Ligue internationale de la paix

The Ligue internationale de la paix (International league of peace) was a 19th century peace organization that was founded by Frédéric Passy in 1867. It it also referred to as Ligue internationale et permanente de la paix. In 1870 the name was changed to the Société française pour l'arbitrage entre les Nations (also referred to as the Société d'arbitrage entre les Nations).

The "Ligue internationale de la paix" was created after a public opinion campaign against a war between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia over Luxembourg. The Luxembourg crisis was peacefully resolved in 1867 by the Treaty of London but in 1870 the Franco-Prussian War could not be prevented so the league dissolved and refounded as the "Société française pour l'arbitrage entre nations" (League of arbitration between the Nations) in the same year.

The "Société française pour l'arbitrage entre nations" can be seen as a precursor of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, founded with the first Hague Peace Conference in 1899, and a precursor of the League of Nations, founded with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and followed by the United Nations. The establishment of the Permanent Court of Arbitration was also set up by the Inter-Parliamentary Union that Frédéric Passy foundet together with William Randal Cremer in 1889.

Sources

* André Durand: "Gustave Moynier and the peace societies". In: "International Review of the Red Cross", no 314, p. 532-550 (31-10-1996): http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JNAW

----