Atlantic Charter

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The Atlantic Charter was negotiated at the Atlantic Conference (codenamed Riviera) by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, aboard warships in a secure anchorage at Ship Harbour, Argentia, Newfoundland and was issued as a joint declaration on August 14, 1941.

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The Atlantic Charter established a vision for a post-World War II world, despite the fact that the United States had yet to enter the war. The participants hoped that the Soviet Union would adhere as well, after having been attacked by Nazi Germany in June 1941 in defiance of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

In brief, the eight points were:

No territorial gains were to be sought by the United States or the United Kingdom.
Territorial adjustments must be in accord with wishes of the peoples concerned.
The peoples had a right to self-determination.
Trade barriers were to be lowered.
There was to be global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare.
Freedom from want and fear was to be enforced.
There was to be freedom of the seas
Disarmament of aggressor nations and postwar common disarmament was to be done.

At the subsequent Inter-Allied Meeting in London on September 24, 1941, the governments of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia, and representatives of General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the 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. In Tokyo the Atlantic Charter rallied support for the militarists in the Japanese government, who pushed for a more aggressive approach against the US and Britain.

The agreement proved to be one of the first steps towards the formation of the United Nations.

Official statements and government documents indicate that Churchill and Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter. No signed copies are known to exist, however. H V Morton, who was with Churchill's party, states that no signed version ever existed. The document was thrashed out through several drafts, says Morton, and the agreed text was telegraphed to London and Washington. The British War Cabinet replied with its approval and a similar acceptance was telegraphed from Washington. During this process, an error crept into the London text, but this was subsequently corrected.

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Churchill meets Roosevelt aboard USS Augusta.	Churchill meets Roosevelt aboard HMS Prince of Wales.	Church service on the after deck of HMS Prince of Wales, during the conference.	USS McDougal alongside HMS Prince of Wales, to transfer President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the battleship.
HMS Prince of Wales in Ship Harbour, Newfoundland