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2/11/2017 Milestones: 1937–1945 - Office of the Historian

MILESTONES: 1937–1945

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The Atlantic Conference & Charter, 1941


The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 14,
1941 following a meeting of the two heads of state in Newfoundland. The Atlantic Charter provided a broad statement of U.S. and British war aims.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill


The meeting had been called in response to the geopolitical situation in Europe by mid-1941. Although Great Britain had been spared from a German
invasion in the fall of 1940 and, with the passage of the U.S. Lend Lease Act in March 1941, was assured U.S. material support, by the end of May, German
forces had in icted humiliating defeats upon British, Greek, and, Yugoslav forces in the Balkans and were threatening to overrun Egypt and close o the
Suez Canal, thereby restricting British access to its possessions in India. When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, few policymakers in
Washington or London believed that the Soviets would be able to resist the Nazi onslaught for more than six weeks. While the British Government focused
its e orts on dealing with the Germans in Europe, they were also concerned that Japan might take advantage of the situation to seize British, French, and
Dutch territories in Southeast Asia.

Churchill’s copy of the Atlantic Charter


Churchill and Roosevelt met on August 9 and 10, 1941 aboard the U.S.S. Augusta in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, to discuss their respective war aims for the
Second World War and to outline a postwar international system. The Charter they drafted included eight “common principles” that the United States and
Great Britain would be committed to supporting in the postwar world. Both countries agreed not to seek territorial expansion; to seek the liberalization of
international trade; to establish freedom of the seas, and international labor, economic, and welfare standards. Most importantly, both the United States
and Great Britain were committed to supporting the restoration of self-governments for all countries that had been occupied during the war and allowing
all peoples to choose their own form of government

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/atlantic-conf 1/2
2/11/2017 Milestones: 1937–1945 - Office of the Historian

While the meeting was successful in drafting these aims, it failed to produce the desired results for either leader. President Roosevelt had hoped that the
Charter might encourage the American people to back U.S. intervention in World War II on behalf of the Allies; however, public opinion remained adamantly
opposed to such a policy until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Churchill’s primary goal in attending the Atlantic Conference was “to
get the Americans into the war.” Barring that, he hoped that the United States would increase its amount of military aid to Great Britain and warn Japan
against taking any aggressive actions in the Paci c.

Roosevelt, on the other hand, wanted the British Government to a rm publicly that it was not involved in any secret treaties, particularly ones concerning
territorial questions, such as those concluded by the Allies during the First World War concerning the division of enemy territory at war’s end. Roosevelt
also wished to arrange the terms by which Great Britain would repay the United States for its Lend Lease assistance. Roosevelt wanted the British to pay
compensation by dismantling their system of Imperial Preference, which had been established by the British Government during the Great Depression and
was designed to encourage trade within the British Empire by lowering tari rates between members, while maintaining discriminatory tari rates against
outsiders.

Churchill was extremely disappointed by Roosevelt’s refusal to discuss American entry into the war. Furthermore, Churchill understood that several aspects
of the proposed joint declaration might be politically damaging for the Prime Minister. Churchill worried that the abandonment of Imperial Preference
would anger the protectionist wing of his Conservative Party. The Americans also proved unwilling to warn Japan too strongly against any future military
action against British possessions in Southeast Asia. Finally, both Churchill and many members of his Cabinet were alarmed by the third point of the
Charter, which mentions the rights of all peoples to choose their own government. Churchill was concerned that this clause acknowledged the right of
colonial subjects to agitate for decolonization, including those in Great Britain’s empire.

Nevertheless, Churchill realized that the joint declaration was the most he could accomplish during the conference. While the United States would remain
neutral, the declaration would raise the morale of the British public and, most importantly, bind the United States closer to Great Britain. Therefore, when
Churchill forwarded the text of the declaration to his Cabinet on August 11, he warned them that would it be “imprudent” to raise unnecessary di culties.
The Cabinet followed Churchill’s recommendation and approved the Charter.

While the Atlantic Charter of August 1941 was not a binding treaty, it was, nonetheless, signi cant for several reasons. First, it publicly a rmed the sense
of solidarity between the U.S. and Great Britain against Axis aggression. Second, it laid out President Roosevelt’s Wilsonian-vision for the postwar world;
one that would be characterized by freer exchanges of trade, self-determination, disarmament, and collective security. Finally, the Charter ultimately did
serve as an inspiration for colonial subjects throughout the Third World, from Algeria to Vietnam, as they fought for independence.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/atlantic-conf 2/2

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