International Organisations

International Organisations

Introduction

When we think of international Organisations, it is often considered as a twentieth century phenomenon that began with the establishment of the League of Nations in 1919. However, in the late nineteenth century, in order to deal with specific issues, nations had already established international Organisations. Among them were the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), established in 1865 (originally called the International Telegraph Union), and the Universal Postal Union which was established in 1874. Both of these systems are today part of the United Nations system. The International Peace Conference held in The Hague in 1899 elaborated the instruments for settling crises peacefully preventing wars and codifying rules of warfare. Established the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) which began its work in 1902. It is the predecessor of the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ). The outbreak of World War I in August 1914, and the destruction that followed, exposed the limitations of these mechanisms. It was also followed by the end of an international system called the Concert of Europe that had prevented the continent from the scourge of war since the Napoleonic adventures a century earlier. Between the years 1914-18, Europe witnessed the worst human loss in its history where around twenty million people lost their lives. Empires collapsed (the Ottoman, the Austro-Hungarian and temporarily the Russian) and new nations such as Czechoslovakia, Estonia, and Finland were born, radical revolutions took place in Russia and Germany. In other words, a new world order emerged.