On the Contribution of Soviet Diplomacy to the Establishment of the UN

This year the world celebrates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the establishment of the United Nations. Soviet diplomacy made a significant contribution to the creation of the UN at all stages of this process.

At the Moscow Conference of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and China in October 1943, the Soviet delegation put forward a proposal to establish a universal international organization.

In the "Declaration of the Four Nations on General Security" signed following the conference on October 30, 1943, the allies for the first time declared their recognition of the need "to establish a universal international organization for the maintenance of peace and security, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving states, of which all such states, large and small, may be members."

The general ideas of cooperation and unity of action of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain were reflected in the “Declaration of the Three Powers” adopted following the Tehran Conference of November 28 – December 1, 1943. "We are confident," it stated, "that the agreement existing between us will ensure a lasting peace. We are fully aware of the responsibility that rests upon us and upon all the United Nations for the realization of a peace that will receive the approval of the overwhelming majority of the peoples of the globe and that will eliminate the scourge and horrors of war for many generations."

The first draft of the UN Charter was developed at a conference convened at the suggestion of the USSR in Dumbarton Oaks (USA) from September 21 to October 7, 1944. At this forum, representatives of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and China agreed on the goals, structure and functions of the world organization. The Soviet delegation consistently and resolutely advocated that the activities of this organization be based on democratic principles.

The issues of the initial members of the organization and the voting procedure in the Security Council were basically agreed upon at the Crimea (Yalta) Conference of the leaders of the great powers, which took place from 4 to 11 February 1945. On the issue of the initial members of the security organization, it was decided that those states that signed the Washington Declaration by the United Nations in January 1942 or declared war on the common enemy by 1 March 1945 would be invited to the founding conference in San Francisco. On the issue of the voting procedure, a compromise formula was reached, which provided that the Security Council would take any non-procedural decision by votes of seven members of the Council (out of the eleven provided for in the draft Charter), including the votes of its five permanent members (the initiator of the so-called right of veto, which arose from the requirement of unanimity of the five great powers, was the United States, which proposed this formula back in Dumbarton Oaks).

The Yalta Conference agreed on issues related to the maintenance of international peace and security, the development of economic relations, cooperation in the social, technical and other areas of interstate relations. This was one of the most productive diplomatic meetings during the Second World War.

April 25 – June 26, 1945, the founding conference of the United Nations was held in San Francisco. It was attended by 50 states. Initially, 51 states became members of the UN, together with Poland, which joined later. The "Polish question" was artificially singled out by Western states, which prevented the new post-war Poland from joining the organization. However, Moscow's firm position on this issue led to positive results, and the Poles (after the creation of a coalition government) were able to sign the UN Charter as a founding country.

An important place in the work of the conference was occupied by the discussion of comments and amendments to the proposals for the Charter of the future organization, prepared in Dumbarton Oaks. The Soviet delegation sought to ensure that the democratic principles of the structure and activities of the UN were enshrined in the Charter. And it achieved a lot. At the insistence of the USSR, the preamble to the Charter, which proclaimed the main purpose of the UN, stated that the security organization was created in order to ensure peace for mankind and "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war."

Based on Soviet amendments, important new provisions were included in the chapter on the purposes and principles of the UN, stating that peaceful settlement of international disputes should be carried out "in accordance with the principles of justice and international law"; that friendly relations between nations should develop "on the basis of respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples"; that international cooperation in resolving international problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian nature should be carried out "and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion...".

On June 25, 1945, the plenary session of the conference in San Francisco unanimously adopted the UN Charter, the statute of the International Court of Justice and the Agreement on the Preparatory Commission, which was established to organize the work of the main UN bodies at the initial stage.

On June 26, 1945, the UN Charter was signed and the final session of the conference was held. On behalf of the USSR, the Charter was signed by A.A. Gromyko, then the Soviet Ambassador to the USA, thanks to whose personal participation and persistence the final documents related to the creation of the UN recorded positions largely corresponding to the interests of the Soviet Union.

By October 24, 1945, the ratification instruments of 29, that is, the majority of the states that signed the Charter, including the five great powers, were deposited. Thus, the requirements of paragraph 3 of its Article 110 were fulfilled and the Charter entered into force on that date.