If You're Reading This

     Dear Visitor, welcome to the UN Channel. If you are a regular, and have come back to see whether I have finally gotten off my haunches and started writing this blog again, today is your lucky day. If you are a first time visitor, welcome to you, madam/sir!

     I do realise that it has been slightly more than a year since I wrote last. I attempted to shift the blog to Tumblr, but found that Blogspot has a unique blogging experience which Tumblr simply cannot complete with.

     I have had a rather interesting year so far. I have had more experience in academic writing, and hopefully I will be writing better material for everyone who comes looking for information.

     I would be open to taking any suggestions, regarding material, resources, and many other questions. As a student of Political Science, I would love to be able to give any help to anyone. Feel free to email me at kam593@drexel.edu, and I will get back to you via blog, or email.

     Thank you for coming back, and the faith you have shown in this minor venture of mine. 

Teheran Conference: 28 November- 1 December 1943

     The Teheran conference is considered important and mention-worthy in the process of establishing the United Nations because it was here for the first time that all three leaders of the US, UK, and USSR met face to face. This conference was also the birthplace of the controversial concept of the present day Veto Power that the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council hold.

     It was in Teheran that President Roosevelt talked to Stalin in secret regarding the establishment of the United Nations. This action assured the Soviet Union that the United States is ready to talk and cooperate with them. This trust factor contributed greatly in the peace-building process pursued by the Allied powers. Without the help of the Soviet Union, the world order would have been very different, and, possibly, in a state of anarchy.

     Most post-war policies with regard to independent governments in East Europe and the possible division of Germany were discussed by the leaders at this conference. Stalin also agreed in principle to declare war on Japan in return for a handsome land reward in Northern China. He also pushed for the establishment of the Polish border in favour of his country.
     This conference can be held responsible for the establishment of the most important aspect of a united world organisation, trust.

For further reading:
The Avalon Project: The Teheran Conference (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/tehran.htm)
Office of the Historian (US Department of State): Milestones 1937-1945 (http://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/tehran-conf)

Moscow Conferences: October 18- November 11 1943

     For the first time since the start of the war, the foreign ministers of the US, UK and USSR along with the Chinese Ambassador to USSR sat down to discuss a definitive plan for a post- war world. By this time, the Allied forces had set their sight on total victory. The conferences in Moscow allowed the Allied foreign ministers to sit down and discuss the establishment of a new world order after they defeat the Axial forces. 

     The most important event of this conference was the agreement with the United States and the USSR to establish a world organisation as soon as the war was over. This marked the beginning of a strong alliance that would eventually win the Second World War. 

     The conference resulted in the signing of the Joint Four- Nation Declaration, the Declaration Regarding Italy, the Declaration on Austria, and the Statement On Atrocities. These documents were signed by the governments of the USA, the UK, and USSR. 

     This conference was an important step in the establishment of the United Nations since the declaration signed at the end of this conference pledged that the foreign ministers recognise '...the necessity of insuring a rapid and orderly transition from war to peace and of establishing and maintaining international peace and security with the least diversion of the world's human and economic resources for armaments.' 

For further reading:
The Avalon Project: The Moscow Conference; October 1943 (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/moscow.asp)
Moscow and Teheran Conferences (http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/moscowteheran.shtml)

Declaration by the United Nations: 1 January 1942

     The United Nations Declaration, signed originally by the representatives of the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of China and the Soviet Union, served as a uniting factor for all the allied countries against Germany and Japan. Signed by the 'Big Four' on the first day of the year 1942, it was signed by twenty two other countries on the next day. 

     The declaration united these 26 countries in the common war against Germany and Japan. Furthermore, it forbade these countries from making separate peace. The latter clause was a simple reiteration of the reforms that were to be followed post- 1919 after the first great war. Now, the allied forces had one and only on purpose; to defeat the Axis powers in order to safeguard its own peoples. 

     The principles of the declaration were based on the principles put down in the Atlantic Charter. It is clearly stated in the text that the signatories of the declaration have 'subscribed to a common program of purposes and principles embodied in the Joint Declaration of the President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dated August 14, 1941, known as the Atlantic Charter.' 

     At the San Francisco Conference, three years later, only the nations that had declared war on Germany and Japan were invited to take part in order to unite only those with similar ideologies. The declaration can be credited with bringing together all countries that had the same mission into one joint force that proved to be fatal for the enemy. 

For further reading: 

The Declaration by United Nations (http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/declaration.shtml)

A Decade of American Foreign Policy: Declaration by the United Nations, January 1, 1942 (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decade03.asp)

The Atlantic Charter: 14 August 1941

     The location: Somewhere at Sea. The date: 14 August 1941. Aboard the U.S.S Augusta, US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued a joint statement that is known today as the Atlantic Charter. The statement declared aims and objectives for the post- war world. It was, later, approved by all Allied Powers.
     The statement was issued when the Axis powers were very much in the ascendant and the United States was yet to formally enter the war. Neither was the statement a formal treaty nor was it a final expression of peace aims. As the document stated, it was an affirmation "of certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world."
     The 8 points of the Atlantic Charter, when simplified, would read as follows:

1. No territorial gains would be sought by the United States or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
2. Territorial adjustments be made in accord with the wishes of the people concerned.
3. All the peoples have the right to self-determination.
4. Trade barriers were to be lowered. 
5. There was to be global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare.
6. Freedom from want and fear;
7. Freedom of the seas;
8. Disarmament of aggressor nations, post-war common disarmament.

     The sixth clause bears directly on world organisation; a sign that the founding of the United Nations never lost importance. It reads, "After the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they (the US and Great Britain) hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all the men in the lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want."

     The Atlantic Charter, additionally, lay the foundation of the Charter of the United Nations. The similarity between the two can be noticed very clearly even today. The document reflected the optimism and hope of the two greatest democratic leaders of the day along with far sighted diplomacy and sense of international cooperation. 

     A few days after the rendezvous at sea, ten governments met at London on 24 September 1941, to pledge their cooperation to the Charter. This gave the Charter the sanctity it needed to be put into action in the post- war scenario. USSR, along with nine governments of occupied Europe* attended the signing. 

     On 7 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a military strike against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack was justified as a preventive attack to keep the United States from interfering in the Japanese operations in south east Asia.

    188 US air crafts and 2,402 American lives later, on 8 December 1941, the United States declared war on the Empire of Japan, marking their formal entry into the World War II. 

The Inter Allied Declaration: 12 June 1941

     Early in the World War II, the representatives of 9 countries fled to London. These leaders had been driven out of their homes by the Nazi regime. The Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the Government of Belgium, the Provisional Czechoslovak Government, the Governments of Greece, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Nonvay, Poland and Yugoslavia, and the Representatives of General de Gaulle, leader of Free Frenchmen met in London several times with the regard to a proposal to establish an international organisation which would aim to maintain international peace and security.
     On the fateful day of June 12, 1941, a declaration pledging to work for an independent and secure world was signed by these nations/ representatives. Since all signatories were a part of the Allied block, the declaration came to be known as the 'Inter- Allied Declaration'. That day when the signatories signed the declaration, little did they know that they had just taken the first step towards the founding of a legacy that were to later step out of the shadow of the failure of its predecessor, the League of Nations, and become a hallmark of peace and security for all even 71 years later. That legacy is today known as the United Nations.
     In a time of secret treaties and pacts, the nations went a step ahead of everyone by pledging to not sign any other peace document than the Inter- Allied Declaration. The declaration stated that "The only true basis of enduring peace is the willing cooperation if free peoples in a world in which, relieved of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security...". Leaving no room for ambiguity, the leaders said that it was "their intention to work together, and with other free peoples both in war and peace". The meeting also developed a broad consensus among the signatories concerning the possibility of action against German political and military leaders were the Allies to prove victorious. The declaration committed to "...the punishment, through the channel of organised justice, of those guilty of or responsible for" crimes committed against the signatories.
     Only ten days later, on 22 July 1941, Adolf Hitler launched his attack against the Soviet Union. Code named 'Barbarossa', it was the largest German military operation in the World War II.
 


Sources:
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/imtjames.asp
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/1941-1950.shtml
http://unyearbook.un.org/1946-47YUN/1946-47_P1_CH1.pdf
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005164

An Introduction.

     The United Nations was established after a long series of meetings, conferences and declarations by the Allied Powers post-World War II. The process began in 1941 with the London Declaration that first proposed for the establishment of an international organisation to maintain world peace and prevent a third World War from ever taking place.
     With 26 signatories and 5 permanent members, the United Nations gave the world its much needed ray of hope. As the years passed by the United Nations grew in strength, taking on board all countries willing to comply with the principles of the organisation. The strength of the General Assembly of the UN stands at a staggering 193 member states.
     Since it's founding, the United Nations has worked tirelessly to serve the global community. The UN Channel traces the works of the United Nations since 1945 and its impact internationally. The blog attempts to timeline the ups and the downs of the United Nations right from its first resolution, through the Cold War and into the 21st century.  
     For the next post, keep watching this space!