The Bretton Woods system was the international economic order created at a conference of Allied nations in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944.

The goal was to create a stable and prosperous post-World War II global economy and avoid the mistakes that led to the Great Depression.

The conference established two major international financial institutions.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created to promote exchange rate stability and provide short-term financial assistance to countries with balance of payments problems.

The World Bank was created to provide long-term loans for post-war reconstruction and development.

The system established a new monetary order of fixed exchange rates.

The U.S. dollar was pegged to gold at a fixed rate ($35 per ounce), and all other currencies were pegged to the U.S. dollar.

This system governed international finance for nearly 30 years and oversaw a period of great economic growth.

The system began to break down in the late 1960s due to growing U.S. trade deficits.

In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon formally ended the convertibility of the dollar to gold, bringing the Bretton Woods system to an end.