UNION OF SOCIALIST SOVIET REPUBLICS (USSR). See SOVIET UNION (USSR).
UNION PARTY. In 1936, various groups critical of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal gathered to oppose his reelection. They included Father Charles Coughlin and the National Union for Social Justice, William Lemke and the Nonpartisan League, Francis Townsend, and Gerald K. Smith of the “Share Our Wealth” Plan. Their candidate for the presidency was Lemke, and they called for economic protectionism, isolationism, inflation of the currency, refinancing of farm mortgages, old-age pensions, increased work relief, and higher taxation of the rich. The leaders were, however, hopelessly divided and quickly split into separate groups. Lemke managed to attract only 882, 479 votes. Despite Lemke’s best efforts the party disappeared by 1939.
UNITED NATIONS (UN). The UN is a worldwide organization that was established at the San Francisco Conference on 26 June 1945 to protect future generations from “the scourge of war,” safeguard “fundamental human rights,” and further economic and social welfare. The idea for the UN evolved in the course of World War II and became one of the fundamental aims of the Allies, who issued a Declaration of the United Nations at the Arcadia Conference on 1 January 1942 committing to the principles of the Atlantic Charter. The basic organization had been agreed upon by representatives of the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and Republic of China at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in August 1944. The initial United Nations Charter, signed by 50 countries, was ratified by the U.S. Senate on 8 August 1945. It came into force after it had been ratified by the members of the Security Council on 24 October 1945. The UN effectively replaced the League of Nations. Its headquarters, built in 1949 and 1950, were established in New York City.
The UN consisted of six principal elements: the Security Council, General Assembly, Secretariat, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, and the Trusteeship Council and Secretariat. It was to be headed by the secretary-general, the first of whom was Trygve Lie of Norway from 1946 to 1952. He was succeeded by Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden from 1953 to 1961. The organization also established specialized agencies with particular functions, like the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, and Food and Agricultural Organization.
The UN had some success in resolving such international disputes as bringing about the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Iran in 1946, settling the conflict in Indonesia in 1948, and bringing peace to Israel in 1948 and 1949. In 1950, it approved a “police action” led by the United States in Korea to repulse an invasion from North Korea (see KOREAN WAR). In 1956, the UN helped restore peace following the Suez Crisis, and in 1990 UN forces were successfully mobilized in response to the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein. However, the organization was often limited due to the conflict between the United States and USSR in the Cold War, and later it was less successful in Bosnia, Somalia, and Cambodia in the 1990s and was involved in controversy in the events leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Agreement in the UN became more difficult as its membership grew to 192 members by 2007, and relationships between the UN and United States have been strained at times.
UNITED NATIONS CHARTER. The United Nations (UN) Charter, signed at the San Francisco Conference on 26 June 1945, outlined the principles on which the UN was formed and in 15 chapters provided details of its basic principles, structure, and organization. It came into force following ratification by the Security Council on 24 October 1945.
UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO). During World War II, a number of nations fighting Nazi Germany met to agree to cooperate on educational and scientific initiatives after the war. The United States joined this group, and a conference was convened in London, England, in November 1945. At the end of the meeting, 37 nations joined in the formation of UNESCO, which was formally established in November 1946 with headquarters in Paris, France. West Germany joined in the organization in 1951 and the Soviet Union in 1954. The aim of UNESCO is to promote international peace and further human rights through cooperation and collaboration in education, science, and culture. See also UNITED NATIONS (UN).
UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION (UNRRA). Following a White House conference on 9 November 1943, 44 countries formed UNRRA to provide assistance to liberated and displaced peoples. A steering committee consisting of representatives from the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and France was established with a director-general. The first director-general was Herbert Lehman, who was succeeded in 1946 by Fiorello La Guardia. In 1947, Major-General Lowell Ward took the post. UNRRA assisted some 8 million people and distributed $3 billion in aid, almost half of it coming from the United States before the program ended in 1949. It was succeeded by the International Refugee Organization. See also UNITED NATIONS (UN).
UNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS (USO). Formed in 1941 by presidential order, the USO was established to provide “morale, welfare, and recreation-type services” for the millions of men and women who entered the U.S. armed forces during World War II. The USO brought together the work of the Salvation Army, YMCA, YWCA, National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers’ Aid Association, and National Jewish Welfare Board to establish centers in some 3,000 towns and cities offering support for service personnel. They provided entertainment at home and abroad and, by 1947, had put on more than 428,000 concerts and shows. The USO continued after the war and is still in existence.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Created on 26 July 1947 under the National Security Act and initially known as the National Military Establishment, the Department of Defense was renamed in 1949. It brought the existing War Department and Navy Department together in a unified military establishment housed in the Pentagon.
UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE (USES). Originally established in 1914 on Ellis Island, the U.S. Employment Service was detached from the Bureau of Immigration and expanded during World War I to place workers in war industries. Although reduced in size after the war, USES continued and was reconstituted in 1933. It was initially primarily responsible for directing labor for projects in the Public Works Administration. It also placed workers for the Civil Works Administration and later for the Works Progress Administration. The role of USES expanded after 1935 because all unemployment compensation under the Social Security Act was to be paid via USES offices. In 1939, the service was moved to the Federal Security Agency, and during the war all 1,500 state-run employment offices were taken over by the federal government.
UNITED STATES HOUSING AUTHORITY (USHA). The USHA was established under the Housing Act of 1937 to administer federal aid for slum clearance. By 1941, only 120,000 family dwellings had been completed. The functions of the USHA were later taken over by the Public Housing Administration.
UNITED STATES MARITIME COMMISSION. Established in 1936 to replace the U.S. Shipping Board created during World War I, the United States Maritime Commission regulated and funded the building of merchant shipping. It was particularly significant in aiding the shipbuilding program during World War II, when, through the War Shipping Administration, almost 6,000 vessels were constructed under its auspices. The commission ended with its reorganization in 1950, when it was replaced by the Federal Maritime Board.
UNITED STATES V. BUTLER (297 U.S. 1 1936). On 6 January 1936, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Butler that the processing tax introduced in the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was “a means to an unconstitutional end” that was, to “regulate and control agriculture.” This was a major setback for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.
UNITED STATES V. DARBY LUMBER CO. (312 U.S. 100 1941). On 3 February 1941, in United States v. Darby Lumber Co., the Supreme Court found that the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was constitutional. In deciding the case relating to a company in Georgia, the court overturned the decision in Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), in which it was argued that laws relating to conditions of labor were intrastate rather than interstate. In 1941, the court found that even laws affecting intrastate conditions indirectly related to or affected interstate commerce. See also NEW DEAL.
UNITED STATES V. PARAMOUNT PICTURES, INC. et al. (334 U.S. 131 1948). Also known as the Hollywood Antitrust Case, in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. et al. on 3 May 1948 the Supreme Court ruled by 8–0 in favor of the government and against the film studios in declaring that their control of movie theaters constituted a monopoly. The theaters were subsequently able to show films from whichever studio they wished, further contributing to the decline of the studio system. See also CINEMA.
UNITED STATES-JAPANESE SECURITY TREATY, 1951. Agreed upon in San Francisco on 8 September 1951 and ratified by the U.S. Senate on 20 March 1952, the United States-Japanese Security Treaty granted the United States the right to station military forces on or around Japan’s islands to maintain peace and security in the Far East. Although the treaty guaranteed U.S. aid if Japan were attacked by a third party, it also provided for assistance to suppress internal disturbances if requested by the Japanese government. Japan was prohibited from granting similar rights to other powers without the consent of the United States. See also TREATY OF SAN FRANCISCO.
USSR. See SOVIET UNION (USSR).
UTAH BEACH. Utah Beach was one of the two main landing sites of U.S. forces in the Normandy landings during D-Day on 6 June 1944. It was situated between Pouppeville and La Madeleine in northern France. The landing of 23,000 men was one of the most successful and resulted in only 200 American casualties.