The 1941 Atlantic Charter’s references to self-determination galvanized anticolonial nationalists during the Second World War. These activists used the principles enumerated in the Atlantic Charter to frame their demands. This thesis examines three cases in the broader global context during the war, from vastly different colonial and wartime situations: British-ruled India, French-ruled Syria, and the U.S.- ruled Philippines. Across these different situations, anticolonial nationalists used the Atlantic Charter in an attempt to legitimate their own projects. This thesis shows that the elite nationalist movements examined here used a common rhetoric from the Charter, but in variable ways. Each case study is examined in depth, concluding with comparisons of how Indian, Syrian, and Philippine nationalist movements cited, used, or ignored the Atlantic Charter. Broadly speaking, movements in each of the case studies diverged between either dismissing the Charter as colonialist hypocrisy, necessitating the rejection of political dialogue for more radical options, or using the Charter as a tool to extract concessions from European and American colonial regimes.
","abstract_html":"<p>The 1941 Atlantic Charter’s references to self-determination galvanized anticolonial nationalists during the Second World War. These activists used the principles enumerated in the Atlantic Charter to frame their demands. This thesis examines three cases in the broader global context during the war, from vastly different colonial and wartime situations: British-ruled India, French-ruled Syria, and the U.S.- ruled Philippines. Across these different situations, anticolonial nationalists used the Atlantic Charter in an attempt to legitimate their own projects. This thesis shows that the elite nationalist movements examined here used a common rhetoric from the Charter, but in variable ways. Each case study is examined in depth, concluding with comparisons of how Indian, Syrian, and Philippine nationalist movements cited, used, or ignored the Atlantic Charter. Broadly speaking, movements in each of the case studies diverged between either dismissing the Charter as colonialist hypocrisy, necessitating the rejection of political dialogue for more radical options, or using the Charter as a tool to extract concessions from European and American colonial regimes.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Reeves, Mark"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Beth Plummer (Director), Chunmei Du, Juan Romero"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:26Z","subjects":["Syria","India","Phillipines","Roosevelt","Churchil","World War II","Asian History","European History","History","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1341","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Beth Plummer (Director), Chunmei Du, Juan Romero"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Reeves, Mark"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Syria","India","Phillipines","Roosevelt","Churchil","World War II","Asian History","European History","History","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1341"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The 1941 Atlantic Charter’s references to self-determination galvanized anticolonial nationalists during the Second World War. These activists used the principles enumerated in the Atlantic Charter to frame their demands. This thesis examines three cases in the broader global context during the war, from vastly different colonial and wartime situations: British-ruled India, French-ruled Syria, and the U.S.- ruled Philippines. Across these different situations, anticolonial nationalists used the Atlantic Charter in an attempt to legitimate their own projects. This thesis shows that the elite nationalist movements examined here used a common rhetoric from the Charter, but in variable ways. Each case study is examined in depth, concluding with comparisons of how Indian, Syrian, and Philippine nationalist movements cited, used, or ignored the Atlantic Charter. Broadly speaking, movements in each of the case studies diverged between either dismissing the Charter as colonialist hypocrisy, necessitating the rejection of political dialogue for more radical options, or using the Charter as a tool to extract concessions from European and American colonial regimes.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Broad, Toiling Masses in all the Continents: Anticolonial Activists and the Atlantic Charter"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Beth Plummer (Director), Chunmei Du, Juan Romero"],"dc:creator":["Reeves, Mark"],"dc:description.abstract":["The 1941 Atlantic Charter’s references to self-determination galvanized anticolonial nationalists during the Second World War. These activists used the principles enumerated in the Atlantic Charter to frame their demands. This thesis examines three cases in the broader global context during the war, from vastly different colonial and wartime situations: British-ruled India, French-ruled Syria, and the U.S.- ruled Philippines. Across these different situations, anticolonial nationalists used the Atlantic Charter in an attempt to legitimate their own projects. This thesis shows that the elite nationalist movements examined here used a common rhetoric from the Charter, but in variable ways. Each case study is examined in depth, concluding with comparisons of how Indian, Syrian, and Philippine nationalist movements cited, used, or ignored the Atlantic Charter. Broadly speaking, movements in each of the case studies diverged between either dismissing the Charter as colonialist hypocrisy, necessitating the rejection of political dialogue for more radical options, or using the Charter as a tool to extract concessions from European and American colonial regimes.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1341"],"dc:subject":["Syria","India","Phillipines","Roosevelt","Churchil","World War II","Asian History","European History","History","United States History"],"dc:title":["The Broad, Toiling Masses in all the Continents: Anticolonial Activists and the Atlantic Charter"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of History"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:26Z"}