Foreign Relations of the United States, Conferences at Washington and Quebec, 1943

Roosevelt Papers

Communiqué ¹

[ Quebec , August 24, 1943.]

The Anglo-American War Conference which opened at Quebec on the 11th of August, under the hospitable auspices of the Canadian Government, has now concluded its work.

The whole field of world operations has been surveyed in the light of the many gratifying events which have taken place since the meeting of the President and the Prime Minister in Washington at the end of May, and the necessary decisions have been taken to provide for the forward action of the Fleets, Armies and Air Forces of the two nations. Considering that these forces are intermingled² in continuous action against the enemy in several quarters of the globe, it is indispensable that entire unity of aim and method should be maintained at the summit of the war direction.

Further conferences will be needed, probably at shorter intervals than before, as the war effort of the United States and British Commonwealth and Empire against the enemy spreads and deepens. It would not be helpful to the fighting troops to make any announcement of the decisions which have been reached. These can only emerge in action.

It may however be stated that the military discussions of the Chiefs of Staff turned very largely upon the war against Japan and the bringing of effective aid to China. Mr. T. V. Soong, representing the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, was a party to the discussions. In this field, as in the European, the President and the Prime Minister were able to receive and approve the unanimous recommendations of the Combined Chiefs of Staff. Agreement was also reached upon the political data³ underlying or arising out of the military operations.

It was resolved to hold another Conference before the end of the year between the British and American authorities, in addition to any tripartite meeting which it may be possible to arrange with Soviet Russia. Full reports of the decisions⁴ so far as they affect the war against Germany and Italy will be furnished to the Soviet Government.

[Consideration has been given during the conference to the question of relations with the French Committee of Liberation, and it is understood that an announcement by a number of governments will be made in the latter part of the week.⁵]

1. Read by Roosevelt in the course of a press conference held jointly with Churchill and Mackenzie King at 12:15 p.m., August 24, 1943, on the terrace at the Citadel. For informal remarks on this occasion, see Rosenman, pp. 355–365. The text of the Communiqué was printed in Department of State Bulletin, vol. ix, August 28, 1943, p. 121.
2. An earlier text of the Communiqué in the Roosevelt Papers, marked “1st draft” in Roosevelt’s handwriting, reads “are most closely intermingled”.
3. The text in the Log reads “political issues”.
4. The text referred to in fn. 1, above, has the additional word “taken” at this point.
5. This final paragraph, which does not appear in the source text but which was included in the text released to the press on August 24, 1943, is supplied from the text of the Communiqué included in the Log.