Referees for 2012-2013 article submissions:Professor Nicole Anslover, University of Indiana Northwest20 th Century America, US Foreign PolicyProfessor Douglas Biggs, University of Nebraska-KearneyMedieval and Military History, Associate Dean of Natural & Social SciencesProfessor Kevin Gannon, Grand View UniversityColonial & 19 th Century America, Latin AmericaProfessor Kurt Hackemer, University of South Dakota19 th Century American Military HistoryProfessor Mary Lyons-Carmona, University of Nebraska-OmahaModern Irish, 20 th Century America, Child Labor, Migrant Labor-Commercialized Agriculture HistoryJim Rogers, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MinnesotaManaging Director of the Center for Irish StudiesManaging Editor of the New Hibernia Review.Evelyn Taylor, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, State of IllinoisEditor of the Journal of Illinois HistoryCopyeditor of the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln AssociationProfessor Evan Thomas, Grand View UniversityContemporary America and World, Modern East Asia.Professor Katharina Tumpek-Kjellmark, Grand View UniversityModern Europe, Germany, Holocaust, Women’s History.Mike Vogt, Iowa Gold Star Military Museum, Camp Dodge-Army National GuardMuseum CuratorThe <strong>MUNINN</strong> staff would like to thank all of the referees for their time in making thisjournal successful and academically rigorous. Many of the referees reviewed multiplesubmissions this year.Editor in Chief:Editor:Research:Graphic Design:Faculty & Managing Editor:Christopher MillerAustin BittnerJoelle DietrickPaige KlecknerProfessor Matthew Plowman
Churchill and the Atlantic Charter <strong>MUNINN</strong> Volume 2 (2013)Churchill and the Atlantic Charter (1941):The Special Relationship with FDR and the United StatesGabby (Detrick) BrehenyGrand View UniversityThe impact of the Atlantic Charter, as a joint declaration byBritish Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and USPresident Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945) on August 14, 1941, shookthe world and global order during and long after the Second WorldWar. Although Britain had for a long time extended home rule to someof the white settler colonies such as Canada, Australia, and SouthAfrica, few expected Britain to be drawn into the journey of releasingthe Empire itself as the sacrifice for saving the kingdom of the BritishIsles. Why did Churchill agree to the Charter? By summer of 1941,Germany had taken nearly all of western and central Europe and had afull invasion of the Soviet Union progressing towards Leningrad,Smolensk, and Kiev. Britain had to rush forces to Egypt to defend itsprotectorates in the Middle East from Italian Libya. By the time of theAtlantic Charter, there was also a threat from Japan in the Pacific.Imperial Japan controlled the most populous parts of China and hadtaken French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos), thereforethreatening British control over Burma, India, Singapore, and HongKong. Why did FDR agree to the Charter? Although the President wassuccessful in helping Britain through some war matériel, the AmericaFirst Committee was a strong lobbying force keeping American out ofthe war. FDR needed the Atlantic Charter to win the propagandabattle. Unlike WWI that expanded empires, the Atlantic Charterpromised real progress on self-government, freedom of the seas,reduction of trade restrictions, and global cooperation. DespiteChurchill making statements just weeks after signing the AtlanticCharter that it did not directly apply to all of Britain’s colonies, it wasdifficult for Britain to maintain a minimalist interpretation once theAllies, who increasingly called themselves the United Nations, madepledges to the Charter in their “Declaration of United Nations” onJanuary 1, 1942. 1 Churchill was locked into this gamble to save the1“The Governments signatory hereto, having subscribed to a common program ofpurposes and principles embodied in the Joint Declaration of the President of the UnitedStates of America and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain andNorthern Ireland dated August 14, 1941, known as the Atlantic Charter,” in Declarationby the United Nations, 1 January 1942. The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History,and Diplomacy, Lillion Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.1