Editing United Nations (section)

=== Founding (1945) ===
[[File:United Nations Member States-1945.png|thumb|upright=1.8|The UN in 1945: founding members in light blue, protectorates and territories of the founding members in dark blue]]

By 1 March 1945, 21 additional states had signed the Declaration by the United Nations.{{sfn|Osmańczyk|2004|p=2445}} After months of planning, the [[United Nations Conference on International Organization|UN Conference on International Organization]] opened in [[San Francisco]] on 25 April 1945. It was attended by 50 nations' governments and a number of non-governmental organizations.<ref name="Charter">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/|title=Charter of the United Nations|website=United Nations|access-date=29 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204151003/http://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/|archive-date=4 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="UNHistory">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/sections/history/history-united-nations/index.html|title=History of the United Nations |website=United Nations|access-date=29 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107223107/http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/history-united-nations/index.html|archive-date=7 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/San-Francisco-the-birthplace-of-the-United-6336655.php|title=San Francisco – the birthplace of the United Nations|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=29 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229171754/http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/San-Francisco-the-birthplace-of-the-United-6336655.php|archive-date=29 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The delegations of the Big Four chaired the plenary meetings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/sections/history-united-nations-charter/1945-san-francisco-conference/index.html |title=1945: The San Francisco Conference|publisher=United Nations |access-date=1 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112180024/http://www.un.org/en/sections/history-united-nations-charter/1945-san-francisco-conference/index.html|archive-date=12 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Previously, Churchill had urged Roosevelt to restore France to its status of a major power after the [[liberation of Paris]] in August 1944. The drafting of the [[Charter of the United Nations]] was completed over the following two months, and it was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries.<ref>{{cite book |title=Progress in International Law |editor-last1=Miller |editor-first1=Russell A. |editor-last2=Bratspies |editor-first2=Rebecca M. |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |location=Leiden, the Netherlands |date=2008 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8K9kL1h79ucC&dq=%22drafter+of+the+Charter+of+the+United+Nations%22&pg=PA837 837]}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=South Africa: Time Running Out |publisher=University of California Press |date=1981 |work=The Study Commission on U.S. Policy Toward Southern Africa |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sq43lnbklEUC&dq=%22author+of+the+Charter+of+the+United+Nations%22&pg=PA31 31] |isbn=978-0-520-04547-7}}</ref> The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]]: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union and [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] — and by a majority of the other 46 nations.<ref name="unmilestones1941to1950" /><ref name="original draft">{{Cite web |title=Charter of the United Nations and Statue of the International Court of Justice |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CTC/uncharter.pdf |publisher=Treaty Section, [[United Nations Office of Legal Affairs]] |pages=6, 20, 31 |year=1945 |access-date=29 October 2024 |language=en |location=San Francisco, United States}}</ref>

The first meetings of the [[General Assembly]], with 51 nations represented,{{efn|Poland had not been represented among the fifty nations at the San Francisco conference due to the reluctance of the Western superpowers to recognize its post-war communist government. However, the Charter was later amended to list Poland as a founding member, and Poland ratified the Charter on 16 October 1945.{{sfn|Grant|2009|pp=25–26}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msz.gov.pl/en/foreign_policy/international_organisations/united_nations/poland_and_the_un/ |title=Poland and the United Nations |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland |access-date=29 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003602/http://www.msz.gov.pl/en/foreign_policy/international_organisations/united_nations/poland_and_the_un/ |archive-date=3 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} and the Security Council took place in [[London]] beginning in January 1946.<ref name=unmilestones1941to1950>{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/milestones-1941-1950/index.html |title=Milestones 1941–1950 |website=United Nations |access-date=1 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027013705/http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/milestones-1941-1950/index.html|archive-date=27 October 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Debates began at once, covering topical issues such as the presence of Russian troops in [[Iranian Azerbaijan]] and British forces in [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=John Morris |title=History of the world |date=1993 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-521043-9 |location=New York |page=778 |oclc=28378422}}</ref> British diplomat [[Gladwyn Jebb]] served as interim secretary-general.

The General Assembly selected [[New York City]] as the site for the headquarters of the UN. Construction began on 14 September 1948 and the facility was completed on 9 October 1952. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, [[Trygve Lie]], was the first elected [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|UN secretary-general]].<ref name="unmilestones1941to1950" />