Why Do We Need a World Organization? The men who forged the
Charter of the United Nations had a solemn task. While the most
destructive war in the world's history was still going on, and
in the knowledge that any future conflict would be infinitely
worse, they sought at San Francisco a solution to the age-old
problem how to prevent war. The representatives who met in San
Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945-representatives of the
50 nations then at war with Germany or Japan or both-were by no
means breaking new ground. For centuries philosophers and kings,
diplomats and ordinary citizens have hunted for the key to
lasting peace. In the course of time, every conceivable variety
of general principle and detailed plan has been put forward. But
not until 1919 was a full-fledged organization established among
the nations with the purpose of keeping the peace. The League of
Nations failed of that purpose. The men who created it predicted
that a recurrence of world conflict would be certain disaster
for humanity