11.3 The United Nations

. The United Nations Although the League of Nations did not succeed in its objectives, it however, ignited the dream for a universal Organisation that would work to preserve peace in the world. With the end of the Second World War which witnessed around million casualties, the idea of the United Nations was born. World leaders who had collaborated to bring the war to an end felt a strong need for a mechanism that would ensure lasting peace and prevent future wars. It was also felt that this was possible only through a global Organisation where all nations would work together. The name ‘United Nations’ was coined by the then United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was first officially used in when representatives from twenty six nations signed the Declaration by United Nations to continue to fight together against the axis powers in order to obtain just peace. Thus unlike the League of Nations, it began as an alliance that came into being soon after the United States’ entry into the war following the attack on Pearl Harbour by Japan and Germany’s declaration of war against the United States in December . In August , delegates from China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States, met in Dumbarton Oaks to draw the basic blueprint for the new International Organisation and by October the outline of the United Nations Charter was ready.