---
title: "Bretton Woods Conference"
year: 1944
country: "United States"
canonical: "https://recap.at/1944/bretton-woods"
slug: "bretton-woods"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "1944-07-01"
endDate: "1944-07-22"
---

# Bretton Woods Conference

> Allied nations established the IMF, World Bank, and fixed exchange rate system at Bretton Woods, creating the financial order that governed the postwar world.

In July 1944, delegates from 44 allied nations gathered at a New Hampshire hotel to design a new global financial system before World War II even ended. They created the International Monetary Fund and World Bank—institutions that would shape international economics for decades—and pegged currencies to the US dollar, which itself was backed by gold.

## Summary

The Bretton Woods Conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, to regulate what would be the international monetary and financial order after the conclusion of World War II.

## Key facts

- **Delegates present**: 730
- **Allied nations represented**: 44
- **Location**: Mount Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
- **Dates**: July 1–22, 1944
- **Key institution created**: International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- **Second key institution created**: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)
- **Exchange rate regime established**: Fixed exchange rates pegged to US dollar; dollar pegged to gold at $35/ounce
- **System duration**: 1944–1971

## Timeline

- **1944-07-01** - Conference opens
  730 delegates from 44 allied nations convene at Mount Washington Hotel to negotiate the postwar monetary order.
- **1944-07-22** - Conference concludes
  Delegates finalize agreements establishing the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and fixed exchange rate system.
- **1945-12-27** - IMF and World Bank formally established
  The International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development officially begin operations.
- **1958-12-29** - Currency convertibility restored
  Major European currencies become convertible to dollars, activating the full Bretton Woods system in practice.
- **1971-08-15** - Nixon ends dollar-gold convertibility
  President Richard Nixon suspends the conversion of dollars to gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system.

## Impact

Bretton Woods established the postwar monetary order that made the US dollar the world's reserve currency and created enduring institutions—the IMF and World Bank—that still govern international finance. The system itself lasted until 1971, when Nixon ended dollar-gold convertibility, but the institutions born here remain central to global economic governance.

## Sources

- [Bretton Woods Conference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_Conference) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/1944/bretton-woods