Amid wars, global strife and massive refugee dislocations, the current global scene is overwhelmed with crises ranging from the Middle East to Ukraine and a dozen African conflicts, which rarely make the news. The contemporary world situation in many ways resembles 1945 and the end of WWII. There's a strange deja vu of a history most people do not know or would rather forget.
From the cauldron and chaos of WWII, a new world organisation was created in San Francisco.
In April through June 1945, delegates from over 50 countries, led by the Big Five Allies of the still ongoing Second World War, assembled to form a new organisation to maintain international peace and security, promote economic development and create the framework of international law. Given that the UN was following the moribund and tragically ill-starred League of Nations, this was indeed a tall order.
The US delegation to San Francisco included then-Secretary of State Edward R Stettinius, former Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and Senators Tom Connally (D-Texas) and Arthur Vandenberg (R-Michigan), as well as Congressional and public representatives. The San Francisco Conference grew out of various wartime meetings and commitments made by the Allies for what would emerge as a world organisation.
The State Department Historian advised: "The United States joined Britain in issuing a joint declaration that became known as the Atlantic Charter. This pronouncement outlined a vision for a postwar order supported, in part, by an effective international organisation that would replace the struggling League of Nations." Then-President Franklin D Roosevelt suggested the name of the United Nations.
The governments of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and Nationalist China formalised the Atlantic Charter proposals in January 1942, shortly after the United States entered the war. Later, the Allied powers, along with 22 other countries, agreed to work against the Axis (Germany, Japan, Italy), and to the creation of the United Nations after the war.
Victory in Europe, VE Day, the triumph over Nazi Germany hadn't happened yet and there was still a job to do in the Pacific to defeat Imperial Japan, that victory VJ Day, coming in August.
Clearly, the mood in San Francisco was upbeat as it was hopeful. There were 850 delegates at the Conference; indeed, with staff and conference secretariat, it comprised 3,500 people. In addition, there were 2,500 media.
Delegations and staff were spread throughout the city by the bay. The iconic St Francis Hotel hosted 27 delegations, including Canada, France, Iran, Egypt, among others. The stately Fairmount on Nob Hill hosted delegations and the drafting of the UN Charter in the hotel's Garden Room. Meetings were held at the Opera House. The Charter was signed in the adjoining Herbst Theatre.
The resulting UN Charter, the founding document of the United Nations, pledged to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. The principal bodies of the General Assembly, the membership of the whole (then 51, now 193) and the powerful Security Council, with the founding members, the US, Britain, France, Nationalist China and the Soviet Union, along with another ten non-permanent members.
The Charter "remains the bedrock of international relations", recalls UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The San Francisco Conference closed on June 26, 1945. In a show of support, then-President Harry Truman attended the final session for the signing of the United Nations Charter, congratulating the delegates for creating a "solid structure upon which we can build a better world". However, Truman still needed to secure Senate ratification of the document. President Truman stressed, "I want to see the United States do it first". Early bipartisan support for the UN was strong; the UN Charter was approved in the Senate on July 28, 1945, by a vote of 89 to 2.
The United Nations came into existence on Oct 24, 1945, after the US, the UK, China, France and the Soviet Union had ratified the Charter. The first members included Brazil, Canada, Chile, Iran, Lebanon, the Philippines and Turkey. Stalin added the Soviet "Republics" of Belorussia and Ukraine as members.
The UN's early years were dominated by crises in the Middle East, the creation and membership of the State of Israel, conflict between India and Pakistan, and the Korean War in June 1950. Equally, a host of humanitarian and refugee agencies were established to assist economic development.
Today, 80 years later, how much has really changed?