Casablanca Conference The Casablanca Conference ( codenamed SYMBOL ) was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca , Morocco , then a French protectorate , from January 14 to 24 , 1943 , to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II . In attendance were United States President Franklin D . Roosevelt , British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , and representing the Free French forces , Generals Charles de Gaulle , and Henri Giraud . Premier Joseph Stalin had declined to attend , citing the ongoing conflict in Stalingrad required his presence in the Soviet Union . The conference agenda addressed the specifics of tactical procedure , allocation of resources and the broader issues of diplomatic policy . The debate and negotiations produced what was known as the “ Casablanca Declaration , ” and what is , perhaps , its most historically provocative statement of purpose , “ unconditional surrender . ” The doctrine of “ unconditional surrender ” came to represent the unified voice of implacable Allied will — the determination that the Axis powers would be fought to their ultimate defeat and annihilation . Casablanca Declaration . Doctrine of " unconditional surrender " . The conference produced a unified statement of purpose , the " Casablanca Declaration " which announced to the world that the Allies would accept nothing less than the “ unconditional surrender ” of the Axis powers . Roosevelt had borrowed the term “ unconditional surrender ” from General Ulysses S . Grant who had communicated this stance to the Confederate commander at Forts Donelson and Henry during the American Civil War . In a radio address Roosevelt made on February 12 , 1943 , the President laid forth the tenets of “ unconditional surrender ” : Behind the scenes , the United States and Great Britain were not , however , united in the commitment to see the war through to Germany ’ s capitulation . Some source material contradicts the official , reported accord between Churchill and Roosevelt , indicating Churchill did not fully subscribe to the doctrine of “ unconditional surrender . ” Drew Middleton , correspondent and military analyst , was in Casablanca reporting on the conference for The New York Times . In his book , “ " Retreat From Victory " , ” Middleton provided a revelation , which Churchill had made to him years later : " I was startled by the [ public ] announcement [ of unconditional surrender ] . I tried to hide my surprise . But I was his [ Roosevelt ’ s ] ardent lieutenant . " The former United States ambassador to Moscow , Charles P . Bohlen , wrote that the “ Responsibility for this unconditional surrender doctrine rests almost exclusively with President Roosevelt . He announced … : " It is felt that Roosevelt made the announcement in a maneuver to effectuate two goals : One was to keep Soviet forces engaged with Germany on the Russian front , thus depleting German munitions and troops ; and secondly [ it was ] to prevent Stalin from negotiating a separate peace with the Nazi regime . " That the war would be fought by the Allies until the total annihilation of enemy forces , was not universally welcomed . Diplomatic insiders were critical that such a stance was too unequivocal , and inflexible , cancelling out any opportunity for political maneuvering , and morally debilitating to French and German resistance groups . The British felt that arriving at some accommodation with Germany would allow the German army to help fight off the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe . To Churchill and the other Allied leaders , the real obstacle to actualizing this mutual strategy with Germany was the leadership of Adolf Hitler . Allen Dulles , the chief of OSS intelligence in Bern , Switzerland , maintained that the " Casablanca Declaration " was “ merely a piece of paper to be scrapped without further ado if Germany would sue for peace . Hitler had to go . ” There exists evidence that German resistance forces , highly placed anti - Nazi government officials , were working with British intelligence , MI6 to eliminate Hitler and negotiate a peace with the Allies . One such man was Admiral Wilhelm Canaris , head of German intelligence , the " Abwehr . " His persistent overtures for support from the United States were ignored by Franklin Roosevelt . Topics of discussion and agreements . European invasion . Roosevelt , with advice from General George Catlett Marshall , US Army Chief of Staff , and Admiral Ernest King , Chief of Naval Operations , lobbied for a cross channel invasion of Europe . Churchill felt the time was not opportune , and favored an Allied assault on Sicily moving in through Italy . Throughout the conference Roosevelt ’ s attention was prominently focused on the Pacific war front and he faulted the British for what he felt was not a full commitment against Japan ese entrenchment . The Italian strategy was agreed upon , a compromise between the two leaders , Roosevelt acceding to the Churchill approach for Europe . Churchill , in turn , pledged more troops and resources to the Pacific and Burma to reinforce positions held by Chiang Kai - Shek against the Japanese . America would provide assistance to the British in the Pacific by supplying escorts and landing craft . Leadership of Free French forces . The conference called for the official recognition of a joint leadership of the Free French forces by Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud . There was notable tension between the two men during the talks . Roosevelt effected a public cordiality between them , encouraging them to shake hands , demonstrating a mutual affability for the photographers eager for a photo - op . Purportedly , the ritual handshake was done with reluctance and so quickly , they had to pose for a second shoot . During the conference both men limited their interaction with one and other to formalities , each pledging their mutual support . Post - war northern Africa . During the Conference , Roosevelt spoke with the French resident general at Rabat , Morocco , about postwar independence and Jewish immigrants in North Africa . Roosevelt proposed that : " [ t ] he number of Jews engaged in the practice of the professions ( law , medicine , etc . ) should be definitely limited to the percentage that the Jewish population in North Africa bears to the whole of the North African population . . . [ T ] his plan would further eliminate the specific and understandable complaints which the Germans bore towards the Jews in Germany , namely , that while they represented a small part of the population , over 50 percent of the lawyers , doctors , schoolteachers , college professors , etc . , in Germany were Jews . " This disposition of the Jewish population harkened back to a mindset communicated in earlier years to Roosevelt by the American ambassador to Germany , William Dodd ( 1933 - 1937 ) . Dodd had appraised Germany ’ s repression of Jews , and writing to Roosevelt , he parroted the Nazi propaganda : “ The Jews had held a great many more of the key positions in Germany than their number or talents entitled them to . ” Roosevelt presented the results of the conference to the American people in a radio address on February 12 , 1943 . Churchill Roosevelt Stalin The War They Waged and the Peace They Sought A Diplomatic History of World War II ( 1957 ) pp