United Nations

History and Philosophy

At the time of its creation, the UN was the latest manifestation of a 130-year-old search for mechanisms of international cooperation and law to supplant the traditional methods of national self-defense and war that had been common to international relations. Following the defeat of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815, the victorious allies gathered at the Congress of Vienna and crafted an arrangement dubbed the Concert of Europe to maintain a hoped-for peaceful continent. Under the arrangement, the major powers of Europe agreed to meet regularly and to act collectively against any threat to the post-Napoleonic settlement. Often considered a conservative settlement, the Vienna meeting nonetheless ushered in a reasonably tranquil 19th century, which experienced a creative expansion of international organizations. Early river commissions such as the Central Rhine Commission (1815) and the European Danube Commission (1856) reflected a new interest in “functional” international organizations that built trust among peoples by providing venues of cooperation to resolve common problems. The International Telegraphic Union (1865) and the Universal Postal Union (1874) paved the way for numerous future international agencies dealing with issues as diverse as narcotic drugs, agriculture, health, weights and measures, [Page 2678]railroads, time zones, and tariffs. “Political” international organizations meant to ease tensions and resolve formal disputes between governments also proliferated. In 1899 and 1907, the Hague Conferences established the Permanent Court of Arbitration for the resolution of legal controversies between states.

The Congress System collapsed in the carnage of World War I. However, the war itself convinced many leaders of the need for a world organization with the authority and political will to avert another major conflict. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson led the effort at the 1919 Versailles Peace Conference to create the League of Nations, committed to maintaining peace and security, fostering international cooperation, and developing comprehensive international law as enforceable substitutes for the use of force by any member of the league.

The League came into being on January 10, 1920, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzer land. The organization consisted of an Assembly composed of all members, a Council that included permanent members from the great powers, and a Secretariat. Both the Assembly and the Council required unanimity on any decision. The Covenant also established a Permanent Court of International Justice to hear disputes between states and a mandate system (whereby major colonizing powers would prepare colonial areas for independence) that foreshadowed the end of colonialism. The most controversial provision of the Covenant, Article 10, called for collective security to assure nations of the League's protection against aggression.

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