When did the United Nations officially begin?
1 Answer
The term 'United Nations' arose in WW-2 as a descriptor for the Nations that endorsed the Atlantic Charter and joined the Allies.
Explanation:
Even before the US officially entered the Second World War, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt met off Argentia Newfoundand in August 1941. The agreement they made, subsequently known as the Atlantic Charter, was the design and the plan for the Post-War World.
Those nations that endorsed the Atlantic Charter, became known as the United Nations, as of January 1st 1942. Among the items on the Charter would be the creation of a new international body to help prevent the emergence of another war like WW1 and WW2.
Nations which declared war on the Axis powers could join the United Nations, so long as they endorsed the Charter's principles.
The original 26 members of the United Nations were: the US, the United Kingdom, the USSR, China, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, South Africa, Yugoslavia
Subsequently, Mexico, Philippines, Ethiopia, Iraq, Brazil, Bolivia, Iran, Colombia, Liberia, France, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Lebanon signed the Charter. Some (like Brazil and Mexico) joined in the fighting, Ethiopia and France waited until they could form governments again, and -- technically -- some like the Philippines and Lebanon weren't yet fully independent. Egypt hadn't even declared war on Italy and Germany when its territory was invaded, but did so in April 1945 so they could join the UN.
