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{{Short description|Allied Powers' agreement in the wane of WWII}}{{More citations needed|date=June 2025}}
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The '''Moscow Declarations''' were four declarations signed during the [[Moscow Conference (1943)|Moscow Conference]] on October 30, 1943. The declarations are distinct from the communique that was issued following the [[Moscow Conference (1945)|Moscow Conference of 1945]]. They were signed by the foreign secretaries of the governments of the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|the Republic of China]]. Four declarations were signed at the conference: The [[Declaration of the Four Nations|Declaration of the Four Nations on General Security]], the Declaration on Italy, the Declaration on Austria, and the Declarations on Atrocities.<ref>{{cite book|title=United Nations Documents 1941–1945|date=1946|publisher=Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute Of International Affairs|url=https://archive.org/stream/unitednationsdoc031889mbp/unitednationsdoc031889mbp_djvu.txt}}</ref>

==Declarations==

===Declaration of the Four Nations on General Security===
{{main article|Declaration of the Four Nations}}
In the section ''Joint Four-Nation Declaration'', the governments of the United States of America, United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]], in accordance with the [[declaration by United Nations]] of January 1942, and subsequent declarations, agree to continue hostilities against those [[Axis powers]] with which they respectively are at war until such powers have laid down their arms on the basis of [[unconditional surrender]]. They also recognize the necessity of establishing at the earliest practicable date a general international organization (the United Nations), based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving states, and open to membership by all such states, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security.

===Declaration on Italy===
In the Declaration on Italy, the foreign secretaries of the US, UK and USSR declared that [[fascism]] and its influence should be completely destroyed and that the Italian people should be given every opportunity to establish governmental and other institutions based on democratic principles.

===Declaration on Austria===
In the Declaration on Austria, the Foreign Secretaries of US, UK and USSR declared that the annexation (''[[Anschluss]]'') of Austria by [[Germany]] was null and void. It called for the establishment of a free Austria after the victory over [[Nazi Germany]].

{{quote|"The governments of the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States of America are agreed that Austria, the first free country to fall a victim to Hitlerite aggression, shall be liberated from German domination."

"They regard the annexation imposed upon Austria by Germany on March 15, 1938, as null and void. They consider themselves as in no way bound by any changes effected in Austria since that date. They declare that they wish to see re-established a free and independent Austria and thereby to open the way for the Austrian people themselves, as well as those neighbouring states which will be faced with similar problems, to find that political and economic security which is the only basis for lasting peace."

"Austria is reminded, however that she has a responsibility, which she cannot evade, for participation in the war on the side of Hitlerite Germany, and that in the final settlement account will inevitably be taken of her own contribution to her liberation."<ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1943/431000a.html Moscow Conference, October 1943]</ref>}}

===Declaration on Atrocities===<!-- This section is linked from [[Nuremberg Trials]] -->

The Declaration on Atrocities was signed by the U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] and Soviet Premier [[Joseph Stalin]]. They noted that "''evidence of atrocities, massacres and cold-blooded mass executions which are being perpetrated by Hitlerite forces in many of the countries they have overrun and from which they are now being steadily expelled''". They went on to state that Germans would be sent back to the countries where they had committed their crimes and "''judged on the spot by the peoples whom they have outraged''".  As for those Germans whose criminal offenses had no particular geographical localization, they would be punished by joint decision of the governments of the Allies.

The ''Statement on Atrocities'' was largely drafted by Winston Churchill,<ref>[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=906#4 Tehran Conference: Tripartite Dinner Meeting] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629163430/http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=906#4 |date=2006-06-29 }} November 29, 1943 Soviet Embassy, 8:30 PM</ref> and led to the setting up of the [[European Advisory Commission]] which drafted the [[London Charter]].

== See also ==

* [[Diplomatic history of World War II]]

* [[History of the United Nations]]
* [[List of Allied World War II conferences]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Diplomatic history of World War II}}
{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}
{{Winston Churchill}}
{{Joseph Stalin}}
{{Franklin D. Roosevelt}}

[[Category:1943 documents]]
[[Category:Politics of World War II]]
[[Category:1943 in Austria]]
[[Category:1943 in Italy]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States treaties]]
[[Category:Austria–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:World War II treaties]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1943]]
[[Category:1943 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:United Kingdom–United States treaties]]
[[Category:1943 in Moscow]]
[[Category:United Kingdom in World War II]]
[[Category:Moscow in World War II]]