August 21, 1944 to October 7, 1944 Dumbarton Oaks

The estate the conference took place at

This meeting was attended by representatives of the US, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and China. At the conference, delegates discussed the charter of a new, permanent, post-war international organization. The conference laid the groundwork for the creation of the United Nations.

In the fall of 1943 the foreign ministers of the United States, USSR and Great Britain had met in Moscow and issued the Moscow declaration. The declaration called for the establishment of an organization for international cooperation to succeed the League of Nations. To start planning for that organization a conference was held in Washington from August 21, 1944, to October 7,1944 at the Dumbarton Oaks Estate. Representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and China attended. The US delegation was led by Under Secretary Edward Reilly Stettinius, Jr, for the USSR their ambassador to Washington Andrei Gromyko, for the Chinese their Ambassador to the UK Wellington Koo and for Great Britain Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Alexander Cadogan.

The meeting took place in two phases since the Soviets refused to meet with the Chinese delegation. First the US the UK and the USSR met and then the US, UK and USSR met. At the end of the meeting the purposes of the international organizations was defined:
To maintain international peace and security
To develop friendly relations among nations
To achieve international co-operation in the solution of international economic, social and other problems
To work to harmonizing the actions of nations.