The San Fransico COnference& THE BIRTH OF THE UNITED NATIONSUN History SeriesBy Jaime Paredes
Because we benefit from the union of the United Nations providedeach day, it is easy to forget where it started. In this series, we willshare the key moments that led to the formation of the UnitedNations and how we experience it today.When we think of United Nations gatherings, we frequently think of the UN Headquartersin New York City or Geneva. It is often in those places that important decisions are madetoday. What is often forgotten is that the United Nations was born on the shores of thePacific Ocean, in the city of San Francisco, USA. It was in San Francisco that during thefinal weeks of the Second World War, delegates from fifty nations gathered to createthe UN Charter and the International Court of Justice. Remembering this importantepisode in UN history is relevant given the threat of a new global conflict today.Formally known as the United Nations Conference on International Organization, the SanFrancisco Conference lasted roughly two months from May to June of 1945. It remainstoday the largest gathering that the United Nations has ever seen. Four sponsoringnations, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union, sponsoredthe UN conference to create an international organization capable of preventing afuture global war. The conference as well as the term “United Nations” were an initiativeof American president Franklin D. Roosevelt. The reasons that motivated Roosevelt wereobvious: the League of Nations created by his predecessor had failed to prevent the war.Unfortunately, Roosevelt never saw his vision for the United Nations materialized, as thewar drew to an end, his health deteriorated and he died in April 1945, days before theconference was set to begin.The choice of San Francisco was not a casual one. The city was chosen because itprovided a fairly equal travel time for all the delegates of the represented nations. Not allnations were invited to the conference. While the conference was being held, the fightingcontinued to rage in Europe and the Pacific. Only those nations that had declared war onthe Axis powers prior to the conference were invited. Later, once freedom was restoredin war-torn countries, all nations would be invited to join the UN. In total 850 delegatesarrived in San Francisco, and counting additional staff members, there were around3500 representatives for the conference. The conference was held at the San FranciscoWar Memorial Opera. For the next two months, these representatives would debate andapprove the UN charter. Back then, as it is today, the question of the Security Councilcomposition and the veto power was a hotly debated topic. At the end, the smallernations were not able to overcome the insistence of the sponsoring powers, and theveto of the permanent members of the Security Council remained. Nevertheless, mostsources agree that the atmosphere at the conference was optimistic and constructive,and the charter was approved unanimously. Within two years the UN Headquarters inNew York City was completed.It was in San Francisco that the delegates of the represented nations establishedtheir purpose in the UN charter, the prevention of global conflicts: “We The Peoplesof the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from thescourge of war…”. The goal of preventing war was straightforward for nationsthat had for years seen destruction and death. Today, with the memory of aglobal conflict far in the past, it is important for us to remember that it was peacethat motivated all delegates to create the United Nations. Today the UN Plaza inthe San Francisco Civic Center is a memorial to this crucial episode in history.In a separate ceremony, the delegates of all the represented nations to the Conferenceheld a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Muir Redwood National Forest, in thecoastal hills north of the San Francisco Bay, where they left a plaque among the thousandyear-old redwoods that continue to stand today.Part II in the next edition of The CubeThe Cube | 33
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