January 10 - First UN Meeting

This Day in History: 10 January 2020

 

10 January 1946

 

74 years ago, today, the first General Assembly of the United Nations was held, comprising of 51 nations, such as China, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. This was held at Westminster Central Hall in London, and one week later, the U.N. Security Council also met for the first time, establishing its rules of procedure, in Church House, Westminster. Later, on January 24, the General Assembly produced its first resolution: a measure calling for only peaceful uses of atomic energy, and the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction. The League of Nations, the first worldwide organisation wanting world peace, formally dissolved on 18 April, and transferred its mission to the United Nations.

 

Two years prior, at the Dumbarton Oaks conference in Washington D.C, the foundations for an international post-war organisation to maintain peace and security was laid by the Allies. The organisation was to possess much more authority over members than the League of Nations, which had failed to prevent World War Two. In April 1945, many celebrations of victory in Europe were about to start, while delegations from the 51 nations gathered in San Francisco to draft the United Nations Charter. On June 26, the document was signed, and on October 24 it was formally ratified by the five members of the Security Council, and a majority of other signatories.

 

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