Welcoming the United Nations

The United Nations was established in the aftermath of the second world war to give peace a more secure foundation through international cooperation and collective security.

The organisation officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 and the first general assembly, attended by 51 nations, was held the following January at Caxton Hall in London.

Having won a landslide victory in the 1945 general election, Prime Minister Clement Attlee represented Great Britain. His speech to the assembly was widely circulated as a commercial disc.

• Listen to an exerpt of the speech - mp3

Read the Transcript:

"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. I have the honour today of welcoming to London this great assembly of delegates of the United Nations.

We realise, as perhaps never before, a choice is offered to mankind. Twice in my lifetime a war has brought untold sorrow to mankind. Should there be a third world war the long upward progress towards civilisation may be halted for generations and the work of myriads of men and women through the centuries be brought to nought.

The preamble of the charter of the United Nations admirably sets out the ideals for which men and women laid down their lives during the war. But the affirmation of principles is easy. The translation into action, the making of a working reality out of an ideal, is very difficult.

In the stress and strain of war it is possible to fuse the ideal aim with practical effort. When, in the summer of 1940, this country was left open to imminent danger of invasion the whole of the people were animated by one single aim and that aim was immediately translated into action.

Every man and woman leaped forward to serve wherever needed and the strength of that purpose endured through five years of war. And during those five years, as nation after nation joined in the struggle, the efforts of the fighting forces and the workers behind the lines and the resistance movements in so many countries were all co-ordinated and directed to the single purpose of victory. Private interest, individual, national aspirations were sunk in the common endeavour.

Now today, when victory has crowned our arms, we have to bring to the task of creating permanent conditions for peace, the same sense of urgency, the same self sacrifice, the same willingness to subordinate sectional interest to the common good as brought us through the crisis of war. We all therefore must approach our work with a realisation of its outstanding and vital importance."

• More on Attlee
• More on PMs in history