peace congresses, International Organizations

Related Category: International Organizations

peace congresses, multinational meetings to achieve or preserve peace and to prevent wars. Although philosophical and religious pacifism is almost as old as war itself, organized efforts to outlaw war date only from the middle of the 19th cent. The term "peace congress" is applied to a meeting of diplomats to end specific wars by peace treaties, as well as to an international gathering convened to urge measures for preventing future wars. International efforts toward peace have concentrated on the following lines: the urging of international arbitration and mediation in disputes between nations; creation of an international organization, such as the League of Nations or the United Nations; development and codification of international law; extending the use and scope of the International Court of Justice and endowing it with the necessary authority to enforce its decisions; and general disarmament by all nations.