(from R-L) Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
met in the Teheran Conference, Dec 1943,
met in the Teheran Conference, Dec 1943,
Quora
Much of Europe had fallen to the Axis powers and the British capital had already suffered from 22 months of bombing. Yet in June 1941 the representatives of a] Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and of b] the 9 exiled governments from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Norway, Netherlands and the Free French etc, met in London to sign the Declaration of St James Palace. They pledged their solidarity in winning victory against the Axis powers!! But 1941, when the Axis powers were winning, was a difficult time to achieve world peace surely!
In Aug Roosevelt and Churchill met at sea, issuing the joint Atlantic Charter (Aug 1941). They declared that after the final destruction of Nazi tyranny, they hoped for a peace that would give all nations the means of dwelling in safety with their own boundaries, living in freedom from fear. Another clause required nations to abandon the use of force. And peoples had the right to choose their own government. The Atlantic Charter created a profound impression on the Allies and the occupied countries, even though the Charter had little legal validity. It was signed in Sept by the USSR and the 9 exiled governments of occupied Europe.
Roosevelt, Churchill, Litvinov (USSR) and Soong (China) created a short document called the Declaration by United Nations (Jan 1942). Governments that signed this declaration pledged to accept the Charter and agreed not to negotiate a separate peace with Axis powers.
In Aug Roosevelt and Churchill met at sea, issuing the joint Atlantic Charter (Aug 1941). They declared that after the final destruction of Nazi tyranny, they hoped for a peace that would give all nations the means of dwelling in safety with their own boundaries, living in freedom from fear. Another clause required nations to abandon the use of force. And peoples had the right to choose their own government. The Atlantic Charter created a profound impression on the Allies and the occupied countries, even though the Charter had little legal validity. It was signed in Sept by the USSR and the 9 exiled governments of occupied Europe.
Roosevelt, Churchill, Litvinov (USSR) and Soong (China) created a short document called the Declaration by United Nations (Jan 1942). Governments that signed this declaration pledged to accept the Charter and agreed not to negotiate a separate peace with Axis powers.
First working session
Judicial meeting in San Francisco, April 1945.
U.N Office of Legal Affairs
Judicial meeting in San Francisco, April 1945.
U.N Office of Legal Affairs
Great Britain, U.S, China and Soviet Union met in Moscow and signed the Moscow Declaration in Oct 1943. The Declaration pledged joint international action in dealing with the enemies’ surrender. Two months later, Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill met in the Tehran Conference in Dec 1943, where they worked out the Allies final strategy for winning the war. It is hard to believe they thought that their discussions would win the war in 1943!
Note the principles underlying an international organisation had already been specified in declarations since 1941. Now a blueprint had to be prepared, then accepted by the nations. So representatives of China, Great Britain, USSR and U.S met at Dumbarton Oaks in 1944 in Washington DC. By Oct 1944, a proposal for the new structure was submitted to all the U.N governments for discussion, including the 5 principal bodies that would make up the U.N organisation.
Member states gave armed forces to the Security Council, if needed, to suppress aggression. The absence of such forces had been a fatal weakness in the old League of Nations!
The voting procedure in the Security Council was urgently addressed at Yalta in the Crimea in 1944 where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, together with their foreign ministers, again met in 1945.
44 nations were invited to the San Francisco Conference in 1945: nations that had declared war on Germany & Japan and had signed the UN Declaration. Then 6 more countries were invited. Thus delegates from 50 nations gathered, representing 80+% of the world's population. Writing the charter took two months (Ap-Jun 1945) then every part of it had to be voted on, and accepted by a 2/3 majority.
Delegates met in San Francisco Opera House for the last session in Jun 1945 where the Chairman announced the Charter had been passed unanimously. Cheering delegates filed to a huge round table on which lay the two historic volumes, the Charter and the Statute of the International Court of Justice, alongside the 50 nations’ flags.
In many countries the Charter had to be approved by their parliaments. Thus the Charter would come into force ONLY when the Governments of China, France, Great Britain, Soviet Union and U.S, AND a majority of the other signatory states, had ratified it.
In Oct 1945, this condition was fulfilled and the U.N came into existence after 4 years of planning. The U.N was given six main bodies: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council (established 1946), Trusteeship Council and Secretariat are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The 6th, International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague. The U.N does not have an army and imposes no taxes. It depends on the political will of its Members to have its decisions activated.
When the U.N was founded in 1945, c750 million people, a third of the world's population, lived in territories that were dependent on colonial powers. Today under 2 million people live under colonial rule in the 17 remaining non-self-governing territories. The wave of decolonisation was born with the UN and represented the world body’s first great success. As a result, many countries became independent and joined the UN. And others still will. Sofar there are 193 UN member states.
Member states gave armed forces to the Security Council, if needed, to suppress aggression. The absence of such forces had been a fatal weakness in the old League of Nations!
The voting procedure in the Security Council was urgently addressed at Yalta in the Crimea in 1944 where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, together with their foreign ministers, again met in 1945.
44 nations were invited to the San Francisco Conference in 1945: nations that had declared war on Germany & Japan and had signed the UN Declaration. Then 6 more countries were invited. Thus delegates from 50 nations gathered, representing 80+% of the world's population. Writing the charter took two months (Ap-Jun 1945) then every part of it had to be voted on, and accepted by a 2/3 majority.
Delegates met in San Francisco Opera House for the last session in Jun 1945 where the Chairman announced the Charter had been passed unanimously. Cheering delegates filed to a huge round table on which lay the two historic volumes, the Charter and the Statute of the International Court of Justice, alongside the 50 nations’ flags.
In many countries the Charter had to be approved by their parliaments. Thus the Charter would come into force ONLY when the Governments of China, France, Great Britain, Soviet Union and U.S, AND a majority of the other signatory states, had ratified it.
In Oct 1945, this condition was fulfilled and the U.N came into existence after 4 years of planning. The U.N was given six main bodies: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council (established 1946), Trusteeship Council and Secretariat are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The 6th, International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague. The U.N does not have an army and imposes no taxes. It depends on the political will of its Members to have its decisions activated.
When the U.N was founded in 1945, c750 million people, a third of the world's population, lived in territories that were dependent on colonial powers. Today under 2 million people live under colonial rule in the 17 remaining non-self-governing territories. The wave of decolonisation was born with the UN and represented the world body’s first great success. As a result, many countries became independent and joined the UN. And others still will. Sofar there are 193 UN member states.
San Francisco, June 1945,
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Success was never guaranteed by the U.N. One example will do. The rebellion by several Muslims groups in India-administered Kashmir, who wanted either a merger with Pakistan or independence, gained urgency after 1989. Even when UN peace keepers were placed there, c70,000 were still killed by security forces.
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27 comments:
It showed great foresight that in 1926 Germany joined as a permanent member of the League of Nations. Yes it recognised Germany’s power, but it also showed the Allies' understanding of a previous enemy. But once London suffered 22 months of destructive bombing in the Second World War, I am amazed that both Germanies were admitted to the United Nations eventually (1973).
Helen, whatever people think of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill today, they certainly dedicated themselves to a new international organisation dedicated to establishing and maintaining peace on earth.
It was a beginning, a brave effort to guarantee peace. The peace is tenuous at best and partial, many people still suffering dreadfully.
This is the interesting part of history that I would come back to read later. Thank you for great history.
Thank you for a very interesting post
Deb
understood... nations don't EVER forget tragedies done to them. However alliances between nations changed over the decades and centuries, depending on which wars we examine. In the post WW2 years, establishment of peace and growth across the world might have been more important than revenge.
The Federal Republic of West Germany was admitted to the UN in 1952 with observer status, but neither Germanies were admitted as full members until 1973. Even later, the French president publicly acknowledged that "with Germany's engagement, its ranking as a great power, its international influence, France would like to see it recognised with a permanent seat on the Security Council"
Joe
true. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill's very first Declaration in 1941 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." Despite 1941 being the worst time of the war, the three leaders continued with a commitment to their goal during and after the war.
jabblog
One issue that provoked endless debate was the right of each permanent member of the Security Council (U.K, China, Soviet Union, U.S and France) to veto any resolution passed by the Security Council. The smaller powers feared that when one of the Powerful Five threatened peace, the Security Council would be powerless. So they struggled to have the veto power reduced. But the great powers unanimously insisted on this provision and emphasised that the main responsibility for maintaining world peace would fall most heavily on them. Crises were resolved only because the other nations wanted the best compromises possible.
However as you noted, many communities continued to suffer dreadfully.
roentare
for a short paper, perhaps read "History of the United Nations: How Was It Founded?" written by Tsira Shvangiradze in 2023.
Jo-Anne
I studied a lot of history at high school and at university, but I don't remember _ever_ examining this very important topic. Probably as important a topic for the current generation of students as it was in the 1950s and 60s.
After a number of notable successes and some early failures in the 1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the 1930s. Germany withdrew from the League, as did Japan, Italy, Spain, and others. The onset of the Second World War showed that the League had failed its primary purpose to prevent any future world war. The League lasted for 26 years; the United Nations (UN) replaced it after the end of the Second World War in April 1946 and inherited a number of agencies and organizations founded by the League.
The League of Nations had been formed to prevent a repetition of the First World War, but within two decades this effort failed. Economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation (particularly in Germany) eventually contributed to World War II.
The United Nations is the best thing with have, there not being an alternative, rather like democracy really.
The veto power has always concerned me, but my knowledge is insufficient to jump one way or the other on the matter.
Lumen Learning
Thank you. I understood that the League of Nations was the first international organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace and that it has important successes after WW1 ended. What I hadn't thought much about was the League had an important role in preventing the growth of Axis aggression and WW2, which clearly failed.
It makes sense that the new United Nations executive would avoid the weaknesses and failures of the League of Nations.
Andrew
United Nations is definitely the best organisation the world has, and has had some very fine successes. Appropriately, it has often been called upon to prevent disputes from descending into war, or to help restore peace following the outbreak of a military crisis.
But conflict between the Great Powers is inevitable and I don't think removing the veto would change that situation. For example, when the UN Security Council met at the request of the United States in Vietnam, would the American bombing have stopped? Would the other Great Powers have left the United Nations in horror?
Boa tarde de quarta-feira. Obrigado pela visita e comentário. Parabéns pela excelente matéria e aula de história.
Luiz Gomes.
viagenspelobrasilerio.blogspot.com
Luiz
regardless of where we live in the world, the history and success of United Nations are essential knowledge. For the past, of course, but also for the future.
I knew the United Nations started after WW2, but I didn't know the story behind it. Very interesting. I hope people respect this organization because they do many good things, and hopefully, help us avoid WW3, but sadly there's still some leaders out there who may not have enough foresite to see that they are not the ultimate leader. Hope you're having a great week.
Erika
yes indeed! It was and is a critical organisation for peace on earth, even though failures are still happening in various parts of the world. Now I am wondering if the United Nations agreements are often ignored because 1] some national leaders don't believe in ANY authority having a higher power than their own or 2] they do believe in some sort of United Nations but the decisions have not been always been fair.
Despite it's failures, the United Nations has achieved a lot and the fact that nearly every sovereign state is a member is vitally important.
The first ever meeting of the UN was held in Westminster Central Hall in London in 1946.
bazza
can you imagine the magic feeling of the first UN meeting in London in Jan 1946. The millions of bodies gassed, shot, nuclear bombed or starved to death hadn't even been buried yet and here were 54 nations committed to international peace and human rights, electing their first president.
I wonder if they understood then that eventually, with 193 members covering 99.5 % of the world’s population, the General Assembly would become the single most representative body in the world. I wish I had been there.
The point of the League was to use Germany's surrender to force the 1912 Hague Opium Convention on all and sundry after that process was interrupted in 1914. The 1914 war sprang from a 1911 opium glut in producing areas from the Adriatic eastward. It backfired because Germany paid reparations via heroin exports to places like Dry America. Europe thus had a stake in the world's largest producer staying in business. The Republican party, appalled by addiction replacing beer, got the League of Nations Opium Advisory Committee to work on laws limiting production of drugs, addictive or not (repeal was unthinkable). This led to Hoover's Moratorium on Brains suspending payments so Europeans needn't dun Germany for reparations with which to to repay war loans. That obscured the workings of the Limitation Convention and resulting 1931 financial panics in Germany. But German Big Pharma financed Hitler's Christian National Socialism so that two years later there was ONE German party able to scoff at the Limitation Convention. This unmentionable background is documented in League archives. Eisenlohr's book also sheds light, albeit stripped of relevant dates. See Libertrans.blogspot
Hank
thanks for a detailed response. Even if the 1912 Hague Opium Convention was a serious attempt to control the production and distribution of drugs, it came long before the League of Nations emerged in 1920. And as far as the Allies were concerned when they declared war on Germany in 1914, that too did not revolve around any opium glut.
You may be quite correct about the US, but since the US did not join the war until 1917, we have to consider their responses quite separately eg regarding reparations with which to repay past war loans.
Um... the 1912 Hague convention was nearing ratification in August 1914 as signatures accumulated. The separate armistices with the Americans (Associated, not Allied) AND the Versailles surrender treaty in its Article 295 required all signataries to ratify and enforce the Hague opium convention of 1912: "Those of the High Contracting Parties who have not yet signed, or who have signed but not yet ratified, the Opium Convention signed at The Hague on January 23, 1912/2 agree to bring the said Convention into force, and for this purpose to enact the necessary legislation without delay and in any case within a period of twelve months from the coming into force of the present Treaty." The US joined the war because the Russian Revolution put American loans made to Allies in jeopardy. These are open recorded facts.
Because the U.S. Senate did not ratify the Versailles Treaty, the US was still technically and legally at war with Germany in 1920. Germany actually borrowed to be occupied by U.S. troops because the alternative was occupation by other, more vengeful, parties. This stuff is so much stranger than fiction that it is easier and less discomforting for politicians to try to forget they ever happened.
Hank
I have heard many reasons why the USA joined WW1 in 1917 eg the tragic sinking of the Lusitania back in 1915. Yet in 1917 when the Russian Revolution diverted Russia's attention away from the war against Germany, the Allies knew they would be struggling. So why I don't think the British, French and all the other Allies cared too much about repaying American loans at some time in the future, the Allies certainly needed reinforcements immediately.
All of that is indeed part of the truth, and has provided much public consumption unsatisfied with the aridity of political economy. Daddy Warbucks sold weapons and supplies to Europe for commercial paper rediscounted by Federal Reserve banks. Under neutrality laws, the cargo submarine Deutschland delivered valuable drugs and dyes to New Jersey in 1916. The Archduke's wife and Lusitania played well in bold headlines. Yet the war was begun among colonial opiate traders angling for markets during the glut that escalated the 1912 Balkan wars into World War. The 1836 beginning of this nightmare I found in a Sydney newspaper. NZ newspapers cover the events with candor totally unlike anything published in the US, Canadian or European Press. The 1912 Peking Daily News also delivered factual content in impeccable English, never concealing the influence Disraeli would later refer to as: "A Scotchman, richer than Croesus, one McDruggy, fresh from Canton, with a million of opium in each pocket, denouncing corruption, and bellowing free trade.” (Sybil, Or The Two Nations)
Hank
thank you. I hope readers chase up your references.
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