Bretton Woods, Dollar Convertibility and the End of Dollar–Gold Link (1944–1971)

1. Gold Reserve Act sets $35 official gold price

   Jan 30, 1934Labels: Gold Reserve, United States

   • Fed History

2. Bretton Woods conference designs postwar monetary order

   Jul 1, 1944Labels: Bretton Woods

   • IMF Timeline
   • World Bank Archives

3. IMF Articles adopted as Bretton Woods legal core

   Jul 22, 1944Labels: IMF Articles, International Monetary

   • IMF Articles
   • IMF Articles

4. IMF formally comes into force

   Dec 27, 1945Labels: International Monetary

   • IMF Articles
   • World Bank Archives

5. IMF begins financial operations

   Mar 1, 1947Labels: International Monetary

   • IMF Timeline
   • IMF overview

6. World Bank makes first reconstruction loan

   May 9, 1947Labels: World Bank, France loan

   • WB Timeline
   • WB Archives

7. Triffin warns of reserve-currency instability

   Jan 1, 1960Labels: Robert Triffin

   • Oxford Review

8. London Gold Pool formed to defend $35 price

   Nov 1, 1961Labels: London Gold, U S

   • London Gold Pool

9. Two-tier gold market created after gold pressures

   Mar 17, 1968Labels: Two-tier gold

   • US State FRUS
   • London Gold Pool

10. IMF empowered to create Special Drawing Rights

    Jul 28, 1969Labels: Special Drawing, International Monetary

    • IMF Articles
    • Bank of England

11. First SDR allocations begin (1970–1972)

    Jan 1, 1970Labels: Special Drawing, IMF allocations

    • Bank of England

12. Nixon suspends dollar–gold convertibility

    Aug 15, 1971Labels: Nixon shock, United States

    • Nixon shock

13. Smithsonian Agreement attempts to restart fixed rates

    Dec 18, 1971Labels: Smithsonian Agreement

    • Smithsonian

14. Major currencies shift to floating exchange rates

    Mar 2, 1973Labels: Floating exchange

    • Bundesbank