Building a Palace for Peace

  • Overseas
  • 1913

Andrew Carnegie was deeply utopian on the question of international peace. (See the 1910 entry on our list of achievements in Public-Policy philanthropy.) He was enthralled by the declarations and treaties promising world amity that flowed out of the conventions held in 1899 and then 1907 in The Hague, Holland’s capital. Carnegie was asked to build a “temple” to peace at the Hague, and ultimately provided $1.5 million to erect the “Peace Palace” that opened in 1913. In the strife-filled century since its construction, the ornate administrative building has been home base for many high-minded organizations. It currently houses the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague Academy of International Law, and the Peace Palace Library.

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