The Signing of the United Nations Charter
On June 26, 1945, delegates from 50 countries, representing eighty per cent of the world’s races, religions and continents, lined up to affix their names on a document that would forever change the international relations and provide hope for a peaceful world—the United Nations Charter. The Dag Hammarskjöld Library’s Oral History website will be highlighting eyewitness accounts of those involved with the creation of the Charter and the 1945 San Francisco Conference in order to highlight the importance of this historic event.
The path that led to the creation of the United Nations was not an easy one. After a series of meetings and events,—the Declaration of St. James’s Palace (June 1941), the Atlantic Charter (August 1941), the Declaration of the United Nations (January 1942), the Moscow and Teheran Conference (1943), Dumbarton Oaks and Yalta (1944-1945)—850 delegates gathered at the San Francisco Conference in June of 1945 to set up an organization that would maintain peace and preserve hope for a better world. General Carlos P. Romulo, head to the Philippine delegation at the Conference states, “Now what we envisioned in San Francisco was an organization that would be universal. That was one of the outstanding characteristics that we wanted for the new Organization to have, universality, and that was very well placed in the Charter, the universality of the Organization.”
In the nearly 400 meetings held during the Conference, the delegates discussed and fine tuned every line, word and sentence of what would be the United Nations Charter. After many clashes of opinion, debates and arguments, the final draft was presented at the last meeting in the Opera House at San Francisco on June 25. When the issue was put forth, every delegate rose and remained standing, as did everyone present, in support. Loud acclaim resounded as the Chairman announced the Charter’s unanimous passing.
“There was a feeling of general euphoria that the work had been accomplished.” – Leland Goodrich, Scholar and Contributor to the UN Charter
You are invited to discover more of this long and, often times, difficult journey to the creation of the United Nations Charter and the Organization itself through the poignant first-hand accounts on the Oral History website.
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