Casablanca Conference — Allies Demand Unconditional Surrender

Roosevelt and Churchill met in Casablanca, Morocco for ten days of strategic planning. The most consequential decision was their public announcement of a policy of 'unconditional surrender' for all Axis powers — a declaration that foreclosed any negotiated peace. Stalin was invited but could not attend, citing the ongoing Stalingrad battle. The conference also resolved the debate over a cross-Channel invasion: the Allies agreed to continue in the Mediterranean with an invasion of Sicily rather than France in 1943. Churchill and Roosevelt also agreed on the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany.