The Peace Palace: 1913 to 1920

⏲🌏In June 1913, Andrew Carnegie traveled to Europe for the German Monarch’s silver jubilee🎉, the celebration of Wilhelm Kaiser’s 25th year as monarch. Since 1907, the German Monarch had more hawkish military advisors and there was concern that Europe was drifting towards a conflict. Andrew Carnegie hoped to encourage the monarch towards continued peace. It is said that Wilhelm Kaiser II made the statement to Carnegie, “Twenty-five years of peace, Mr. Carnegie, and I hope there will be twenty-five more!”

When Carnegie was finished visiting the monarch in June, in August, the Peace Palace was set to have its inauguration ceremony. Carnegie had donated $1.5 million to the project which equates to roughly $50 million today. The Peace Palace was going to become the home for the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an intergovernmental organization that resolves disputes among its member nations. Since the League of Nations creation in 1920, the Peace Palace has also housed the International Court of Justice, which today, is the judicial body for the United Nations.

The industrialist turned peace advocate and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie passed away at the age 83, in August 1919.