Atlantic Charter

Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt at an Atlantic Charter meeting aboard the HMS Prince of Wales in 1941.

Declaration issued during World War II by the British prime minister Winston Churchill and the US president Franklin D Roosevelt after meetings in August 1941. It stressed their countries' broad strategy and war aims and was largely a propaganda exercise to demonstrate public solidarity among the Allies.

The Atlantic Charter stated that the UK and the USA sought no territorial gains; desired no territorial changes not acceptable to the peoples concerned; respected the rights of all peoples to choose their own form of government; wished to see self-government restored to the occupied countries; would promote access by all states to trade and raw materials; desired international collaboration for the raising of economic standards; hoped to see a peace affording security to all nations, enabling them to cross the seas without hindrance; and proposed the disarmament of the aggressor states as a preliminary step to general disarmament.

This charter was incorporated by reference into the Declaration of the United Nations 1941.