Evening star., 1945-03-25
BY Jan Ciechanoyski,
Ambassador Of Poland.

Harris & E1Ding Photo.
stated that such was their purpose
From the text of the Atlantic Charter it
appears that this document Is described
by its authors as Statement of cer-
tain common principles in the national
policies Of their respective countries"
Moreover, the eight articles of the At
lantic Charter are so formulated that
they represent intentions and directives
rather than definite obligations.
If the Atlantic Charter is not an
international convention-what then is
its legal nature?
Compared to Monroe Doctrine.
The comparison of the Atlantic Char
ter with the Monroe Doctrine is ex-
tremely interesting both from the legal
and from the political point of view.
The Monroe Doctrine advocated the
principle of nonintervention of Euro
pean powers in American problems and
asserted the right of the United States
to oppose territorial aggrandizement in
the Western Hemisphere. Originally de-
signed as a strictly negative principle,
the Monroe Dostrine, through its inter-
probation and application for more than
a century, gradually evolved into law,
proclaiming the right of the United
States to intervene in all situations
which might endanger the security of
the United States or its political stand
ing in the Western Hemisphere.
In January, 1917, in his magnificent
address to the Senate, President Wood
row Wilson announced as a proposal
that the nations should with one ac-
cord adopt the doctrine of President
Monroe as the doctrine of the world:
That no nation should seek to extend
its policy over any other nation or peo-
pie. but that every people should be left
free to determine its own way of de-
velopment, unhindered, unthreatened,
unafraid, the little along with the great
and powerful"
The Atlantic Charter contains eie-
ments Of the Monroe Doctrine expanded
to embrace the entire globe instead OF
the Western Hemisphere only. The At
lantic Charter is based on the assump-
ton that, due to the increased power of
the United States and to the present
close interdependence of all world in
terests, not only certain situations liable
to arise in the Western Hemisphere can
endanger the security and the political
standing Of this country, but also that
certain illegal acts perpetrated by pow
ers on the continents of Europe and
Asia likewise may, in fact, do, imperil
American safety-as became evident in
World War and now In World War II.
Proclaims Two Principles.
The Atlantic Charter proclaims two
principles which first appeared in the
Monroe Doctrine, namely:
l. The principle of mo territorial
aggrandizement," and
g. The principle of "the right of all
peoples to choose the form of gov
ernment under which they will live"
The first of these principles Is based
on the ground that such aggrandize-
ments jeopardize the safety of the
United States and constitute an en-
croachment upon the rights of an exist
ing territorial sovereign. This principle
has found its application, for instance,
in the dispute between Venezuela and
British Guiana in 1895. The best-known
encroachment on the second principle
was the Mexican Intervention by France
between 1862 and 1867, and the attempt
to overthrow the republican government
of Mexico followed by the substitution
of the monarchial "puppet government"
of Emperor Maximilian.
Similarly as the Atlantic Charter
originated on the occasion of the estab-
lishment of Anglo-American collabora-
ton In the face of Nazi German inn
perialism threatening to engulf the
world, the Monroe Doctrine was pro-
claimed in the period of the menace of