From War to Charter: Why 1945 Changed Rights

Before the Second World War, how a state treated its own people was largely considered its own business under international law. The war, the crimes of Nazi Germany including the Holocaust, and the suffering of civilians across Europe and Asia convinced many leaders that this had to change. In January 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt described Four Freedoms that should exist everywhere: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

The Atlantic Charter later that year spoke of a peace in which all people could live free from fear and want. When fifty nations met in San Francisco in 1945 to create the United Nations, smaller states, especially from Latin America, and civil society groups pushed for stronger human rights language than the great powers first proposed. The UN Charter's preamble reaffirmed faith in fundamental human rights, and the Charter called for a Commission on Human Rights, setting the stage for the Universal Declaration.