Overview
The Bretton Woods Agreement, forged in July 1944 amid World War II, established a new international monetary system where currencies were pegged to the U.S. dollar, backed by gold at $35 per ounce. It created the IMF and World Bank to promote stability, reconstruction, and trade after the war's devastation. The system collapsed in 1971, ushering in floating exchange rates, but its institutions endure as pillars of global economics.