At the 1943 Moscow Conference, the Soviet Union, United States, and the United Kingdom had jointly decided that the German annexation of Austria in 1938 would be considered "null and void". As well, all administrative and legal measures since 1938 would be ignored. The conference declared the intent to create a free and independent Austria after the war, but also stated that Austria had a responsibility for "participation in the war at the side of Hitlerite Germany" which could not be evaded.[1]