The United States dollar was established as the world's foremost reserve currency by the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944. It claimed this status from the British pound sterling after the devastation of two world wars and the massive spending of Great Britain's gold reserves. Despite all links to gold being severed in 1971, the dollar continues be the world's foremost reserve currency. Furthermore, the Bretton Woods Agreement also set up the global post-war monetary system by setting up rules, institutions and procedures for conducting international trade and accessing the global capital markets using the U.S. dollar.