Search This Blog

Wednesday 11 January 2017

Peace

The American merchant David Low Dodge organized the first peace society in history in New York in 1815. Almost simultaneously another was organized in Massachusetts by the Congregational clergyman Noah Worcester.

The highest honor awarded to a peace maker is the Nobel Prize in Peace, awarded since 1901. Henry Dunant was awarded the first-ever Nobel Peace Prize for his role in founding the International Red Cross.

The Prayer of Saint Francis ("Lord, make me an instrument of your peace") is a widely known Christian prayer for peace. Often associated with Francis of Assisi, it is in fact a 20th-century peace prayer mistakenly attributed to the 13th-century saint. The prayer in its present form has not been traced back further than 1912.

The Imperial War Museum has an exhibit which lets you listen to the moment guns fell silent, after the World War I armistice went into effect. They used seismic data to recreate the effect.

The last Nuremberg Rally intended to be held by Germany in 1939 was given the name "Rally of Peace", to reiterate the German desire for peace. However, it was cancelled at short notice because one day before the planned date, on September 1, Germany began its military offensive against Poland.

The peace symbol, commissioned by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, was designed and completed by Gerald Holtom on February 21, 1958. Holtom explained that the symbol superimposed the flag semaphores for ‘N’ (flags held at 5 and 7o’clock positions) and ‘D’ (flags held at 12 and 6o’clock) and stands for Nuclear Disarmament.

A peace sign, which is widely associated with pacifism

The 1973 Nobel Peace Prize holds a unique distinction: it's the only one ever declined. Awarded jointly to Le Duc Tho (North Vietnam) and Henry Kissinger (USA) amidst the Vietnam War, Tho refused, citing the ongoing conflict. Kissinger accepted the prize, sparking controversy. This instance exemplifies the complexities surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize

On February 15, 2003, there was a coordinated day of protests against the Iraq war in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between six and eleven million people people participated, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.

The Iraq War protest in Rome on February 15, 2003 involved around three million people, and is listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records as the largest anti-war rally in history.

A puppet representing Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi during the demonstration in Rome

The Global Peace Index (GPI) is an attempt to measure the relative position of nations' and regions' peacefulness.The list was launched in May 2007 and updates have been made on an annual basis since then. The study is the brainchild of Australian technology entrepreneur Steve Killelea, founder of Integrated Research.

In 2016 The GPI indicated Iceland to be the most peaceful country followed by Denmark and Austria. Syria was said to be the least peaceful, followed by South Sudan and Iraq.

The International Day of Peace is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday established in in 1981 and observed annually on September 21. Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace.

The longest continuing period of peace among currently existing states is observed in Sweden, which has had peace since 1814 (if Swedish participation in the wars in Afghanistan and Libya is not considered) after its loss of major parts of the country to Russia in the Napoleon wars.

It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there has only been 230 years of total peace throughout the civilized world.

Islam derived from the root word salam which literally means peace.

No comments:

Post a Comment