-
War between Russia and Poland
The Treaty of Versailles did not clearly declare territory boundaries and so the Polish leader, Jozef Pilsudski, decided to push Poland's boundaries as far east as possible, thus aggravating Russia, causing them to retaliate. This resulted in an all out war between the two. However, the LON did not intervene because Russia was communist at this time and the countries in the LON did not support Russia, thus did not help stop the war. -
Creation of League of Nations
During and after World War I, many world leaders such as Woodrow Wilson and Jay Smuts began to spread the idea of the need of an international organization to preserve peace and settle arguments between countries without resorting to violence. The constitution of this organization, which was named the League of Nations (LON), was adopted by the Paris Peace headquarters in April of 1919. It was decided that the organization's HQ would be in the neutral country of Switzerland, specifically Geneva -
The Aaland Islands
These islands were pretty much midway between Finland and Sweden so the two countries argued over whose territory it should be as the islands were traditionally Finland's but the large majority of the population were actually Swedish and wanted to be ruled by the Swedish. The LON was asked to decide and chose to leave it with the Finnish but banned any weapons from being placed there. Both countries agreed, marking the LON's first successs and first settlement of a territory dispute -
Turkey Refugee Help
After a bloody war that the LON could not prevent, they did manage to help out the 1400000 refugees, of which 80% were women and children. Typhoid and cholera were all over, but the LON sent many doctors from the Health Organization and spent 10 million pounds on rebuilding farms and homes. They also invested in things like wells and tools and by 1926, 600000 people already had jobs. This was the LON's largest humanitarian success -
Creation of United Nations
The United Nations (UN) was created this day when its charter was ratified by its 51 original member states. This day is now recognized as United Nations Day all over the world. It was founded with the purpose of bringing all nations from all over the world to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity, and the well-being of all people. The HQ is based in New York but all UN buildings and land are international territory -
IMF/World Bank Established
Plans for the creations of these organizations were laid in July of 1944 at a mountain resort in New Hampshire called Bretton Woods, but were only initiated on December 1st, 1945. The original purpose of the IMF/World Banks was to grant loans to European countries to rebuild after the war. -
Dissolvement of the League of Nations
This was the final meeting of the LON at which they handed their power over to the United Nations and liquidated all their assets, which was worth about 22000000 USD at that time. The LON had some very obvious weaknesses since its creation, such as its neutrality and structure that resulted in long periods of time before decisions were reached, lack of involvement of countries from all over the world and its pacifism. The LON was often criticised for these weaknesses as well. -
First Borrower from IMF
France was the first country to borrow from the IMF and marked the start of the IMF/World Bank's influence on the global economy, which increased along with the number of members or the number of countries borrowing from it. This also marked the start of the success of the IMF/World Bank because it was the first time it met its purpose. -
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
This declaration was the first to put down the rights of all humans on paper, and was edited throughout the years. The declaration was created in the Palais de Chaillot, Paris. This was a huge step forward to give humans all rights as now there was an actual document stating the rights for all people that was also enforced by an actual international organization now. -
Korean War
Despite this being a war between the ROK and the DPRK, it revolved heavily around the USA, Russia, the People's Republic of China, and the UN. It revolved around the UN because the UN authorized the international coalitions that formed and so was an example of the UN weilding actual power, and using that power successfully. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The US and Russia were at the brink of starting a nuclear war over the placement of nuclear weapons in Cuba. However, the US used the UN as their "podium" to challenge Russia's placement of the nukes in Cuba. The "public indictment" was a large reason of why the Russians were forced to take back their weapons. This was one of the successes of the UN as they were able to force the Russians back, showing their power. -
Nixon Shock
The Bretton Woods of the system of the IMF and World Bank had worked fine for the past 30 or so years, but when the US changed the convertibility of the US dollar into just gold, the system no longer prevailed. This would eventually lead into criticisms that would spark the "50 Years Is Enough" campaign -
Earth Summit
This summit was one of the largest in UN history with 172 governments and 108 heads of state. The summit also included NGO members in the forum, and discussed environmental issues. These forums are still held periodically, albeit about various different issues now. The UN is still criticized sometimes for its inability to take physical action, as its military force is only peacekeeping, and decisions can also be deliberated on for long periods of time. -
World Trade Organization Succeeds General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade
Originally, after WWII, the laws on trade was called the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). However, after multiple rounds of discussions between member countries, the decision for a new organization was reached, thus the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created. Its purpose was to supervise and liberalize international trade. -
"50 Years Is Enough" Campaign
This date marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of the IMF and World Bank, meaning the 50th anniversary of the implementation of the Bretton Woods system. However, a campaign was started, called "50 Years Is Enough", that called for a complete restructuring of the system, due to various criticisms such as lacking the expertise to deal with social and economic situations -
Agreement on Telecommunications Services
In this agreement on telecommunications services, 69 governements agreed to various liberalization measures. These agreements and measures went way beyond the ones made during the Uruguay Round, showing the success and efficiency of the WTO. -
Doha Development Agenda
In 2001, the WTO had another discussion, this one called the Doha Development Agenda, otherwise known as the Doha Round, similarly to the Uruguay Round. This was focused on addressing the needs of developing countries. However, this round is still going, and the EU stated that "the 2008 Ministerial meeting broke down over a disagreement between exporters of agricultural bulk commodities and countries with large numbers of subsistence farmers". -
Addition of Member Countries
In 2009, the WTO announced that three countries would now join its organization, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. This also marks the success of the WTO as it is still gaining members, even ones such as Russia. -
Modern-day IMF and World Bank
As of 2012, the largest borrowers from the IMF/World Bank are Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Romania, and Ukraine, in the order of largest loans to smallest. The IMF and World Bank are still being criticized today for the way they create their policies and the way they are governed. Other critics are also concerned about the conditions that are imposed on the borrowers. -
Future of Doha Rounds
As of April 2012, an impasse on the Doha Development Agenda, or Doha Rounds, remains, thus the future of this round is uncertain. The WTO has been criticized generally for its widening of the social gap between the rich and the poor, and for ignoring the issues of labor and the environment
