ABSTRACT
Towards the end of World War II, when victory for the Allies seemed assured, discussions began to determine the shape of the post-war world, which the victorious powers were able to influence to a very large extent. Within the political-diplomatic sphere, which falls outside the boundaries of this volume, the United Nations was founded to replace the practically defunct League of Nations. As far as the world economy was concerned, a number of key decisions were taken at a conference of delegates of forty-four nations held at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire in July 1944.
