Atlantic Charter

Setting the scene

The Atlantic Charter was issued on August 14, 1941, following a secret meeting between U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill aboard warships off Newfoundland. The charter was not a treaty but an eight-point statement of war aims and postwar principles. Roosevelt and Churchill met August 9-12 on the USS Augusta and HMS Prince of Wales to coordinate strategy as the U.S. moved toward war.

What happened

The eight points included: no territorial aggrandizement, no territorial changes without consent of the peoples, self-determination for all peoples, free trade, global economic cooperation, freedom from fear and want, freedom of the seas, and disarmament of aggressor nations. The charter also called for a 'permanent system of general security.' Though the U.S. was not yet at war, Roosevelt committed to Allied principles. Churchill had to accept anti-imperial language despite wanting to preserve the British Empire.

Why it still matters

The Atlantic Charter became the ideological foundation for the United Nations and postwar international order. It inspired the Declaration of the United Nations in January 1942 and influenced the UN Charter. For colonized peoples, the charter's promise of self-determination raised hopes for independence, though Churchill later clarified it applied only to Europe. The charter demonstrated how wartime ideals could shape peace and established the principles—self-determination, free trade, collective security—that would define the liberal international order.

Background

Self-determination language shaped the UN.