Events

Bretton Woods

Full Name
Bretton Woods System of Monetary Management
Event Type
Location
Start Date
7/1/1944
Primary Date
7/1/1944
End Date
7/22/1944
Parent Event

The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan after the 1944 Bretton-Woods Agreement.

  • Before World War II, the United states had hte largest gold reserves in the world
  • This combined with winning WWII, let the US reconstruct the global monetary system around the dollar

Bretton Woods Outcomes
  • Tied the currencies of almost all countries to the US Dollar
  • Currencies were tied at a fixed exchange rate
  • Tied the value of the US dollar to  $35 per ounce of gold
  • Resulted in the US Dollar becoming the world's primary reserve currency
  • Forced other countries to use and store US dollars for international trade or exchange with the US government for gold