ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the origins of general and complete disarmament (GCD). It traces GCD's evolution over the years primarily in the United Nations. The chapter discusses some implications, and offers some thoughts on GCD's future. The United Nations Charter, signed in June 1945 just before the atomic bombings in Japan, contained two references to disarmament, while also calling for the "least diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic resources". The Charter did not address "general and complete disarmament" and, like the Covenant, recognized the need for its member states to retain some types of weapons. Disarmament efforts in the United Nations have demonstrated a remarkable record of consistency in terms of basic priorities. The Soviet plan of 10 May 1955 was one of the most notable proposals before the Sub-Committee—it accepted the armed force ceilings that had been proposed by France and the United Kingdom and postponed the prohibition of nuclear weapons until later in the disarmament process.
