Abstract
National self-determination became firmly established as a desirable political principle in the process of defining war aims during the Great War. And despite Hitler’s abuse of the concept, the statesmen and experts who planned for a better world after the Second World War were not prepared to discard it, though their confirmation of the ideal was noticeably tentative. For example, the Atlantic Charter did not use the term; nevertheless, Roosevelt and Churchill did affirm ‘their desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned’ (point 2, quoted in Churchill, 1952, p. 352). Moreover, Roosevelt envisaged the liberal (in both senses of the word) use of plebiscites after the war. The UN Charter, unlike the League Covenant, does mention the term in the phrase ‘respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples’ (Arts. 1.2 and 55); but the emphasis is on the principle as a means to maintaining peace, not an end in itself.
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© 1994 Derek Heater
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Heater, D. (1994). Conclusions. In: National Self-Determination. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23600-8_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23600-8_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-23602-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-23600-8
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