The Grand Alliance
History: Cambridge International GCSE The Twentieth Century (Option B), topic 4.1.2
The Grand Alliance
The Grand Alliance was created in 1941 with the sole purpose of defeating Nazi Germany, and the other Axis powers including Japan.
A marriage of convenience
- It was a marriage of convenience (practical partnership) between three very different countries:
- Britain (a democracy, at war since 1939)
- The USA (a democracy, at war since December 1941)
- The Soviet Union (the USSR, a one-party communist state, at war since 1941).
Aim of the alliance
- These countries shared one core aim: to defeat Nazi Germany and its allies.
The Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference was the first meeting between the British, American and Soviet Leaders. The Tehran Conference happened in November-December 1943.
Agreements about Germany
- USA and Britain agreed to invade Nazi-occupied France (using Britain as a base for the invasion).
- The Soviet Union agreed to invade Germany from the East (from the place that is now Russia).
- This was known as opening up a ‘second front’ against the Nazis. It is notoriously harder to fight 2 wars at the same time.
Agreements about Japan
- The Soviet Union also agreed with the Americans that it would declare war against Japan. Japan had bombed the American navy at Pearl Harbour on the 7th December 1941.
Agreements for after the war
- The USA and Britain agreed that the Polish border would be moved westward.
- To fall along the Oder and Neisse rivers.
- This would give the Soviet Union more of Poland's land at the end of the war.
- An international organisation, a bit like a successor to the League of Nations would try to peacefully solve problems between countries.
- This meeting lay the foundations for the United Nations.
The leaders' views
- For Stalin, the Tehran Conference was a success:
- He would gain Polish territory after the war.
- He also achieved agreement for a second front in Western Europe
- Churchill was less pleased:
- He feared Stalin might try to expand the USSR's control into Eastern Europe after the war.
- He was uneasy that the Red Army was the only Allied force fighting the Nazis on land.
Test yourself on The Grand Alliance
In what year was the Grand Alliance created?
What years were the Grand Alliance countries at war?
When was the Tehran Conference?
What were the agreements about Germany at the Tehran Conference?