978-1-4222-3430-3

The Declaration by United Nations, an effort during World War II by the Allied powers to establish a unified front, was signed on January 1, 1942. It was one of the first usages of the term “united nations.”

In 1945, delegates from fifty countries met in San Francisco, California, and drew up a charter for the United Nations (UN). The Charter listed the purposes of the organization as: 1. To maintain international peace and security. 2. To develop friendly relationships among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples. 3. To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems. Representatives from fifty-one countries (the fifty who had met in San Francisco, plus Poland, who had not been able to attend the convention) signed the Charter, showing their approval and support. On October 24, 1945, the United Nations officially began its existence after the five permanent Security Council members—the United States, United Kingdom, USSR, France, and China—ratified its charter.

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United Nations