Washington Conference (1942)

The Second Washington Conference (19 June – 25 June 1942), did not have a code name because it was hastily called and was regarded at the time as a set of military staff conversations rather than a formal conference. Foreign Relations of the Untied States. Conferences at Washington 1241-1942 and Casablanca 1943 [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Dip/FRUS41/FRUS41-Intro.html Introduction: Scope of Coverage] p. xiii] The two delegations were lead by Winston Churchill the British Prime Minister and the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Immediately before the Conference started, Roosevelt held preparatory talks with Churchill at in his home town of Hyde Park, New York on 19 June and 20 June.Staff. [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/34911.htm Visits to the U.S. by Foreign Heads of State and Government--1940-1944] , United States Department of State]

The conference discussed how the Western Allies could best aid the Soviet Union. The Americans were keen to open up a Second Front in France, but the British did not think that it was yet a feasible option and Churchill proposed an developing a joint campaign in the Mediterranean Theater leading to an attack Italy as the "soft under-belly" of the Axis. Agreement was reached to start preparations for an invasion of the North African Colonies of Vichy France (See Operation Torch). [staff. Campaign Summaries of World War II [http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsNormandy.htm Normandy Landings, Operation "OVERLORD" 6th June 1944] , [http://www.naval-history.net NAVAL-HISTORY.NET] Section "June 42". Accessed 1 July 2008] One of the first concrete measures taken by Roosevelt to facilitate this strategy was to appoint General Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Forces in the European Theater of Operations on 25 June.

Roosevelt and Churchill also held discussions with members of the Pacific War Council, King Peter II of Yugoslavia and his Foreign Minister, and with Soviet and Chinese representatives with whom they discuss strategic problems. Foreign Relations of the Untied States. Conferences at Washington 1241-1942 and Casablanca 1943 [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Dip/FRUS41/FRUS41-Intro.html Introduction: Scope of Coverage] pp. xiii,xiv]

ee also

* Washington Conference
* List of World War II conferences

References

External links

* [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?id=FRUS.FRUS194143 Proceedings of the Conference in the "Foreign Relations of the United States"]