The first work in planning the United Nations was done in the United States Department of State during World War II.
At the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers in 1943, Secretary of State Cordell Hull was able to get the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of China to agree to the establishment of an international organization for keeping international peace and security, to be open to all peace-loving nations.
The following year, at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in Washington, representatives from the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the Republic of China, and the United States agreed upon the outlines of a plan. But there was still a long way to go.
At Yalta, U.S.S.R., in 1945, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union agreed that a conference would be held in San Francisco to make plans for the new organization. The conference would be attended by all nations allied in World War II against the major Axis Powers. A charter for the proposed organization would be drafted then.
The United Nations Conference on International Organization met at San Francisco between April 25 and June 26, 1945, with 46 and later 50 nations taking part. It was here that the Charter of the United Nations was drawn up.
The United Nations is not merely an organization for keeping the peace. It has other jobs, such as bringing about cooperation in economic and social problems, furthering respect for human rights, and helping territories to develop economically and politically.
