The United Nations

Essential Questions

• What were the mistakes that prevented the League of Nations from being able to contain conflict and prevent a new world war?

• How did the UN’s founders try to avoid the mistakes that led to the ineffectiveness and failure of the League?

• What has the impact been of the special place of the “Big Five” nations and the veto each enjoys on the UN Security Council?

Essential Questions (continued)

• How did the Cold War rivalry between the Soviet Union and the U.S. affect the ability of the UN to play its part in world affairs after 1945?

• What role has the UN played in coping with political instability, unrest, and civil war in the conflicts where it has become involved?

• What impact has the UN had on the problems of social and economic development around the world, and in particular with regard to the many new emerging nations in the postwar world?

Helping the World

United Nations for Everyone Everywhere

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In the Beginning

The League of Nations at opening session in Geneva

The League of Nations

Atlantic Charter

British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and U.S. President Roosevelt at

the Atlantic Charter

The eighth clause of the Atlantic Charter states, “All nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons, must come to the abandonment of the use of force.”

Meetings for the Future

Declaration by the United Nations, 1942 Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, U.S., 1944

Creating a blueprint of the United Nations

1944: Dumbarton Oaks