A good percentage of those who paid attention in High School History class probably remember something called the Yalta conference.
 |
|
Shaping the World to Come |
Consequently, and perhaps news to many, “arbitrary” borders dividing ethnic groups aren’t just an African / Asian thing. There are a surprising number of European “ethnics” who span “nations” - Finnish-Swedes, Alsation Germans, Baltic Russians, German Poles, Bosnian Serbs, the entire country of Belgium, etc. — many of which trace their predicament to Yalta and various other treaties, wars, forced migrations, and the like.
While Yalta was clearly significant on many levels, the earlier & lesser known Atlantic Conference should be interesting to mutineers because of the key role it played in Indian history… It was there that FDR made Indian Independence a pre-requisite to American involvement in WWII…
The State Department’s description of the Charter is simple and to the point -
The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 14, 1941 following a meeting of the two heads of state in Newfoundland. The Atlantic Charter provided a broad statement of U.S. and British war aims…
“I think I speak as America’s President when I say that America won’t help England in this war simply so that she will be able to continue to ride roughshod over colonial peoples.”
- FDR to Churchill
Wikipedia provides a nice enumeration of the the specific, shared war goals outlined in the charter-
- 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.
- All 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.
- Freedom of the seas.
- Disarmament of aggressor nations, postwar common disarmament.
- Defeat of Germany and other Axis powers.
While the official text of the charter makes no specific statement about India per se, lofty language about self-determination and “territorial adjustments” carried clear implications for the future of the British Empire.
 |
|
Two thorns in Churchill’s side… |
…’Mr. President,’ [Churchill] cried, ‘I believe you are trying to do away with the British Empire. Every idea you entertain about the structure of the postwar world demonstrates it. But in spite of that’—and his forefinger waved—‘in spite of that, we know that you constitute our only hope. And’—his voice sank dramatically—’{you} know that {we} know it. {You} know that {we} know that without America, the Empire won’t stand.’Churchill admitted, in that moment, that he knew the peace could only be won according to precepts which the United States of America would lay down.
And FDR had very specific recommendations about what to do with British India back in 1941 -
…‘India should be made a commonwealth at once. After a certain number of years—five perhaps, or ten—she should be able to choose whether she wants to remain in the Empire or have complete independence.‘As a commonwealth, she would be entitled to a modern form of government, an adequate health and educational standard. But how can she have these things, when Britain is taking all the wealth of her national resources away from her, every year? Every year the Indian people have one thing to look forward to, like death and taxes. Sure as shooting, they have a famine. The season of the famine, they call it.’
I’m a bit more nuanced than the NewDeal-esque explanation for India’s poverty but, nevertheless, the man’s heart & goals are clear. Other accounts provide more color into the discussions - “Roosevelt, as a matter of absolute conviction, was at war with the British Empire.”
`You mentioned India,’ he [Churchill] growled.`Yes, I [Roosevelt] can’t believe that we can fight a war against fascist slavery, and at the same time not work to free people all over the world from a backward colonial policy.’
Roosevelt was determined to have the British commit themselves now to the principles of the Four Freedoms, knowing that they were incompatible with the continued existence of the Empire.
…The British leadership now knew first hand, if they had only feared or suspected as much before, that Roosevelt, as a matter of absolute conviction, was at war with the British Empire.
 |
|
He Fought for Indian Independence Too… |
Writing in 1950, Churchill let down his guard about his true feeling about Roosevelt:“The President’s mind was back in the American War of Independence and he thought of the Indian problem in terms of thirteen colonies fighting George III at the end of the 18th century…”
Unfortunately, FDR opposed the extant British empire far more than the gathering Soviet one. As a result, at Yalta he relented on Atlantic charter diktats when it came to the fate of Eastern Europe under Stalin after the war. Still, there’s no question that on the India question, FDR’s demands shook British expectations about the post-war fate of the empire to the core.
In later statements during the conflict, Churchill tried to backtrack and assert that the Atlantic Charter did not apply to India…. However, with US entry into the war and the Japanese knocking on India’s door, the die was cast and policy pronouncements from Downing street were very much swimming against the tide of history…
