Roosevelt and Churchill at their 1941 secret meeting in the North Atlantic, lasting August 9th through the 12th. This meeting resulted in the Atlantic Charter that the U.S. and Britain officially announced two days later.

The Atlantic Charter was negotiated 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:

1. no territorial gains sought by the United States or the United Kingdom,
2. territorial adjustments must conform to the people involved,
3. people have right to choose own government,
4. trade barriers lowered,
5. there must be disarmament,
6. there must be freedom from want and fear,
7. there must be freedom of the seas,
8. there must be an association of nations.

The Axis Powers interpreted this diplomatic agreement 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, this agreement 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.

External links

• The Atlantic Charter (1941) from the U.S. Department of State International Information Programs
• The Atlantic Conference from the Avalon Project
• U.S. National Archives image of original document