On 24 October 1945, the Charter of the United Nations entered into force. Signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945, the document was conceived, amid the ruins of the Second World War, with the ambitious goal of preserving peace, promoting cooperation among States and safeguarding fundamental human rights.
The first session of the United Nations General Assembly was held in London a few months later, on 10 January 1946.
On the day of the inaugural session, the Italian Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alcide De Gasperi, sent the following message to the President of the General Assembly: “On the day when the General Assembly of the United Nations begins its work in London, the Italian Government wishes to convey to all the Nations represented its greetings and best wishes. In the name of the loyal spirit of cooperation that inspired Italy in war, and of the deep democratic conscience that animates it in peace, the Italian Government also extends to the United Nations — alongside whom it fought for twenty months, and to whom it is bound by close ties of culture and kinship — a renewed and heartfelt appeal for its people to be readmitted as soon as possible into the international community, and to take part in the common endeavour to ensure the peaceful and just reconstruction of the world and the orderly coexistence of Nations”. That aspiration would be fulfilled almost ten years later.
The accompanying gallery presents a selection of documents from the Historical Diplomatic Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI): the UN Charter in Italian and English; the title page of an original edition published by SIOI; the text of De Gasperi’s message (as transmitted to the Italian Embassy in London); and the telegram containing the reply from Paul-Henri Spaak, President of the United Nations General Assembly, who decided to include the Italian message in the Assembly’s official record.
On this anniversary, Italy renews its steadfast support for the founding values of the United Nations Charter, reaffirming its commitment to meet the challenges of our time through collective, responsible and united action.
