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Before the UN
Europe stumbled into World War I, which eventually engulfed the world’s other states and colonial possessions. The League of Nations was formed to ensure that the world would never have to fight another such conflict, and during the twenties it appeared that the League could at least sometimes be successful in settling conflict. With the worldwide depression deepening and the birth of fascism, however, the path of world events led downward with aggression against other states unopposed by the League in Ethiopia, China, and Europe.
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1914
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World War I begun with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
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1919
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The League of Nations established without the US, USSR, and Germany
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1928
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Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact outlawed war
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1931
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Japan invaded Manchuria
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1936
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Germany under Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland
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1939
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World War II begun in Europe with German’s invasion of Poland
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1943
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Wartime Allied conferences begun planning for the postwar world
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1940’s
The world was consumed by the Second World War, the most terrible conflict humans had ever seen. Planning for the postwar world began almost two years before the war ended as the leaders of the Allied powers were determined to avoid the mistakes of the peace makers at the end of the First World War. After the defeat of Italy, Germany, and Japan, the UN was able to concentrate on building its institutions and its physical facility. The beginning of the Cold War, however, foreshadowed the difficulties the UN would face in a bipolar world where the US and USSR would play a zero-sum game, where a loss for one was always a gain for the other.
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1942
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The name "United Nations" used to refer to the Allied Powers in World War II by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
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1945
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UN Charter written in San Francisco
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1945
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United Nations Day celebrated on 24 October each year when Charter officially came into force upon ratification
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1946
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First resolution adopted by General Assembly sponsoring peaceful uses of atomic energy and the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction
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1948
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First UN observer mission established in Palestine
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1949
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Cornerstone laid for the present UN Headquarters in NYC
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1950’s
The Korean War was the first test of the UN’s effectiveness at handling conflict. Its forces went into Korea; the war expelled North Korea from the South, but left the boundaries unchanged. The USSR, absent from the Security Council to protest the status of Communist China, was unable to cast a veto against UN action. The Trusteeship Council was active in monitoring growing nationalist movements in Africa and Asia. The Suez Canal crisis led to the establishment of a peacekeeping force in the Sinai Desert, which Nassar of Egypt would later expel in the l960’s, leading to another Middle East War.
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1950
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Korean War begun when Security Council passed resolution calling on all members to repel invasion of South Korea by North Korea
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1954
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UN High Commission for Refugees received Nobel Prize for work with European refugees
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1956
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First Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly met over the Suez Canal crisis and established first UN Emergency Force (UNEF) for the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction
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1960’s
This was the decade of Africa as most of the continent threw off colonial rule and became independent nations with great hopes for their futures. Asia, too saw the creation of a number of new states; the Trusteeship Council quit meeting in the mid l960’s. Cold War politics, however, led to conflicts in Vietnam, Cuba, and Africa, but the UN was largely ineffective in intervening. It did, however, sponsor conferences and treaties on disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
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1960
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Seventeen newly independent states, including 16 from Africa joined the UN
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1960
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At the height of the Cold War, Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev raged against anti-imperialist comments and banged his shoe on the podium
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1962
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More Cold War tensions reflected during the Cuban Missile Crisis when Soviets installed missiles in Cuba
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1967
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Following the Six Day War, the Security Council adopted Resolution 242 as the basis for peace in the Middle East (Land for Peace)
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1968
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The UN General Assembly approved treaty on Non Proliferation of Nuclear weapons
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1970’s
In the 1970’s the Palestinian Liberation Organization was legitimized by being given Observer Status in the General Assembly, and Communist China gained the seat formerly held by Taiwan, making it one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. Vietnam and its aftermath led the US to adopt a somewhat isolationist stance. The first UN conference on the status of women was held in Mexico City and South Africa came under increasing pressure on apartheid. Military spending reached all time highs especially in the US and USSR; funds for other activities were largely lacking. Another war in the Middle East sent gasoline prices skyrocketing.
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1971
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People’s Republic of China allowed to sit in General Assembly
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1974
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The UN General Assembly recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization and granted it “observer status” within the UN
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1975
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The first UN conference on women held in Mexico, which coincided with International Women's Year
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1977
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Security Council adopted an arms embargo against South Africa because of its apartheid regime
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1980’s
Cold War tensions receded as the USSR first reformed and later became the Russian Federation, leading to greater UN effectiveness in development aid and prevention of disease. Much progress has been made from the efforts of the UN to prevent further damage to the ozone layer. Iraq and Iran fought an eight year war, but the UN had little scope for action here.
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1980
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Iraq invaded Iran after Iran shelled Iraqi border towns, starting the Iran-Iraq War; UN Security Council called for a ceasefire, but the war lasted until l988
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1980
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Three years after the last case reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared smallpox eradicated
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1984
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A UN office for Emergency Operations set up in Africa to help coordinate famine relief efforts
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1987
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Lobbying by the UN led to the signing of the Treaty on the Protection of the Ozone Layer - known as the Montreal Protocol
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1990’s
With the end of the Cold War the UN pondered the shape of the world to come. For the second time in its history, the Security Council authorized the use of force to compel Saddam Hussein of Iraq to reverse his invasion of Kuwait rather than applying the more customary Peacekeeping rules. The United Nations was very active in the decade of the nineties with meetings and conventions on the right of children, women, and the protection of the environment. The International Criminal Tribunal was formed to judge those who committed crimes against humanity and genocide, though the United States declined to participate. A most hopeful development occurred with the election of a majority government in South Africa and a democratic election in Cambodia under UN auspices, but the horrors of the genocide in Rwanda showed the ineffectiveness of UN peacekeeping forces.
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1990
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A Convention on the Rights of the Child ratified; UNICEF convened the World Summit for Children
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1990
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The UN sponsored Operation Desert Storm resulted in the defeat of Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in the Gulf War conflict
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1992
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UN Conference on Environment and Development held, the "Earth Summit", in Rio de Janeiro with 100 countries; a treaty on climate change adopted
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1992
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A UN peacekeeping force failed to restore order and safeguard relief supplies in the war-torn state of Somalia
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1993
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UN-supervised elections held in Cambodia resulting in a new government, and the drafting of a new constitution after nearly 15 years of conflict
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1994
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Elements of the Rwandan military began the systematic massacre of Tutsis, while UN peacekeepers were still in the country. Within 100 days approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed
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1994
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Elections held in South Africa under the gaze of UN observers; after a gap of 24 years, South Africa takes its place once again in the General Assembly
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1997
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The Kyoto Treaty drawn up to implement the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change, binding industrialized nations to reduce worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2% below their 1990 levels in next 10 years
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1998
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The Treaty of the Establishment on an International Criminal Court opened for signature
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1999
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UN Security Council bypassed after a US-led alliance launches a bombing campaign against Yugoslavia without Security Council approval
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2000’s
The new millennium began on an auspicious note with the adoption of the Millennium Development Plan goals whose ambitions included cutting absolute poverty in half within fifteen years, meeting the special needs of Africa, protecting the environment, assuring every child a primary education, and strengthening the United Nations. Conflicts in Liberia, the Congo, and Cote d’Ivoire, and Haiti handled well by UN peace keepers, but the destruction in Darfur continued with hundreds of thousands of refugees and ineffective UN policymaking. Increasing concerns with terrorism and the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq largely overwhelmed international politics with the UN playing a very subsidiary role.
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2000
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UN Milennium Declaration set goals for a new era
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2001
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UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda criticized after judging just nine cases in the space of seven years
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2002
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UN Security Council passed resolution calling for a Palestinian state
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2001
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United States refused to sign the UN sponsored agreement to enforce a ban on the use of biological weapons
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2002
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United Nations accused of failing its mandate in Kosovo by allowing region to be divided into Serb an Albanian enclaves
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2003
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US led campaign to topple Iraqi Saddam Hussein begun (Gulf War II)
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2003
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A suicide attack on the UN offices in Baghdad killed dozens
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