History of Peacemaking

“Peace, if it ever exists, will not be basedon the fear of war, but on the love ofpeace. It will not just be abstaining fromwar, but it will be coming to a peacefulstate of mind.”

Julian Brenda 20th Century French philosopher

What is Peace?• An ideal of harmony and tranquility• Absence of organized violence• Referring to our spiritual life, peace is inner andcommunal peace• Referring to our political life, peace is an order andset of stable relationships between sovereign, equalstates• Peace can also be a condition imposed by apowerful ruler, for example, Alexander’s empire waspeace from above, and the Catholic Church with its“just war theory” in the Middle Ages was peaceimposed by the Pope, or peace in the Tokagawashogunate was imposed by the Shogun.

Peace is closely associated withjustice. Many people think peace willonly come when justice prevails.

“The arc of the moral universe is long,but it bends toward justice.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Brief History ofPeacemaking Before the

Modern Era

• Primate relatives(chimps, bonobos andgorillas) in our humanfamily tree whorecognize each other,smooth over conflict,experience grief when amember of band dies,and show concern whena member is injured.

Peacemaking in Hunter/Gatherer Bandsand small villages

Hunter/Gatherer bands areegalitarian, decisions are made byconsensus among elders, peoplehabitually cooperate, and conflict isresolved by discussion of eachparties needs and wishes,intervention by elders, punishmentof wrongs, and rituals offorgiveness and reconcilliation.

Hebrew Prophet’s view ofPeace Based on Justice

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of thelord, to the house of the God of Jacob, thathe may teach us his ways and that we maywalk in his paths. He shall judge betweenthe nations; and they shall beat theirswords into plowshares, and their spearsinto pruning hooks; nation shall not lift upsword against nation, neither shall theylearn war anymore.” Book of Isaiah 720 BC

Hindus chanted hymns of praise to thespiritual Oneness of the cosmos. Thesehymns, written down in the Vedas,reflect a reverence for life which isahimsa, the refusal to do harm to life.

Buddhism also manifests a strongreverence for life.“Hatred does not cease by hatred, itceases by love. Let a man overcomeanger by love, let him overcome evil bygood, let him overcome greed bygenerosity, lies, by truth.”

Confucius was asked by a student “Isthere one word which would serve as arule of practice for all of one’s life?Confucius replied: “Is not reciprocitysuch a word? What you do not done toyourself, do not do to others.” Confucian Analects

Lao Tzu said “Return love for hatred.Otherwise, when a great hatred isreconciled, some of it will surely remain.” Tao-Te- Ching

Greco-Roman Concepts of PeaceA harmonious,prosperous naturalorder

The Greek Goddessof Peace was Eireneidentified with theseasons, the fertilityof the earth, and theGod of wealth Plutos.

Pythagorasbelieved in theessential unity andharmony of theuniverse. He heldpersonal identitywas not limited tothe city-state. “Toa wise man, thewhole world isopen; for thenative land of agood soul is thewhole earth.”

Hesiod, Virgil,Aristophanes,PindarIdentified peacewith nature anddepicted war asthe enemy ofagricultural lifeand prosperity

Stoic PhilosophersZeno (Greek) and Seneca (Roman)

Said destructive emotions came aboutbecause of errors in judgment. Wise men donot have destructive emotions, they learn torestrain their emotions.

Stoics rejected violence and also rejecteddistinctions of race, caste, and sex in favor ofuniversal human equality. Seneca, a RomanStoic, wrote “The highest wisdom is towithdraw from the state and cultivate the kindof peace that is inner peace.”

First Line of Iliad byHomer is:“The wrath ofAchilles is mytheme, that fatalwrath which…brought theAchaeans so muchsuffering and sentthe gallant souls ofmany to theirdeaths.”

Jesus Christ’s View of Peace“Love your enemies, do good to thosewho hate you, bless those who curseyou, pray for those who abuse you. Tohim who strikes you on the cheek, offerthe other also. And as you wish that menwould do to you, do also to them.”Blessed are the peacemakers, for theyshall be called children of God. Sermon on the Mount 1st Century CE

Approaches to Peace 400’s-1800’s CE1. Inner peace was pursued by hermits,

monks, and nuns in Europe.2. Czech Brethren, Anabaptists, German

Brethren, Mennonites, and Quakers werepacifist Christian denominations whobelieved the community is answerableonly to its own law of love and mustseparate itself from the use of forcewhich governments maintain to keeporder.

3. The “Just War Theory” was formulatedby the Catholic Church in the MiddleAges. It details the circumstances inwhich it is right to go to war and theconditions in which the conduct of warmay be ethical. These circumstancesrevolve around self-defense.

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)

Considered the father ofinternational law, Grotius wrote inthe 1600’s when European nationswere competing for trade andcolonies. He used natural law theoryas a a basis for his ideas, that is,there are natural and purposefullaws to the universe. In his mostfamous work, On the Law of War andPeace, he asserted that internationaljustice must be pursued in the resortto war. Just causes for war would beself-defense, repairing injury, andinflicting punishment. He alsoformulated, in his famous book, TheFree Seas, which led to the idea thatthe seas were international territory.Later formulations included thedistance in which a cannon couldprotect the coast, 3 miles, would beofficially recognized as the territoriallimit of each nation.

Citizen Initiatives andOfficial Agreements

(1815-1914)

The concept that a league of nationswould control conflict and promote peacebetween states was outlined in 1795, inImmanuel Kant’s book Perpetual Peace.

International co-operation for “collectivesecurity” originated in the Concert ofEurope which developed after theNapoleonic Wars in the 1800’s. This wasan attempt to maintain a balance betweenthe European states and thereby avoidwar.

This period also saw the development ofinternational law with the first GenevaConventions establishing laws abouthumanitarian relief during war and theinternational Hague Conventions of 1899and 1907 governing rules of war and thepeaceful settlement of internationaldisputes.

19th Century Peace MovementAs time went on the idea of peace took the forms ofpacifism and liberal internationalism. Peoplewanted a lawful international order and respect forthe rights of peoples.Many Peace Congresses were held in the med-1800’s with people expressing optimism aboutpeace and Peace Societies and Associations wereformed.By the end of the 1800’s there were 300,000European and American peace activists who werepart of a transnational movement. They shared acommon ideology called pacifism. This representedan advance in thinking, namely, that citizeninitiatives can make a difference in internationalrelations.

Paris PeaceCongress of 1849was presided over byVictor Hugo whoproposed a unitedstates of Europe.Elihu Burritt of theAmerican PeaceSociety was alsopresent. He had alsobeen a founder of theLeague of UniversalBrotherhood in 1846.

The optimism and dreams of thispeace movement were shattered bythe horrendous destructiveness ofthe Crimean War, the US Civil War,and wars of national unification inGermany and Italy. These warswere justified by claims of nationalself-determination.

Establishment of new peaceorganizations after 1871• Inter-parliamentary Union for InternationalArbitration (1889)• International Peace Bureau in Bern,Switzerland (1891)• International League for Peace andFreedom (1867) Hugo and Angelo Umilta• Hague Peace Conference 1899 on Rulesand Customs of War (prisoners of war, sickand wounded, weapons) set up court ofArbitration in Hague, considerable women’sparticipation• Carnegie Endowment for InternationalPeace 1910

Peace Efforts DuringWorld War I (1914-1919)

Peace Efforts for World War I• Appeals for Conciliation by leading peace activists, Henri La Fontaine,Bertrand Russell, Henri Golay, leading Socialists, and Pope Benedict XV.

• American Friends Service Committee founded in Philadelphia in 1917 tohelp members of pacifist faiths, Quaker, Amish, Brethren, and Mennoniteperform alternative service. Conscientious Objection became official.

• Fellowship of Reconciliation In 1914, an ecumenical conference, washeld in Switzerland by Christians seeking to prevent the outbreak of war inEurope. Before the conference ended, however, World War I had startedand those present had to return to their respective countries. At a railroadstation in Germany, two of the participants, Henry Hodgkin, an EnglishQuaker, and Friedrich Sigmund -Schultze, a German Lutheran, pledged tofind a way of working for peace even though their countries were at war.Out of this pledge Christians gathered in Cambridge, England inDecember 1914 to found the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

• The FOR-USA was founded one year later in 1915. FOR has sincebecome an interfaith and international movement with branches andgroups in over 40 countries and on every continent. Today themembership of FOR includes Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, andpeople of other faith traditions, as well as those with no formal religiousaffiliation.

Beginnings of anti-war effortsin the US

Social workers of the Henry Street Settlement house in New YorkCity met to formulate a reaction to the war. These were people whoworked with the poor and disinherited, helped settle immigrants,and realized that war undermined the cooperation and good willneeded between peoples and was dividing immigrants against eachother. They protested “not only the cruelty and barbarity of war, butthe reversal of human relationships which war implied.”

Shortly afterward in January 1915 at a peace convention of 3,000people in Washington, DC, with the help of Carrie Chapman Catt,leader of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, Jane Addams andRosita Schwimmer, a Hungarian pacifist, founded the Women’sPeace Party. A preamble was adopted which later became the basisof Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points.

The Women’s Peace Party grew rapidly with chapters in many citiesincluding one in Boston on Boylston St. with 2500 members.

Carrie Chapman Catt Rosika Schwimmer

Jane Addams

Hague International Congress of Peace April 1915

Over 1,000 women met in Hague, Netherlands in April1915 to protest World War I and devise a plan to endthe war. They rejected the idea that war was inevitable.The organizers were prominent women in theInternational Women’s Suffrage Movement who sawconnections between women’s struggle for equalrights and the struggle for peace.Jane Addams and Rosika Schwimmer organized a tripto this meeting and out of it was born the Women’sInternational League for Peace and Freedom. JaneAddams was its first president.

These women devised a solution called “continuous mediation” whereby acommission of people from neutral countries would be available to helpmediate an end to the war. This message was carried personally to theneutrals in Europe such as Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway,Switzerland, and Netherlands by Rosika Schwimmer and to the belligerents byJane Addams. They received favorable replies.

In November 1915, Rosita Schwimmer and AP reporter, Louis Lochner,Director of the Chicago Peace Society, paid a visit to Henry Ford and told himof their ideas. Louis Lochner had recently met with David Starr, President ofStanford University and Chairman of the Fifth International Peace Congressand Woodrow Wilson in Washington DC to explore forming a commission ofneutral nations for “continuous mediation.” Woodrow Wilson would notcommit himself. Henry Ford had said in August “I am prepared to dedicate mylife and my fortune to achieving peace.”

These people soon met again in New York City and Ford, excited about theprospects for peace, said “Men sitting around a table and not men dying in atrench will finally settle the differences.” This was when Lochner jokingly said“Why not a special ship to take the delegates over?” and Ford like the idea, itwould arouse a sharp interest in the whole endeavor.

Henry Ford chartered a Danish ship, Oscar II, to sail to Europe in December1915 and said he wanted to have the soldiers “out of the trenches byChristmas”. Two hundred people went on the ship, it visited Scandinaviancountries which were neutral, but overall the voyage accomplished nothing.Ford later said “At least we did not diminish the life and love that are in thisworld.

Henry Ford at Henry Ford onBiltmore Hotel Oscar II

Henry Ford’s peace flag

President Woodrow Wilson

Views of the average Americanbefore US entry into

World War IThe dominant American sentiment and thevast majority of Americans did not believetheir interests and security were vitallyinvolved in the outcome of the war andthey desired to avoid participation ifpossible without sacrificing rights thatshould not be yielded. The prevalence andastonishing vitality of neutralism in spiteof the severest provocations, and theefforts of propagandists on both sides,formed at once the unifying principle ofAmerican politics and the compellingreality with which President WoodrowWilson had to deal from 1914-1917.

Resolutions of the Women’sCongress at the Hague in 1915,formulations by the Fabian Society inEngland, and the League to EnforcePeace in the US became the basis forthe League of Nations.

These visions for international orderand the establishment of a League ofNations were announced by PresidentWoodrow Wilson as the 14-Points in1918.

House-Grey Memorandum

An effort by Col. Edward House,Wilson’s emissary to Europeand Sir Edward Grey, theBritish Foreign Secretary to setup a US-initiated peaceconvention. If Germany refusedto attend, the US would enterthe war on the side of the Allies.

Germany did refuse to attend a peaceconvention, and the US entered WorldWar I for two other reasons:• German U-boats (untersee boot) orsubmarines began unrestricted sinking ofAmerican merchant marine ships on thehigh seas, including the sinking of theBritish liner Lusitania in 1917• German Foreign Secretary proposed aGerman alliance with Mexico in theZimmerman Letter and said if Germanywon the war Mexico would receive Texas,Arizona, and New Mexico.

Wilson became alarmed with the revelationof the Zimmerman Letter and with thesinking of more and more US merchantships, he prepared the nation for war, and inApril 1917 Congress declared war on theCentral powers.

End of War

Armistice signed Nov. 11, 1918 in arailway car in Compiegne Forest with

French Marshall Foch and GermanMatthias Erzberger

“A burnt path across history”

“There never was such a break-up. All theold buoys which have marked the channelof our lives seem to have been sweptaway.” Lord Esher British politician and historian

8 million military killed, 10 million civilianskilled, 21 million wounded, and $200billion spent in the “war to end all wars”.

Reasons for Failure of Treatyof Versailles

• A very harsh treaty, it left Germanywithout her many colonies, without 15% ofher territory, without military forces, andrequired to pay heavy war reparations towinners, and required to accept soleresponsibility for the war in a war guiltclause. This created enormous resentmentin Germany. The German people demandedvengeance and under Hitler and hispropaganda machine, they exacted thatvengeance.

Alternatives to War(1919-1939)

International Cooperation

LEAGUE OF NATIONSCovenant of League of Nations• Promoted international cooperation, peaceand security and fostered open, just, andhonorable relations between nations• Established membership and structure ofLeague, and ways of settling disputes,controlling weapons, and fosteringdisarmament.• The US did not join, but 58 nations did• The headquarters was in Geneva becauseSwitzerland was neutral and hadn’t fought inWorld War 1.

Reasons for Failure of theLeague

• Many violations when SovietUnion invaded Finland, whenJapan invaded Manchuria (1931),and Italy invaded of Ethiopia (1935)• Failure of US to join (partly due to2 Republican Senators, HenryCabot Lodge and William Borah)•Failure to help resolve SpanishCivil War

World Court• First Court of International Justice wasestablished as part of the League ofNations in 1922. It was located in thePeace Palace in the Hague, Netherlands• When the UN was created the courtchanged its name to the InternationalCourt of Justice• In 2003 the International Criminal courtwas added to prosecute individuals forcrimes against humanity

World Court Hague, Netherlands

Washington Naval Treaty(1922)

Five signatory nations agreed torestrict their navies to the statusquo at the time the treaty went intoeffect in 1922. The five powers were:British Empire, United States, TheEmpire of Japan, the French ThirdRepublic, and the Kingdom of Italy.The US representative was CharlesEvans Hughes, Secretary of State.

Other pacts and protocolsof the 1920’s

• Protocol to Limit Chemical and BiologicalWeapons (1925)• Proposals for general and completedisarmament to reduce the ability to fight war bySoviet Commisar for Foreign Affairs, GeorgiChicherin, Genoa Conference, 1922; HerbertHoover, June 1922; Maxim Litvinov, 1927.• Proposals for arms control to greatly limit armsproduction to lowest amount needed for defense

Beginnings of peace education

The League of Nationslaunched a program in 1925 for“peace education to train theyounger generation to regardinternational cooperation as thenormal method of conductingworld affairs.”

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1929)

An international treaty signed by 63 nationsproviding for the renunciation of war as aninstrument of national policy. While it failed in apractical way to prevent war, it became the legalbasis for the notion of crimes against peace (usedat Nuremberg) and the notion of the use of militaryforce being a violation of international law.

Moral Disarmament

In the midst of technical debates fordisarmament, there were also campaigns formoral disarmament. British peace advocateCaroline Playne defined moral disarmamentas “the transformation of the aggressive,vindictive, and revengeful mentality into aconciliatory mentality…the sacrifice ofnational interests into interests of the largerhuman family…altruism substituted foregotism…reason and equity instead ofpassion and injustice.”

Evolution of pacifist ideasPacifism evolved from the early Christianchurch to the pacifist denominations of the1600’s. It encouraged personal behaviorbased on a higher moral law than whatprevailed in the world. This led pacifists toseparate from society into their own religiouscommunities. The crisis of World War I,however, encouraged pacifists to engage insocial activism. Their goal was to transformattitudes. The Protestant churchesemphasized peace and justice, sponsoredinternational exchanges, and stressedmediation, compromise, and a disciplinednonviolence.

Bertrand Russell,British philosopher,mathematician, andpacifist, championedfree trade betweennations and anti-imperialism.Imprisoned foractivism during WorldWar I, he remained apacifist until he died.

Albert Einsteinsupported the Leagueof Nations, worlddisarmament, andworld government. Hesaid “Suffering is moreacceptable to me thanviolence.” In the lastdays of his life hecollaborated withBertrand Russell on aManifesto to scientistscalling them to fosterpeaceful resolution ofdisputes.

Martin Buber

German theologian whobecame a leader of thepacifist wing of Zionism. Hechampioned a bi-nationalstate in Palestine whereJews and Arabs wouldpolitical equality.

Reinhold Niebuhr

An American theologian ofthe 20th century whowanted to get beyond asuperficial understandingof human beings to find outwhy attitudes and behaviorconducive to violence werereinforced by socialinstitutions and publicpolicy.

Pacifist Organizations in theinterwar period of 1930’s

Together the Fellowship of Reconcilation, theInternational League of Peace and Freedom, theAmerican Friends Service Committee, and theWar Resisters League formed a pacifistinternational. Committed to nonviolence, theymobilized coalitions on foreign policy issuesand cooperated with peace groups for peaceeducation, disarmament, economic justice, andpeaceful dispute settlement. In the 1930’s theyparticipated in debates over neutrality,appeasement, and collective security.

Problems of Security in the 1930’sThe challenge of the 1930’s was should theyinsist on strict observance of the peace treatiesor should they allow for the possibility ofrevision based on circumstances. The dilemmawas summarized by a French delegate to theLeague of Nations in 1921: “We are spectatorsto a strange duel, a duel between the spirit ofwar and revenge on one hand and the spirit ofcooperation and peace on the other hand. Wecan only feel secure when all nations are on astable foundation and follow the ideals ofjustice, dignity and liberty.”

Collective security meant an obligation bindingon all members to act together against anynation which engaged in warfare. This leftunanswered: Under what conditions and whosedirection would force be applied? How bindingwas the obligation to use force against anaggressor?The League discussed a Protocol for thePeaceful Settlement of Disputes linkingcollective sanctions with procedures formediation and arbitration and disarmament. Theprotocol didn’t pass, it was thought to be tooambiguous to be binding.

A series of events in the 1930’s tested theLeagues effectiveness at collective sanctions.Japanese aggression in Manchuria (1931),Italian aggression in Ethiopia (1935), Germanreoccupation of the Rhineland (1936) and theSpanish Civil War (1936-1938). Only in theEthiopian case was there a real effort to applycollective sanctions. The campaign becamecontroversial because it was associated withthe Soviet Union, a strong supporter ofcollective sanctions. Then the idea wasabandoned just as Italy and Germany formed afascist alliance.

Along with collective security, neutrality wasanother important concept of the 1930’s.Many neutral nations such as Netherlands,Sweden, and Switzerland were members ofthe League, and, in fact, the US maintained aposition of neutrality since it didn’t even jointhe League. These nations perceived thatintervening in disputes would jeopardize theirsecurity, undermine their economic viability,and incur risks they were not willing to take.They were willing, however, to mediate,provide humanitarian assistance, and helpcontain the war.

Appeasement was another strategy used in the 1930’s.It was influenced by the ideal of peace being voiced bymany groups. It proceeded from the idea that Article231 of the Treaty of Versailles had assigned sole guiltto Germany and that other parts of the Treaty ofVersailles had been unfair. This is why Britainaccepted Italian expansion into Ethiopia, and Germanreoccupation of the Rhineland. And the Frenchaccepted the Japanese invasion of Manchuria becausethey felt the Chinese deserved it having violatedtreaties signed and failed to address Japanesegrievances there over these violated treaties.Appeasement was accepted due to the economicdepression of the 1930’s, the lack of desire to getinvolved, and the assumption the conflicts wouldremain localized.Hitler became more and more ambitious, Germany andthe Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939, andEuropean war ensued. Appeals for peace were made,but they did not stem the bloody tide.

World War II and Peace(1939-1945)

Nonviolent ResponsesWorld War II was fought against militaryaggression waged by dictatorialregimes. It was waged on a massivescale and encompassed the Eurasianlandmass, Pacific islands, and all theearth’s seas and air space. There wereblitzkreig raids, fire bombings, and theatomic bombing of Japan. Into this violentatmosphere came pacifist voices. VirginiaWoolf, British novelist

Virginia Woolf, Britishnovelist, wrote“Thoughts on Peace inan Air Raid” in 1940.Turn victory wouldovercome militarismitself. “This would be acause more healingand creative than thedull dread of fear andhate.”

A.J. Muste, Dutch-born minister, labororganizer andsecretary of theAmerican Fellowshipof Reconciliationurged pacifists tofollow Gandhi andhelp the oppressed“develop nonviolenttechniques.”

A group of Germanstudents in Munich,members of the WhiteRose, distributedthousands of leaflets inGerman and Austriancities in which theydenounced the Nazisand advocated“passive resistance.”The three pictured,Hans and SophieScholl and ChristophProbst, were executedin 1943.

Raoul Wallenberg,a Swedisharchitect, rescued100,000 HungarianJews as they werebeing deported toconcentrationcamps in 1944.

Resistancecampaigns againstthe Nazis in Denmarkand Norway providedfor transporting andgiving sanctuary toJews, publishingunderground papers,giving weapons toNazi resisters,sponsoring workstoppages whenNazis demandedwork, and sabotagingNazi efforts.

Protestant Minister,Andre Trocme, andhis wife Magdo,pacifist Christians,secretly turned theFrench town of LeChambon into ahiding place andway station forthousands of Jews.The people of LeChambon had livedfor hundreds ofyears in theirculture of peaceand “couldn’t havedone otherwise.”

Opposition to MassDestruction

The impact of industrial weaponry,aerial bombardment, and atomicweapons made World War II one ofthe most destructive wars in history.With 60 million dead and many morewounded and disabled, pacifists andconcerned leaders and citizensspoke out.

Vera Brittain,horrified by whatshe saw as a nursein World War I,wrote anti warbooks, such asMassacre byBombing decryingthe destructivepower of“obliterationbombing”, themisuse oflanguage,propaganda, andkilling of civilians.

Concernedscientists such asDanish physicistNiels Bohr andGerman chemistJames Franckwarned againstnuclear weaponsand tried toprevent anotherarms race.

Norman Cousins, editorof the Saturday Review,argued in his mostfamous editorial,“Modern Man isObsolete,” that nuclearweapons had made warsuicidal and survivalpossible only withdrastic changes ininternational behavior.He favored a federalworld governmentreflecting the commonslogan of those times“one world or none.”

ONE WORLDMany other thinkersfavored worldgovernment and “OneWorld” which was thetitle of a popular bookby Wendell Willkie, USpresidential candidatein 1940. Emery Reves(Hungarian), LeonardWoolf (British), andLeon Blum (French)were early advocatesof world federation.

WEB Du Boiswrote in one ofhis booksDemocracy andPeace in 1944,“the level ofculture in theworld has got tobe raised if weare going tohave democracyand if thatdemocracy willbring peace.”

Political Security

During World War II the antifascistmilitary coalition came to be calledthe “United Nations.” They wereunited around the principles ofpeace and international security andsought security through regionalunity and world organization.

The Atlantic Charter(1941)

A statement of war aims of Britain and theUS signed by Churchill and FDR aboard aship near Newfoundland. They pledged tocooperate to insure: “no territorialchanges except in accord with thepeople’s wishes,” that “people respect theright of all peoples to choose the form ofgovernment they want” and pledged they“will endeavor to improve trade and rawmaterials which will insure prosperity.”

Planning for the UnitedNations Organization (1943-

1945)• A major concern was to make collective securityeffective and learn from flaws of the League of Nations• FDR’s suggested that authority for collective actionwould rest with 4 leading powers (France, Britain,Russia, US) rather than with all members• Declaration of Four Nations on General Security(1943) detailed plans• Conference at Dumbarton Oaks (1944), nearWashington DC, agreement was reached on the basicstructure of the United Nations organization• Critical issues regarding voting and membership wereresolved by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin at Yalta in1945.• A meeting from April-June 1945 in San Franciscofinalized the UN Charter

United Nations Charter• Main goal “To eliminate the scourgeof war and maintain internationalpeace and security”• A Security Council of 15 nations, 5 ofwhich were great powers which werepermanent members and actions formilitary force would requireunanimous consent of these powers•A General Assembly of all membernations each with one vote

MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF UN CHARTER

The United Nations Charter institutionalizedideas which had been evolving over the courseof world history, but, in particular, the ideas ofpeace advocates of the 1800’s and first half ofthe 1900’s. The charter validated internationallaw, collective security, peaceful change, socialand economic justice, and human rights. An array of measures became available for thepeaceful settlement of disputes: negotiation,inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, andjudicial settlement.

People realize the mass destruction of modernwarfare made peace essential.

Peace in the Aftermath ofWorld War II(1945-1960)

Nuremberg Trials 1945-1949Physicians, judges,Hitler youth, and 22Nazis tried forplanning,conspiracy, warcrimes and crimesagainst humanity

Baruch Plan 1946A proposal by the USgovernment to the UNAtomic EnergyCommission written byBernard Baruch, thatnations exchangescientific information,control or eliminateatomic weapons, andestablish inspection.The Soviet Unionrejected this plan sayingthe UN was USdominated. The US thenembarked on testing,deployment anddeveloping nuclearweapons.

Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights 1948

Eleanor Rooseveltled an internationalcommission of 15members to writethe declaration. Itdeclared that rightsadhered to allpeople regardlessof nationality, race,gender, or religion.

First PugwashConference 1955Presentation ofBertrand Russell-Albert EinsteinManifesto toencourage scientiststo meet to discussthe peril of weaponsof mass destructionand imploregovernments to findpeaceful means tosettle disputes.

Grenville Clark’s andLouis Sohn’s PeacePlan was described inWorld Peace throughWorld Law written in1958. It detailed howthe UN could be turnedinto a federal worldgovernment whichwould include apermanent worldpolice force, tribunalsfor dispute settlement,and completedisarmament.

McCloy-ZorinDisarmamentPlan of 1961described how toachieve verifiedand gradual armsreduction,improve means ofsettlinginternationaldisputes, andcreate a UNmilitary force.

Martin LutherKing, Jr. CivilRights Movement1955-1968Nonviolentstruggle for equalrights and an endto racialdiscrimination.

Vietnam War Protest (1966-1973)

Student marches anddemonstrations 1964-1973Norman Morrison set himselfon fire at Pentagon 1965Vets turn in decorations toWhite House – 1966 and 1971Vietnam Vets Against the War1967Berrigan Brothers Catonsville9 burnt draft files - 1968National Student Strike at 450campuses – 1970Kent State Shootings during ademonstration – 1970Camden 28 raid by religiousclergy on draft offices – 1971Winter Solider Hearings -1971

Anti Nuclear WeaponsEfforts (1980’s-Present)• Nuclear WeaponsFreeze RandallForsberg, Dr. HelenCaldicott• Formation of SANE• Jonathan Schell, Fateof the Earth•Plowshares 8 -Berrigan Brothers

Other Current Efforts for Peace• Creation of the International Criminal Court– 2003• Worldwide protests of US invasion of Iraq• Ongoing Truth and ReconciliationCommissions in many countries• Chomsky and Zinn oppose US imperialism• Ongoing efforts for peace in Israel/Palestine• UN Peacekeeping Missions• Peace Education expanding• Colleges, universities, cities and townscreating cultures of peace

BibliographyHershey, Bernt, The Odyssey of Henry Fordand the Great Peace ShipJane Addams, Peace and Bread in Time ofWar, Chapter 1 - "At the Beginning of theGreat War." Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1960,(originally published by The Women'sInternational League for Peace andFreedom, 1922-1945), pp. 1-25.Chatfield, Charles and Ruzanna Ilukhina,Peace/Mir, Syracuse University Press, 1994