Foundation of the UN The United States atomic-bombed Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. This was the first time nuclear weapons had been used in warfare in human history. On October 24th of the same year, the United Nations was founded, and a resolution to request the foundation of a nuclear commission was adopted on January 24, 1946, during the first UN General Assembly. This was the first resolution at the UN, approved by the United States among other nations. It seemed that a world without nuclear weapons could be realized, but the United States and the former Soviet Union began a nuclear arms race based on a policy of mutual deterrence, and the number of nations with nuclear weapons began to increase. The first session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on January 10, 1946 at the Methodist Central Hall in London, United Kingdom. Photograph by Marcel Bolomey, Courtesy of UN Photo. The Constitution of Japan was promulgated in November 1946. Article 9 outlaws war as a means for Japan to settle international disputes. Translated into Spanish, it is presented here in Hiroshima/Nagasaki Square in Telde City, the Canary Islands. Photograph by Chihiro Ito. Seeking the Prohibition and Elimination of Nuclear Weapons The Stockholm Appeal of 1950 called for “the outlawing of nuclear weapons.” The Einstein-Russell Manifesto followed in 1955. Authored by Albert Einstein and British philosopher Bertrand Russell, it warned of the global risk created by nuclear weapons and appealed for peaceful resolution to international conflicts. These statements catalyzed subsequent movements in pursuit of world peace. Signature campaign for Stockholm Appeal, Toyosu, Tokyo, July 1951. Photograph courtesy of Rengo Tsushin. Albert Einstein Bertrand Russell reading from the manifesto that he coauthored with Albert Einstein, July 9, 1955. Photograph by Carl Sutton.
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