Meetings and Events Leading to Formation of the United Nations Organization

On August 14, 1941 United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, meeting aboard the HMS PRINCE OF WALES somewhere at sea, issued a joint declaration setting forth certain common principles held by their two countries on which they based their hopes for a better world future. The document known as the Atlantic Charter, foresaw a post-World War II world free of fear and want in which all nations dwelt in safety, having disarmed and abandoned the use of force. The two statesmen also desired to bring about full economic collaboration among all nations so as to improve labour standards, economic advancement and social security for all.

President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill (seated upper left in front of their standing staff members) at divine service aboard the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales, during the Atlantic Charter meeting. August 1941.