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Events/Law or policy · 1944

Bretton Woods conference

Law or policy, 1944-07, United States.

What happened

Delegates from 44 nations met at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in July 1944. They agreed to set up the IMF and the World Bank. Currencies were fixed to the dollar, and the dollar was fixed to gold at 35 dollars an ounce.1,2,3

Why it matters

The gold-dollar link it set up ended with the Nixon announcement of 1971.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Anglo American founded

    Anglo American founded.4

  2. Rand Rebellion begins

    An uprising on the Witwatersrand began on 28 December 1921 and ran into 1922 (dates from Wikidata).5,6

  3. Gold Reserve Act signed

    It set the 35 dollar price that Bretton Woods later used as the dollar anchor.7,8

  4. Bretton Woods conference

    Bretton Woods conference.9

  5. US Vice President Wallace visits the Kolyma gold camps

    The managers hid that gold was mined mainly by prisoners and misstated output.10,11

  6. African mine workers' strike on the Witwatersrand

    The strike was crushed, but SAHO says it had lasting effects on African trade unionism and politics.12,13,14

  7. Nixon ends dollar convertibility into gold

    Gold ceased to have a fixed dollar price.8,15

  8. Grasberg mine area: Wikidata inception date

    The Papua copper-gold mine is dated to 1972 in Wikidata.16

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Where next

Events

Led toLondon Gold Pool formedEight central banks formed the London Gold Pool in 1961 to hold gold at 35 dollars.2Led toNixon ends dollar convertibility into goldThe gold-dollar link set up at Bretton Woods ended with the Nixon announcement of 1971.1Came out ofGold Reserve Act signedThe 35 dollar gold price set in 1934 anchored the Bretton Woods system of 1944.7

Sources

  1. Creation of the Bretton Woods System Federal Reserve History
  2. Nixon Ends Convertibility of U.S. Dollars to Gold and Announces Wage/Price Controls (covers the London Gold Pool) Federal Reserve History
  3. Bretton Woods system (item Q188532), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Wikidata item Q541451 (Anglo American founded)
  5. Wikidata item Q3070782 (Rand Rebellion)
  6. Wikidata item Q34647 (Johannesburg)
  7. Gold Reserve Act of 1934 Federal Reserve History
  8. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Wikidata item Q188532 (Bretton Woods conference)
  10. Three Days in Auschwitz without Gas Chambers: Henry A. Wallace Visit to Magadan in 1944 Wilson Center
  11. Wikidata item Q7968 (Magadan)
  12. 1946 African Mineworkers Strike South African History Online
  13. The African Mine Workers strike of 1946 South African History Online
  14. Witwatersrand (item Q587808), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  15. Nixon and the End of the Bretton Woods System, 1971-1973 US Department of State, Office of the Historian
  16. Wikidata item Q119297 (Grasberg Mine)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).