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Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918
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Historical SummaryIn August 1941 President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met aboard ship off Argentia, Newfoundland, to discuss a number of war problems and in particular the situation in the Far East. Except for a brief meeting during the First World War, when Roosevelt was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the two men at this time had only a correspondence and telephone acquaintance. One of the agreements reached at Argentia was a joint declaration of August 14, 1941, which came to be called the Atlantic Charter and which was destined to become one of the most famous documents of the war. President Roosevelt did not wish to have to present the declaration to the Serrate for its consent to ratification and therefore it was not handled as a treaty; "it was merely mimeographed and released." But on January 1, 1942, its principles were subscribed to by the twenty-six powers which then comprised the United Nations (see below Document No. 306). The President officially informed Congress of the declaration in a message of August 21, 1941.
World History 275.
The Atlantic Charter, August 14, 194127
Over a week ago I held several important conferences at sea with the British Prime Minister. Because of the factor of safety to British, Canadian, and American ships, and their personnel, no prior announcement of these meetings could properly be made.
At the close, a public statement by the Prime Minister and the President was made. I quote it for the information of the Congress and for the record:
"The President of the United States and the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, representing His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, have met at sea.
"They have been accompanied by officials of their two Governments, including high-ranking officers of their military, naval, and air services.
"The whole problem of the supply of munitions of war, as provided by the Lease-Lend Act, for the armed forces of the United States, and for those countries actively engaged in resisting aggression, has been further examined.
"Lord Beaverbrook, the Minister of Supply of the British Government, has joined in these conferences. He is going to proceed to Washington to discuss further details with appropriate officials of the United States Government. These conferences will also cover the supply problems of the Soviet Union.
"The President and the Prime Minister have had several conferences. They have considered the dangers to world civilization arising from the policies of military domination by conquest upon which the Hitlerite government of Germany and other governments associated therewith have embarked, and have made clear the steps which their countries are respectively taking for their safety in the face of these dangers.
"They have agreed upon the following joint declaration:
"Joint declaration of the President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, representing His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, being met together, deem it right to make known certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they base their hopes for a better future of the world.
"First, their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other;
"Second, they desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned;
"Third, they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them;
"Fourth, they will endeavor, with due respect for their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all states, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity;
"Fifth, they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field with the object of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic advancement, and social security;
"Sixth, after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all the men in all the lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want;
"Seventh, such a peace should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance;
"Eighth, they believe that all of the nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons, must come to the abandonment of the use of force. Since no future peace can be maintained if land, sea, or air armaments continue to be employed by nations which threaten, or may threaten, aggression outside of their frontiers, they believe, pending the establishment of a wider and permanent system of general security, that the disarmament of such nations is essential. They will likewise aid and encourage all other practicable measures which will lighten for peace-loving peoples the crushing burden of armaments.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL."
The Congress and the President having heretofore determined, through the Lend-Lease Act, on the national policy of American aid to the democracies which East and West are waging war against dictatorships, the military and naval conversations at these meetings made clear gains in furthering the effectiveness of this aid.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister and I are arranging for conferences with the Soviet Union to aid it in its defense against the attack made by the principal aggressor of the modern world—Germany.
Finally, the declaration of principles at this time presents a goal which is worth while for our type of civilization to seek. It is so clearcut that it is difficult to oppose in any major particular without automatically admitting a willingness to accept compromise with nazi-ism; or to agree to a world peace which would give to nazi-ism domination over large numbers of conquered nations. Inevitably such a peace would be a gift to nazi-ism to take breath—armed breath—for a second war to extend the control over Europe and Asia, to the American Hemisphere itself.
It is perhaps unnecessary for me to call attention once more to the utter lack of validity of the spoken or written word of the Nazi government.
It is also unnecessary for me to point out that the declaration of principles includes, of necessity, the world need for freedom of religion and freedom of information. No society of the world organized under the announced principles could survive without these freedoms which are a part of the whole freedom for which we strive.
27 United States, 77th Congress, 1st Session, House Document No. 358, Message of President Roosevelt to the Congress, August 21, 1941, Embodying Text of the Atlantic Charter, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1941.
28 Sherwood, R. E., Roosevelt and Hopkins. An Intimate History, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1948, p. 362.
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Chicago: "The Atlantic Charter, August 14, 1941," Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918 in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, ed. Walter Consuelo Langsam and James Michael Egan (Chicage: Lippincott, 1951), 918–921. Original Sources, accessed November 21, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3TGZAC42YFT9P2X.
MLA: . "The Atlantic Charter, August 14, 1941." Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, edited by Walter Consuelo Langsam and James Michael Egan, Chicage, Lippincott, 1951, pp. 918–921. Original Sources. 21 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3TGZAC42YFT9P2X.
Harvard: , 'The Atlantic Charter, August 14, 1941' in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918. cited in 1951, Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, ed. , Lippincott, Chicage, pp.918–921. Original Sources, retrieved 21 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3TGZAC42YFT9P2X.
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