History of the United Nations

THE HISTORY OF THE UN

The destruction caused by World War I and World War II led many people to desire an international organization dedicated to maintaining peace. So great was this desire, that shortly after the Paris Peace Conference was convened in January 1919, the Covenant of League of Nations was adopted. (Although the League ultimately was unable to achieve the goals of its founders, the League remained in force until 1946, when it was officially disbanded.)

The following events led to the creation of the United Nations:

Declaration of St. James Palace (June 1941)

World War II began in September 1939. By June 1941, practically all of Europe had fallen to the Axis powers.

On 12 June 1941, representatives from various Allied powers met in London to sign the Declaration of St. James Palace. This declaration was a pledge of solidarity in fighting aggression. It proclaimed that “the only true basis of enduring peace is the willing cooperation of free peoples in a world in which, relieved of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security.”

Atlantic Charter (August 1941)

In August 1941, the Axis powers seemed to have the upper hand. Although the United States was giving moral and material support to the Allies, it had not yet entered the war. One afternoon, two months after the Declaration of St. James Palace, news came that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill were in conference “somewhere at sea.” On 14 August, the two leaders issued a joint declaration known as the Atlantic Charter.

This document was not a treaty between the two powers. Instead, it declared “certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world.”

The Atlantic Charter also affirmed the basic principles of universal human rights:

1. No territorial changes without the freely-expressed wishes of the peoples concerned
2. The right of every people to choose their own form of government
3. Equal access to raw materials for all nations

The Atlantic Charter created a profound impression on the embattled Allies. It came as a message of hope to the occupied countries and held out the promise of a world organization based on universal moral principles.

Declaration by United Nations (1 January 1942)

On 1 January 1942, Churchill, Roosevelt, Maxim Litvinov of the USSR, and T. V. Soong of China signed a short document. This document later became known as the Declaration by United Nations. The next day, representatives of 22 other nations added their signatures. The governments that signed this declaration pledged to accept the Atlantic Charter. They also agreed not to negotiate a separate peace with any of the Axis powers.

The original 26 signatories of the Declaration by United Nations were:

Other countries that signed the Declaration by United Nations later (in order of signature):

The Declaration by United Nations marks the first official use of the term “United Nations.” The Allies used it to refer to their alliance.

Moscow Declaration (October 1943) and Tehran Conference (December 1943)

By 1943, all the principal Allied nations were committed to working together to create a world in which “men in all lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want.” In October 1943, representatives from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, China, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics met in Moscow. On 30 October, these representatives signed the Moscow Declaration. This document recognized “the necessity of establishing at the earliest practicable date a general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States, and open to membership by all such States, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security.”

Two months after the Moscow Declaration, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin—the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—met for the first time in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Here, they worked out the Allies’ final strategy for winning the war. At the end of the conference, they declared: “We are sure that our concord will win an enduring peace. We recognize fully the supreme responsibility resting upon us and all the United Nations to make a peace which will command the goodwill of the overwhelming mass of the peoples of the world and banish the scourge and terror of war for many generations.”

Dumbarton Oaks and Yalta Conferences (1944 – 1945)

By 1944, many nations agreed that an international organization dedicated to maintaining peace and security was necessary. The next step was defining the structure of this new organization. For this purpose, representatives of China, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States met at Dumbarton Oaks, a private mansion in Washington, D. C.

The discussions were completed on 7 October 1944. Afterwards, the four nations submitted a proposal for the structure of the new organization to all the allied governments.

According to the Dumbarton Oaks proposals, the UN would consist of four principal bodies:

1. a GA composed of all the members,
2. a SC of eleven members, of which five would be permanent and the other six would be chosen by the GA for two-year terms,
3. an International Court of Justice,
4. a UN Secretariat.

An Economic and Social Council, working under the authority of the GA, was also provided for.

The Dumbarton Oaks plan stated the SC would be responsible for helping to prevent future wars. The actual method of voting in the SC was left open for future discussion.

The plan also stated that Member States were to place armed forces at the disposal of the SC. This would help prevent war or suppress acts of aggression between States. States generally agreed that the absence of such force had been a fatal weakness in the older League of Nations which had led to its ultimate demise

The Dumbarton Oaks proposals were fully discussed throughout the Allied countries. The SC voting procedure was further addressed by Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the Yalta Conference. On 11February 1945, the Yalta Conference announced that the SC question had been resolved. The Yalta Conference also called for a Conference of UN to be held in San Francisco on 25 April 1945. The purpose of this conference was "to prepare the charter of such an organization, along the lines proposed in the formal conversations of Dumbarton Oaks."

San Francisco Conference (1945)

Delegates from 50 nations gathered in San Francisco. They represented over 80% of the world’s population. These delegates were determined to set up an organization that would preserve peace and help build a better world. The main objective of the San Francisco conference, officially known as the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), was to produce a charter for this new organization that would be acceptable to all the countries.

The conference took place from 25 April to 26 June 1945. The process of writing the UN Charter took two months. Every part of it had to be voted on and accepted by a two-thirds majority.

One issue that provoked long and heated debate was the right of each permanent member of the SC to veto any resolution passed by the SC (The permanent members were China, the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.) The smaller powers feared that when one of the “Big Five” menaced the peace, the SC would be powerless to act. They wanted to reduce the power of the SC veto. But the great powers insisted on the veto. They stated the main responsibility for maintaining world peace would fall most heavily on them. Eventually, the smaller powers conceded the point in the interest of setting up the world organization.

On 25 June 1945, the delegates met in the San Francisco Opera House for the last full session of the conference. It was here that delegates unanimously passed the UN Charter. The next day, in the auditorium of the Veterans’ Memorial Hall, the delegates signed the UN Charter. China, the first victim of aggression by an Axis power, was given the honour of signing first.

However, the UN did not come into existence at the signing of the UN Charter. In many countries, the UN Charter had to be approved by their governments. Therefore, it had been decided that the UN Charter would come into effect when the governments of the “Big Five” and a majority of the other signatory states had ratified it.

On 24 October 1945, this condition was fulfilled and the UN officially came into existence. Four years of planning and the hope of many years had materialized in an international organization designed to end war and promote peace, justice, and better living for all humankind.