10 January 2022 marks a grand seventy-six years since the UN (then comprising of just fifty-one member states) convened for the very first General Assembly at Westminster Central Hall, in the heart of London. But what exactly had led to this historic moment? In June 1941, twenty-two months of war had already elapsed, with the great British capital becoming all too familiar to the constant wailing of air-raid sirens and upsurge of civilian casualties. A devastating 40,000 civilians had died in the seven-month period between September 1940 and May 1941- with nearly half of these being within the capital. Despite this tragedy, in both London and among other allied governments and their people, hope remained for victory and more importantly a pathway to a brighter post-war future. It was this common strive for recovery from which the roots of the UN soon emerged and so on 12 June 1941, representatives of Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa as well as several exiled governments within Europe met at St. James’ Palace and signed a declaration to voice support for a new and improved post-war world.
An extract from the declaration gives us a key insight into the aims that any future international collaborative body should adopt:
‘That the only true basis of enduring peace is the willing co-operation of free peoples in a world in which, relieved of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security; and that it is their intention to work together, and with other free peoples, both in war and peace to this end.’
It is evident that this new body would be unlike any other, certainly in no way similar to the prior League of Nations (agreed upon within the Treaty of Versailles) which had been wholly unsuccessful in the long-term in preservation of ‘peace’ and prevention of ‘war’.
In August of that year, further developments were made towards this body, namely the signing of the Atlantic Charter between Franklin D. Roosevelt (US President 1933-45) and Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1940-45). The document directly referred to the need for ‘certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they [would] base their hopes for a better future of the world.’
The purposes and principles outlined here in the Atlantic Charter were further agreed upon by twenty-six states at war within the 1 January 1942, Declaration of the United Nations. This was the first direct naming of the body as the UN, coined by US president Roosevelt.
Notable members included the United States, United Kingdom, China and the USSR. The number of states adhering to the declaration would later rise.
<![if !vml]><![endif]>In the years to follow, as WWII drew to a close, much deliberation occurred on par with the influence each global power held. This was seen out in the Tehran conference in 1943, where the ‘Big Three’ (Leaders of the US, UK and USSR) delved into how the UN would play out in the real world. They expressed clear determination to pursue the Atlantic Charter as well as recognising ‘the supreme responsibility resting upon [them] and all the United Nations to make a peace which [would] command the goodwill of the overwhelming mass of the peoples of the world and banish the scourge and terror of war for many generations’.
They further announced their intention to ‘seek the cooperation and active participation of all nations, large and small, whose peoples in heart and mind [were] dedicated, as [were their] own peoples, to the elimination of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance’ within a ‘world family of Democratic Nations’.
Today, the UN still highlights disarmament, peace and security as well as international law and justice as global challenges, suggesting the assembly is still very much involved within the parameters of which it was founded- in a post-war Britain.
However, the 21st century has brought new items of discussion to the table- for example, dealing with the major humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan which has ironically escalated further since the de-escalation of US forces in August 2021.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi asked the European Union to take in more than 40,000 Afghan refugees over the next five years, but the plea failed to receive the backing of EU countries. This touches on how the nature of decision-making in the UN has changed from the voting systems present when it comprised only of 51 member states, in contrast to the current 193 states- requiring resolutions to be reached by consensus for the large majority of items.
Though the UN has retained its general aim of keeping peace, the 21st century has brought an array of new challenges for the body to discuss and resolve- whereby possible.
TS
Bibliography [All accessed 10/01/2022]
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/history-of-the-un
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/history-of-the-un/preparatory-years
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/history-of-the-un/predecessor
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/09/1099112
https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/atlantic-charter?tmpl=component&print=1
https://www.un.org/en/model-united-nations/how-decisions-are-made-un
