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League of Nations is created
The League of Nations came into effect on January 10, 1920. The Convenent of League of Nations was ratified by 42 nations. These nations include Belgium, Canada, China, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. -
Territorial Dispute of Upper Silesia
The Treat of Versailles stated that the people of Upper Silesia could have their own choice in whether they wanted to be part of Germany or Poland, but the resulting votes were quite close. On Aug 12, 1921, he League of Nations was asked to settle a territorial dispute regarding Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland. After 6 weeks, the League decided to split Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland. This decision was accepted by people of Germany, Poland and Upper Silesia. -
Memel
In 1923, Lithuanians invaded the French governed port, Memel.The League intervened and gave the area surrounding Memel to Lithuania but they made the port an "international zone". Lithuania agreed to this decision. Though this can be seen as a League success – as the issue was settled – a counter argument is that what happened was the result of the use of force and that the League responded in a positive manner to those (the Lithuanians) who had used force. -
Greece and Bulgaria dsipute
After an incident involving sentries on the Greek-Bulgarian border in October 1925, fighting began between the two countries. Three days after the initial incident, Greek troops invaded Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government ordered its troops to make only token resistance, and evacuated between ten thousand and fifteen thousand people from the border region, trusting the League to settle the dispute. The League condemned the Greek invasion, and called for both Greek withdrawal and compensation. -
Manchurian Incident
The Mukden Incident was one of the League's major setbacks and acted as the catalyst for Japan's withdrawal from the organization. In September 1931, the Japanese Army occupied large areas of Manchuria, a province of China. On March 9, 1932, the Japanese set up a government in Manchuria. The League, responding to appeals from China, ordered the Japanese to remove troops from China, but rather than do this, Japan withdrew membership from the League. -
Agreement to establish WOrld Bank and IMF
Delegates from 44 countries began meeting at Bretton Woods, N.H., where they agreed to establish the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The US hosted an international conference at Bretton Woods, N.H., to deal with international monetary and financial problems. The talks resulted in the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in 1945. The agreement was a gold exchange standard and only the US was required to convert its currency into gold at a fixed rate -
United Nations is created
The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the UN Charter had been ratified by a majority of the original 51 Member States. The day is now celebrated each year around the world as United Nations Day. -
1st United Nations assembly
On January 10, 1946, the United Nations had its first General Assembly in the Westminster Central Hall of London. Representatives of 51 nations were present. -
World Health Organization founded
The World Health Organization was founded by the UN on April 7, 1948. Since its creation, WHO has been responsible for playing a leading role in the eradication of smallpox. Its current priorities include communicable diseases, in particular, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; the mitigation of the effects of non-communicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health, development, and ageing; nutrition, food security and healthy eating; as well as substance abuse. -
Convention on Refugees
The UN members adopted the Convention on Refugees. It was not signed by Indonesia. This was the founding charter for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It spelled out the entitlements of those who flee their country for fear of being killed or persecuted -
ICSID comes into force
The World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) came into force. It was established under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States. -
AMSCO created
The African Management Services Company (AMSCO) was formed in South Africa by the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, to help small African firms become competitive. AMSCO currently supports numerous projects in Africa and is sub-Saharan Africa's biggest and most ambitious human capital development effort in the private sector. -
Russia joins World Bank and IMF membership
On April 27, 1992, Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics won entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Since 2007, the World Bank Group (WBG) has provided Government-endorsed reimbursable technical assistance to more than 30 of Russia's sub-national governments. Today, the World Bank is financing 10 investment projects in Russia for the total amount of US$ 987 million. -
Russia first applies to join WTO
Russia has been holding negotiations on joinging the WTO since 1993, but this process has not been completed because of various disagreements regarding participating members. In 2009 it was said that Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan planned to join the World Trade Organization simultaneously in the framework of the Customs Union. Russia was finally approved for membership in December 2011. -
World Trade Organization founded
The World Trade Organization was created in Geneva as a successor to GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. -
Mekong disaster
It was reported that Laos was promoting the development of the $1.44 billion Nam Theun Two Dam. It would alter 2 major tributaries of the Mekong River and flood an area the size of Singapore. The World Bank contributed $130 million to the project, which was expected to begin generating power in 2009. Environmentalists feared severe impact to the Nakai Plateau and some 120,000 people downstream as one river dries up and another swells. -
Kyoto Protocol is adopted
At the UN conference on global warming in Kyoto, Japan, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted and signed by countries. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The main aspect of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and Europe for reducing greenhouse gas. -
Seattle conference collapse
The World Trade Organization talks in Seattle collapse, having failed to agree on a new round of negotiations, The poor countries were sidelined from the start in the US's desperation to get a deal. "The best thing now might be for the talks to collapse to the allow the total reform of the WTO," was the words of a British delegation. This event lead to many people doubting and questioning the WTO's work and significance, going on strike out in the streets. -
The Doha Development ROund
The 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha set out tasks, including negotiations, for a wide range of issues concerning developing countries. Some people call the new negotiations the Doha Development Round. As of 2008, talks have stalled over a divide on major issues, such as agriculture, industrial tariffs and non-tariff barriers, services, and trade remedies.The most recent round of negotiations, 23–29 July 2008, broke down after failing to reach a compromise on agricultural import rules. -
China export violation
WTO upholds complaints by the US, European Union and Mexico that China had broken global free trade rules by imposing quotas and taxes on exports of certain key materials, including minerals like bauxite, magnesium and zinc. China complains. The panel found that China’s imposition of minimum export price, export licensing, and export quota administration requirements on these materials is inconsistent with WTO's rules.
