all of the Allied nations demanding seats. As a result, Mackenzie King's hospitality was almost purely for ceremonial purposes.
Joseph Stalin, leader of the
Soviet Union, had been invited to join the conference, but he did not attend for military reasons. The
Allies agreed to begin discussions for the planning of the
invasion of France, codenamed
Operation Overlord, in a secret report by the
Combined Chiefs of Staff. It was agreed that Overlord would commence on May 1, 1944, but this was subsequently disregarded, and a later date was finalised. However, Overlord was not the only option; for example,
Operation Jupiter remained a strong possibility had the Germans proved too powerful on the French coast. In the
Mediterranean (a
theatre on which Churchill was very keen) they resolved to concentrate more force to remove
Italy from the alliance of
Axis powers and to occupy it along with
Corsica. Churchill and Roosevelt made it clear that they would only accept unconditional surrender from Italy, with a complete and immediate cessation of fighting. News came through of the
fall of Sicily to Allied forces, an invasion that had taken just 38 days. It was then decided that an
invasion of Italy would begin on September 3, 1943. However, an
armistice was signed that same day, which officially put Italy out of the war. There were discussions about improving the co-ordination of efforts by the Americans, British, and Canadians to
develop an
atomic bomb. Churchill and Roosevelt, without Canadian input, signed the
Quebec Agreement, stating that the nuclear technology would never be used against one another, that they would not use it against third parties without the consent of one another, but also that
Tube Alloys would not be discussed with third parties. Canada, although not being represented at the particular meeting, played a key role in this agreement as it was a major source of uranium and heavy water, both essential in the atomic bomb. It was decided that operations in the
Balkans should be limited to supplying
guerrillas, whereas operations against
Japan would be intensified in order to exhaust Japanese resources, cut their communications lines, and secure forward bases from which the Japanese mainland could be attacked. In addition to the strategic discussions, which were communicated to the Soviet Union and to
Chiang Kai-shek in
China, the conference also issued a joint statement on
Palestine, intended to calm tensions as the British
occupation was becoming increasingly untenable. The conference also condemned German atrocities in
Poland. In the
Pacific theatre, the conference decided to bypass and isolate
Rabaul rather than proceed with the original plan of taking Rabaul. This decision fulfilled General
Douglas MacArthur's plan to
neutralise the heavily fortified fortress of Rabaul in
New Britain. MacArthur's
Operation Cartwheel led to the creation of a
de facto prisoner-of-war camp of over 100,000 Japanese troops who were cut off from the rest of their forces. In parallel with the military discussions, U.S. Secretary of State
Cordell Hull held a private meeting with British Foreign Secretary
Anthony Eden, where both expressed opposition to the forcible dismemberment of Germany, favouring a more restrained postwar settlement. It was clear that eliminating Italy from the war was the Allies' main priority; this was expected to be done by the end of 1943. Following this, the next hope was that Germany would be defeated by the fall of 1944, which would leave just Japan remaining among the Axis powers. Following the conference, Churchill was on holiday at a fishing camp and then, on August 31, 1943, delivered a radio address before travelling by a special train that was going to Washington, D.C., to resume talks with Roosevelt. ==Gallery==