At around three o'clock in the morning on August 14, in a conference room on the "Augusta", a sleepy-eyed John was summoned by Hopkins temporarily. [With _ dreams]ā pushed open the hatch, and the smell of smoke inside almost didn't smoke John's head.

Roosevelt, Hopkins, Wells, Harriman, Wynant, and James Jr. were all there, all bowing their heads and smoking cigarettes without speaking, clearly in trouble. John felt that if it was daytime, the smoke coming out of the round porthole in the conference room would make Admiral King mistakenly think that his ship was on fire.

"Jamie, what's wrong?" Seeing that no one paid attention to him, John quietly found an empty chair and sat down, and asked little James next to him in a low voice.

Little James didn't answer directly, but threw a cigarette at him, "You'll know when everyone arrives in a while." ”

Although John is not usually a smoker, and he does not have the habit of smoking in the middle of the night, he still obediently lights the cigarette on this occasion. It's better than passive secondhand smoke, he comforted himself.

After about five minutes, almost all of the White House staff members who were on board arrived. Hopkins, the "chief of staff", extinguished his cigarette and spoke first: "I'm very sorry to bring you here so late." Now there is an emergency, and an hour ago we just got the news that the British Parliament has expressed doubts about the joint statement that will be signed tomorrow. We must further explain or revise some of the terms of the statement before 9 o'clock, otherwise Prime Minister Churchill will probably not be authorized to sign this document. ”

As soon as Hopkins finished speaking, the conference room remembered the buzzing of discussion. After more than three days of talks and consultations, Roosevelt and Churchill just reached an agreement on the full content of the joint statement last night. According to the original plan, the leaders of the two countries were to formally sign the "Atlantic Charter" this morning, but they did not expect that something went wrong at the last minute.

"Prime Minister Winston Churchill is actively doing persuasion. Our attitude is that the core content of the eight articles cannot be changed, but the specific wording can be adjusted appropriately. The purpose of bringing you here is to let everyone brainstorm and come up with an adjustment plan as soon as possible. With that, Hopkins took out a copy of the British Parliament's feedback on the contents of the statement and circulated it to everyone.

To be honest, John had only a general understanding of the contents of the Atlantic Charter in his previous life, and he did not remember exactly how it was expressed. When the internal meeting briefed him on the progress of the meeting last night, he thought that everything was going smoothly according to the inertia of history. While everyone was circulating the materials, he hurriedly turned out the content of the agreement and studied it word by word.

First, Britain and the United States do not seek any territorial or other expansion.

Article 2: Britain and the United States do not wish to see any change of territory that is incompatible with the freely expressed will of the peoples concerned.

These two should be fine, and even if there is, no one dares to oppose them openly, because at this stage this is political correctness, there is no doubt about it.

Thirdly, Britain and the United States respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they wish to live; It is hoped that nations that have been deprived of their sovereignty and autonomy by force will regain their sovereignty and autonomy.

This was John's greatest concern, because "the people have the right to choose their own government" is tantamount to a disguised recognition that the people of the colonies have the right to choose whether to be independent or not. Although the "Joint Declaration" is not legally binding, it is shaking the very foundation of the British colonial system. It is equivalent to a knife in the lung tube of the British Empire. There is no guarantee that it will not provoke strong opposition from the British Parliament.

But then again, for Roosevelt, this was one of the greatest outcomes of the talks, and it was impossible to compromise on it. If the two sides really stalemate on this issue, it will be in trouble. It is not certain that the "Atlantic Conference" will be declared bankrupt.

Fourth, Britain and the United States hope that all countries, big or small, victor or defeated, will have the opportunity to participate in world trade and obtain the world's raw materials under equal conditions in order to achieve their economic prosperity; Article 5, Britain and the United States hope that all countries will cooperate to the fullest extent in the economic field in order to promote the level of labour, economic progress and social security of all countries.

These two articles are actually aimed at the imperial preferential system previously implemented by the United Kingdom. The system was established by the British government during the Great Depression to encourage trade between the British Empire by lowering tariff rates for individual member countries, while maintaining discriminatory tariff rates against outsiders in order to protect the country's economy. However, in John's view, the British economy was already crumbling, relying on blood transfusions from the Dominions and the United States. At this time, it is unlikely that there will be opposition to this article.

Sixth, after the final abolition of Nazi tyranny, Britain and the United States wish to establish peace in which all nations can live in peace within their borders and to guarantee all people, everywhere, their lives in freedom from fear and want.

When he saw this, John couldn't help but rub his eyes. "Free expression" in Article 2 after "free from fear" and "free from want" is the content of the "four freedoms" advocated by Roosevelt. But John always sensed that something was wrong, and he hurriedly glanced at the last two.

Seventh, such a peace would enable all to sail freely and unhindered on the high seas. There was nothing wrong with that, as obstruction of freedom of navigation was a major crime imposed on the German Nazis. It's unlikely they'll slap themselves in the mouth.

Eighth, Britain and the United States believe that all the nations of the world must renounce the use of force for practical and spiritual reasons. Future peace will not be sustainable if land, sea and air weapons continue to be used by those countries that engage in or may threaten aggression outside their borders. That is why the disarmament of these countries is necessary until a more universal and lasting comprehensive security system is established. In the same vein, Britain and the United States will assist and encourage all other feasible measures to ease the heavy burden of armament on peace-loving peoples.

Although this article is a bit long-winded, it is the result of Churchill's negotiations that he has managed to obtain. Unwilling to declare war on Germany or give Japan a stern warning, the United States has made its position clear by admitting that "it is necessary to disarm these countries." Perhaps Churchill will be able to hint on his return, consciously or unconsciously, that the United States has made some "secret commitments" on this issue that are not appropriate to be made public, so as to reassure the people and parliament. As for the phrase "the establishment of a more universal and lasting comprehensive security system", it now seems to be a quaint term, but it lays the groundwork for the establishment of the United Nations in the future.

Now going back to the sixth clause, John finds a major omission. How did Roosevelt and Churchill leave behind the "freedom of belief" in the "four freedoms"? If only Britain and the United States joined forces, everyone is a Christian country anyway. But now there is a Godless Soviet Union involved. I don't know what the reaction of the British side was, but as soon as the agreement was announced, the United States, especially the isolationists and die-hard conservatives, would certainly label Roosevelt as deliberately subservient to the Soviet Union (historically this omission caused Roosevelt a lot of trouble). On New Year's Day 1942, when the First United Nations Proclamation was issued, Roosevelt urged that freedom of belief must be added, and Stalin was specifically consulted for this purpose.

John felt that whether or not the British Parliament had objected to this, he had to remind Roosevelt. The question of faith is not a trivial matter, and if it is hyped up by the opposition, even Roosevelt will not be able to resist it.