ABSTRACT

Although the League of Nations had not been successful in preventing all out conflict in 1939, it was clear to the Allied statesmen during the Second World War that some form of international organisation would have to be established to manage tensions within the international community. The United States Department of State2 had been working on plans for such an organisation since 1943 and in August 1944 representatives of China, Russia, Britain and the United States met to approve an American plan entitled ‘Tentative United States Proposals for a General International Organisation’ at Dumbarton Oaks, a country house near Washington DC. The proposal was approved and the terms made public in October 1944. In February 1945, an ailing President Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin at Yalta to agree on post-war reconstruction. They decided that an international conference would meet to settle the new post-war structure at San Francisco in April 1945. By April 1945, France had rejoined the big five and invitations were sent to 46 nations to attend the conference at San Francisco; 45 nations agreed to attend. The San Francisco Conference was opened by President Truman on 25 April 1945 and concluded with the signing of the United Nations Charter on 26 June 1945. It is, therefore, relevant to observe that the Charter was drafted during the Second World War and, thus, proper emphasis was placed on the desire to avoid future conflict.