Atlantic Charter
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AtlanticCharter.jpg
The Atlantic Charter was negotiated at the Atlantic Conference by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, and the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, aboard a warship anchored in a secure anchorage at Argentia, Newfoundland (located on Placentia Bay) and was issued as a joint declaration on August 14, 1941. Roosevelt had travelled to Argentia aboard the heavy cruiser USS Augusta while Churchill made the journey across the Atlantic aboard the battleship HMS Prince of Wales.
The Atlantic Charter established a vision for a post-World War II world, despite the fact the United States had yet to enter the War. The participants hoped in vain that the Soviet Union, since June invaded by her previous ally Nazi-Germany, would adhere as well.
In brief, the eight points were:
- no territorial gains sought by the United States or the United Kingdom,
- territorial adjustments must conform to the people involved,
- the right to self determination of peoples,
- trade barriers lowered,
- there must be disarmament,
- there must be freedom from want and fear,
- there must be freedom of the seas,
- there must be an association of nations.
At the subsequent Inter-Allied Meeting in London on September 24, 1941, the governments of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and Yugoslavia, and representatives of General de Gaulle, leader of Free French, unanimously adopted adherence to the common principles of policy set forth in the Atlantic Charter.
The Axis Powers interpreted these diplomatic agreements as a potential alliance against them. Adolf Hitler saw it as evidence the UK and USA as colluding in an international Jewish conspiracy and agreed to the implementation of the Final Solution before the conclusion of the war in retaliation. In Japan, the Atlantic Charter rallied support for the militarists in the government who pushed for a more aggressive approach to UK and USA.
On the other hand, this agreement proved to be one of the first steps to the formation of the United Nations.
Although the issued statements indicate that Churchill and Roosevelt signed the document, no signed copies are known to exist.
See also
External links
- The Atlantic Conference (http://www.internet-esq.com/ussaugusta/atlantic/index.htm)
- The Atlantic Charter (1941) (http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/53.htm) from the U.S. Department of State International Information Programs
- The Atlantic Conference (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/atlantic/atmenu.htm) from the Avalon Project
- The Atlantic Conference : Inter-Allied Meeting Resolution of September 24, 1941 (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/atlantic/at17.htm)
- U.S. National Archives image of original document (http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/fdr_churchill_documents/images/atlantic_charter.gif)ja:大西洋憲章
