Bretton Woods Conference creates the IMF and World Bank
- Date
- 1–22 July 1944
- Category
- Economy & trade
- Region
- Global
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, from 1 to 22 July 1944, brought together 730 delegates from 44 Allied nations to design the post-war international monetary order.
The agreements established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to oversee exchange rates and provide short-term balance-of-payments support, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, the core of the future World Bank) to finance reconstruction and development. The system fixed member currencies to the US dollar, which was in turn convertible to gold at 35 dollars per ounce, creating a stable framework for the rapid growth of post-war trade. Shaped heavily by the views of Harry Dexter White of the United States and John Maynard Keynes of Britain, the institutions formally came into existence in December 1945. Bretton Woods anchored Western economic order for a generation, institutionalised US financial leadership, and created multilateral bodies that remain central to global finance, though their governance and conditionality have long been contested.
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Empires active in 1–22 July 1944
- Soviet Union1922 CE – 1991 CE
- Empire of Japan1868 CE – 1947 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
Related economy & trade events
- Wall Street Crash and onset of the Great Depression24–29 October 1929
- Cárdenas Nationalises Mexico's Oil1938
- Soviet First Five-Year Plan and forced collectivisation1928–1933
- Weimar hyperinflation1922–1923 (peak November 1923)
- The Panic of 1873 and the Long Depression1873–1896
- The Australian gold rushes begin1851
Further reading
The wider story
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Best-selling world history told through the trade routes that moved goods, faiths and ideas.
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