Logo
A Decade of American Foreign Policy
Basic Documents 1941-1949
Part I. Wartime Documents Looking Toward Peace
  • The Four Freedoms - Annual Message of the President to Congress, January 6, 1941 (Exceprts)

  • The Atlantic Charter, August 14, 1941

  • Declaration by the United Nations, January 1, 1942

  • Master Lend-Lease Agreement

  • The Casablanca Conference, January 14-24, 1943

  • The Quebec Conference, August 17-24, 1943

  • Address by the President Before the Canadian Parliament at Ottawa, August 25, 1943 (Excerpts)

  • Fulbright Resolution

  • The Moscow Conference, October 13-30, 1943

  • Connally Resolution, November 5, 1943

  • United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), November 9, 1943

  • United States Participation in UNRRA, March 28, 1944

  • The Cairo Conference, November 22-26, 1943

  • The Tehran Conference November 28-December 1, 1943

  • ILO - Declaration Concerning Aims and Purposes, May 10, 1944

  • The Crimea (Yalta) Conference, February 4-11, 1945

  • The Berlin (Potsdam) Conference, July 17-August 2, 1945


  • Part II. Conferences on the Peace Settlement
  • First Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, London

  • Interim Meeting of Foreign Ministers, Moscow

  • Second Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, Paris

  • Paris Peace Conference, July 29 to October 15, 1946

  • Third Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, New York

  • Fourth Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, Moscow

  • Fifth Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, London

  • Sixth Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, Paris


  • Part III. United Nations: Basic Organization
  • The Charter of the United Nations, June 26, 1945

  • Statute of the International Court of Justice, June 26, 1945

  • Proclamation of United Nations Charter and Statute of the International Court of Justice

  • Acceptance of Compulsory Jurisdiction of International Court of Justice, August 2, 1946

  • United Nations Participation Act, December 20, 1945

  • Amendment of United Nations Participation Act, October 10, 1949

  • International Organizations Immunities Act, December 9, 1945

  • Convention on the Priviledges and Immunities of the United Nations, February 13, 1946

  • Headquarters of the United Nations

  • United Nations Flag

  • United Nations Day

  • Establishment of an Interim Committee of the General Assembly

  • Vandenberg Resolution


  • Part IV. United Nations: Specialized Agencies
  • Convention on Universal Postal Union, Revision of July 5,1947 (Excerpts)

  • The Bretton Woods Agreements

  • Convention on International Civil Aviation, December 7, 1944 (Excerpts)

  • Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, November 16, 1945

  • Participation in UNESCO, July 30, 1946

  • Constitution of the World Health Organization, July 22, 1946

  • Participation in WHO, June 14, 1948

  • Constitution of the International Refugee Organization, December 15, 1946

  • Participation in IRO, July 1, 1947

  • Convention of the World Meteorlogical Organization, October 11, 1947

  • Convention of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization, March 6, 1948

  • Charter of International Trade Organization, March 24, 1948 (Excerpts)


  • Part V. The Inter-American System(1)

  • Havana Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, July 21-30,1940

  • Rio De Janiero Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, January 15-28, 1942

  • Act of Chapultepec; March 6, 1945

  • Rio De Janeiro Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security, (The Rio Treaty) August 15-September 2, 1947

  • Bogota Conference of American States, Charter of the Organization of American States; March 30-May 2, 1948

  • Waging Peace in the Americas : Address by Secretary Acheson; September 19, 1949

  • Part VI. Defeated and Occupied Areas

    Part VII. Other Areas of Special Interest to the United States
  • Palestine

  • Attitude of American Government Toward Palestine - Letter From President Roosevelt to King Ibn Saud, April 5, 1945

  • Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry (Only excerpts were printed in the source document. The Avalon Project has provided the full text.)

  • Immigration into Palestine - Statement by President Truman, October 4, 1946

  • United States Position on Palestine Question - Statement by Herschel V. Johnson, United States Deputy Representative to the United Nations, October 11, 1947

  • Partition of Palestine : Resolution of the General Assembly; November 29, 1947

  • United States Position on the Palestine Problem - Statement by Ambassador Warren R. Austin, United States Representative in the Security Council, March 19, 1948

  • United States Proposal for Temporary United Nations Trusteeship for Palestine - Statement by President Truman, March 25, 1948

  • Appointment of United Nations Mediator in Palestine

  • Independence of Israel - Letter From the Agent of the Provisional Government of Israel to the President of the United States, May 15, 1948

  • Conclusions From Progress Report of the United Nations Mediator on Palestine, September 16, 1948

  • Creation of a Conciliation Commission for Palestine - Resolution of the General Assembly, December 11, 1948

  • Report on Status of the Armistice Negotiations and Truce in Palestine, July 21, 1949 (Excerpts)

  • U.S Congressionsal Joint Resolution, March 24, 1949 - For the authorization of a special contribution by the United States for the relief of Palestine refugees

  • Assistance to Palestine Refugees - Resolution of the General Assembly, December 8, 1949

  • International Regime for the Jerusalem Area and Protection of the Holy Places - Resolution of the General Assembly, December 9, 1949

  • International Control of Atomic Energy

  • General Findings and Recommendations Approved by the Atomic Energy Commission and Incorporated in its First Report to the Security Council, December 31, 1946

  • Second Report of the Atomic Energy Commission to the Security Council, September 11, 1947

  • Third Report of the Atomic Energy Commission to the Security Council, May 17, 1948

  • Reports of Atomic Energy Commission

  • Atomic Explosion in the U. S. S. R.

  • International Control of Atomic Energy

  • Soviet Misinterpretaton of U. S. Position

  • Continuing Effort to Reach Agreement on Atomic Energy Control

  • Regulation and Reduction of Armaments

  • Principles Governing the General Regulation and Reduction of Armaments

  • Implementation of General Assembly Resolutions on the Principles Governing the General Regulation and Reduction of Armaments and Information on Armed Forces

  • Plan of Work Adopted by the Commission for Conventional Armaments, July 8, 1947

  • United States Position on Regulation of Conventional Armaments

  • Formulation of Proposals for Regulation and Reduction of Armaments and Armed Forces

  • Definition of Armaments

  • Arms Census

  • Armed Forces for the United Nations

  • Work of the Military Staff Committee : Speech by Herschel V. Johnson, Deputy United States Representative, June 4, 1947 (Excerpt)

  • Part VIII. Current International Interests

  • War Criminals

  • International Military Tribunal for Germany, August 8, 1945

  • International Military Tribunal for the Far East, January 19. 1946


  • Collective Self-Defense

  • North Atlantic Treaty, April 4, 1949

  • 1 For documents on the earlier evolution of the Inter-American Regional System, see Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The International Conferences of American States, 1889-1928 and First Supplement 1933-1940, New York, 1931,1940; see also the following Pan American Union pamphlets: The Basic Principles of the Inter-American System, Washington, 1943, and The Inter-American System, Washington, 1947. Back

    Source:
    A Decade of American Foriegn Policy : Basic Documents, 1941-49
    Prepared at the request of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
    By the Staff of the Committe and the Department of State.
    Washington, DC : Government Printing Office, 1950
    127 Wall Street, New Haven, CT 06511.