About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

16 J. Hist. Int'l L. 113 (2014)
(Why) Was the World Bank Supposed to Be a Nonpolitical Organization: An Interpretation of the Original Meaning and Rationale of Article 4(10) of the Articles of Agreement of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1941-1948

handle is hein.journals/jhintl16 and id is 121 raw text is: JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF
B                 INTERNATIONAL LAW 16 (2014) 113-155          JH     IL
BRILL
NIJHOFF                                                            brilLcom/jhil
(Why) Was the World Bank Supposed to Be a
Nonpolitical Organization? An Interpretation of the
Original Meaning and Rationale of Article 4(lO) of
the Articles of Agreement of the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development, 1941-1948
Ronaldjanse
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
rjanse@uva.nl
The Bank and its officers shall not interfere in the political affairs of any
member; nor shall they be influenced in their decisions by the political
A note on primary sources: This article makes use of materials from various collections of
primary sources (in addition to the online archive of The New York Times). The first and
second are available online and consist of materials relating to Bretton Woods. They have
been established and are hosted by the St Louis Federal Bank in Missouri (https://fraser
.stlouisfed.org ) and the New York Center for Financial Stability (http://www.centerfor
financialstability.org/brettonwoodsdocs.php ). I am grateful to my Amsterdam colleague
Dr. Hege Elisabeth Kjos for drawing my attention to these online collections. The third col-
lection is available in the National Archives in The Hague, The Netherlands (nr. 2.21.4o8),
and consists of the materials of J.W Beyen (1897-1976). Beyen was financial advisor to
the Dutch government in exile in London during the Second World War. He attended
meetings on postwar planning in London with the British and other governments. He was
also the Dutch delegation leader at the conferences in Atlantic City and Bretton Woods
and at the inaugural meeting of the governors of the Bank in Savannah, Georgia. Beyen
was appointed executive director of the World Bank in 1946 and also of the IMF in 1948.
In 1952, he became Dutch minister of foreign affairs. The fourth collection is also at the
Dutch National Archives in The Hague (Dr. 2.05.75) and is the archive of the Dutch Min-
istry of Foreign Affairs. Last but not least, I have benefitted greatly from the World Bank
Oral History Program, which began in 1961, and is a collection of over 140 lengthy inter-
views with Bank staff, including many senior staff of the late 194os. It is available at www.
worldbankorg. In addition, I have made use of the detailed World Bank Historical Chro-
nology, produced by the World Bank Group Archives, available at www.worldbank.org.
I am very grateful to Anne Peters and to reviewers for their help and feedback. The usual
disclaimer applies.

0 KONINKLIJKE BRILL NV, LEIDEN, 2015  1 DOI 10.1163/15718050-12340035

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most