The End of the Era of the Great War, 1944–1947

The global order that exists in the twenty-first century emerged in a remarkable burst of institution building between 1945 and 1950, led by the United States and its closest allies. The new global order replaced the economic blocs of the 1930s. It drew upon the pre-1914 global order by restoring freer trade and financial openness and promoting internationalism. The new global order, however, did not arise because the United States broke free from the mistakes of the era of the Great War and decisively created a new order on its own. Instead, the initial set of postwar institutions designed by Franklin Roosevelt and his advisors largely failed. The United Nations led neither to great power cooperation nor a secure peace. The Four Power Agreements for Germany failed to support a permanent settlement for Europe. While the United States had envisioned Britain as its partner in building a global order, the Bretton Woods monetary system that the United States designed nearly bankrupted Britain. By 1947, U.S. leaders under Harry Truman, this time heeding the advice of allies around the world, had to design an entirely new set of institutions to create stability in Western Europe and provide a foundation for a new global order.