Britain and the Creation of the United Nations, 1939-1945
Channel: War Studies KCL
Date: 2021-03-17

The historical scholarship focusing on the creation of the United Nations Organization tends to be skewed towards the role played by the United States. Often overlooked is the influence of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, to say nothing of other powers, from Australia and New Zealand to Holland and China. 

This presentation focuses on the role of the United Kingdom, in particular, and will discuss the way in which Foreign Office officials worked to deliver on plans for a post-war international organisation. Among a number of themes is the way in which these individuals thought about the future of international order, and the way in which they looked to the history of the League of Nations and even the Congress of Vienna for inspiration.   

Bio
Andrew Ehrhardt is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Centre for Grand Strategy in the Department of War Studies. He recently completed his PhD in the department.