95-658: Caro William is a play by William Douglas-Home which premiered at the Embassy Theatre in London in 1952. The cast included Robert Shaw as Mr. George Lamb, Rachel Gurney as Mrs. George Lamb and Freda Gaye as Lady Melbourne . This play was the London stage acting debut of Robert Shaw. This article on a play from the 1950s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . William Douglas-Home William Douglas Home (3 June 1912 – 28 September 1992)
190-693: A "false renaissance" for the organization, given the more troubled missions that followed. Beginning in the last decades of the Cold War , critics of the UN condemned the organization for perceived mismanagement and corruption. In 1984, American President Ronald Reagan withdrew the United States' funding from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (or UNESCO) over allegations of mismanagement, followed by
285-597: A center for coordinating the actions of member nations. It is widely recognised as the world's largest international organization. The UN is headquartered in New York City , in international territory with certain privileges extraterritorial to the United States, and the UN has other offices in Geneva , Nairobi , Vienna , and The Hague , where the International Court of Justice is headquartered at
380-413: A commitment to achieve international development in areas such as poverty reduction , gender equality and public health . Progress towards these goals, which were to be met by 2015, was ultimately uneven. The 2005 World Summit reaffirmed the UN's focus on promoting development, peacekeeping, human rights and global security. The Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs) were launched in 2015 to succeed
475-802: A heavy aerial bombardment and final assault. Dunkirk was allowed to remain in German hands, with the besieged force bottled up, until Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. In the wake of the publication, the British became sensitive to indiscriminate bombing of occupied cities and towns, although that consideration was not extended to towns and cities in Germany. One of the officers, Second Lieutenant James Wareing, described Douglas Home as follows: He did not go into any action as far as I am aware and when we were not in action he did nothing. I really don’t know how he came to be there at all in such an elite regiment. In
570-701: A liaison officer in Operation Astonia , the Allied attack on Le Havre. On the second day after the aerial bombardment had started, he learned of the German request to evacuate the civilians and the Allied refusal. The consequences of the bombardment were apparent to the waiting Allied forces and Douglas-Home refused to participate in the attack. He gave two reasons: which created a moral obligation for Douglas-Home and he declined to participate. The aerial bombardment of Le Havre lasted four nights, killed over 2,000 French civilians, 19 German soldiers and levelled
665-1013: A myriad of autonomous, separately administered funds, programmes, research and training institutes, and other subsidiary bodies . Each of these entities have their own area of work, governance structure, and budgets such as the World Trade Organization (or the WTO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (or the IAEA), operate independently of the UN but maintain formal partnership agreements. The UN performs much of its humanitarian work through these institutions, such as preventing famine and malnutrition (the World Food Programme ), protecting vulnerable and displaced people (the UNHCR ), and combating
760-564: A resolution , over strenuous American and Israeli opposition, declaring Zionism to be a form of racism . The resolution was repealed on 16 December 1991, shortly after the end of the Cold War. With an increasing Third World presence and the failure of UN mediation in conflicts in the Middle East , Vietnam , and Kashmir , the UN increasingly shifted its attention to its secondary goals of economic development and cultural exchange. By
855-623: A screenplay by the playwright himself. The second was released in 2003, under the title What a Girl Wants , starring Amanda Bynes , Colin Firth , and Kelly Preston . The remake features a hereditary peer in the House of Lords who disclaims his title to stand for election to the House of Commons . (Douglas-Home's brother Alec was one of the first to do so after the Peerage Act 1963 .) Another of Douglas-Home's plays, The Secretary Bird (1968),
950-485: A soldier not to obey an illegal order, because a morally indefensible operation rendered all orders underpinning it illegal, did not find favour with the War Office, which focused solely on the order, which Douglas-Home had never denied he had disobeyed. Sir David Fraser's take on it was that he did not question Douglas-Home's courage but he had disobeyed an order and he was properly punished for doing so. The petition
1045-540: A special international regime. The plan failed and a civil war broke out in Palestine, that led to the creation of the state of Israel afterward. Two years later, Ralph Bunche , a UN official, negotiated an armistice to the resulting conflict , with the Security Council deciding that “an armistice shall be established in all sectors of Palestine”. On 7 November 1956, the first UN peacekeeping force
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#17327978368961140-1033: A wide variety of topics. These include the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues , which advises UN agencies on issues relating to indigenous peoples , the United Nations Forum on Forests , which coordinates and promotes sustainable forest management, the United Nations Statistical Commission , which co-ordinates information-gathering efforts between agencies, and the Commission on Sustainable Development , which co-ordinates efforts between UN agencies and NGOs working towards sustainable development . ECOSOC may also grant consultative status to non-governmental organizations. as of April 2021 almost 5,600 organizations have this status. The UN Charter stipulates that each primary organ of
1235-749: A world body to guarantee peace. The winners of the war, the Allies , met to decide on formal peace terms at the Paris Peace Conference . The League of Nations was approved and started operations, but the United States never joined. On 10 January 1920, the League of Nations formally came into being when the Covenant of the League of Nations , ratified by 42 nations in 1919, took effect. The League Council acted as an executive body directing
1330-512: Is administered by the UN organizations. The General Assembly is the primary deliberative assembly of the UN. Composed of all UN member states , the assembly gathers at annual sessions at the General Assembly Hall , but emergency sessions can be summoned. The assembly is led by a president , elected by the member states on a rotating regional basis, and 21 vice-presidents. The first session convened on 10 January 1946 in
1425-521: Is appointed by the General Assembly, after being recommended by the Security Council, where the permanent members have veto power. There are no specific criteria for the post, but over the years it has become accepted that the position shall be held for one or two terms of five years. The current secretary-general is António Guterres of Portugal, who replaced Ban Ki-moon in 2017. The International Court of Justice (or ICJ), sometimes known as
1520-686: The Army Council prevented him from receiving the necessary permission soon enough to meet the deadline for nominations. Post-war, Douglas-Home stood twice as the Liberal Party candidate in Edinburgh South , in a 1957 by-election , and the 1959 general election . He told a story in The Observer Magazine that he took a morning off from the 1959 election campaign to go shooting with his brother, four years before
1615-771: The Charter of the United Nations was completed over the following two months, and it was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council : the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union and China — and by a majority of
1710-580: The Cold War . Two notable exceptions were a Security Council resolution on 7 July 1950 authorizing a US-led coalition to repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea , passed in the absence of the Soviet Union, and the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953. On 29 November 1947, the General Assembly approved resolution 181 , a proposal to partition Palestine into two state, with Jerusalem placed under
1805-611: The Conservative Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Kirkcaldy Burghs before resigning over foreign policy differences. The elections in South Edinburgh had done much to revive Liberal support in the city, following as they did on the first win by a Liberal candidate in Newington Ward in the constituency. Party members were dismayed when he abruptly resigned as a member, apparently because he
1900-999: The General Assembly , the Security Council , the Economic and Social Council , the International Court of Justice , the UN Secretariat , and the Trusteeship Council , although the Trusteeship Council has been suspended since 1994. The UN System includes a multitude of specialized agencies , funds, and programmes, including the World Bank Group , the World Health Organization , the World Food Programme , UNESCO , and UNICEF . Additionally, non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with
1995-739: The Haiti earthquake . Acting under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 in 2011, NATO countries intervened in the First Libyan Civil War . The Millennium Summit was held in 2000 to discuss the UN's role in the 21st century. The three-day meeting was the largest gathering of world leaders in history, and it culminated in the adoption by all member states of the Millennium Development Goals (or MDGs),
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#17327978368962090-531: The ICJ Statute , which forms an integral part of the UN Charter, and non-members may also become parties. The ICJ's rulings are binding upon parties and, along with its advisory opinions, serve as sources of international law . The court is composed of 15 judges appointed to nine-year terms by the General Assembly. Every sitting judge must be from a different nation. The Economic and Social Council (or
2185-691: The International Court of Justice and the UN Secretariat . A sixth principal organ, the Trusteeship Council , suspended its operations on 1 November 1994 upon the independence of Palau ; the last remaining UN trustee territory. Four of the five principal organs are located at the main UN Headquarters in New York City, while the International Court of Justice is seated in The Hague . Most other major agencies are based in
2280-520: The Methodist Central Hall in London and comprised representatives of 51 nations. When the General Assembly decides on seminal questions such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, a two-thirds majority of those present and voting is required. All other questions are decided by a majority vote. Each member has one vote. Apart from the approval of budgetary matters, resolutions are not binding on
2375-655: The Peace Palace . The UN was established after World War II with the aim of preventing future world wars , and succeeded the League of Nations , which was characterized as being ineffective. On 25 April 1945, 50 nations assembled in San Francisco , California, for a conference and initialised the drafting of the UN Charter , which was adopted on 25 June 1945. The charter took effect on 24 October 1945, when
2470-532: The Salvadoran Civil War , launched a successful peacekeeping mission in Namibia , and oversaw democratic elections in post- apartheid South Africa and post- Khmer Rouge Cambodia. In 1991, the UN authorized a US-led coalition that repulsed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait . Brian Urquhart , the under-secretary-general of the UN from 1971 to 1985, later described the hopes raised by these successes as
2565-662: The UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda failed to intervene in the Rwandan genocide amidst indecision in the Security Council. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, international interventions authorized by the UN took a wider variety of forms. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 authorised the NATO -led Kosovo Force beginning in 1999. The UN mission in the Sierra Leone Civil War
2660-479: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees , became the ninth secretary-general. Guterres has highlighted several key goals for his administration, including an emphasis on diplomacy for preventing conflicts, more effective peacekeeping efforts, and streamlining the organization to be more responsive and versatile to international needs. On 13 June 2019, the UN signed a Strategic Partnership Framework with
2755-577: The UN offices at Geneva , Vienna , and Nairobi , and additional UN institutions are located throughout the world. The six official languages of the UN, used in intergovernmental meetings and documents, are Arabic , Chinese , English , French , Russian and Spanish . On the basis of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations , the UN and its agencies are immune from
2850-908: The War in Darfur in Sudan and the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and sent observers and chemical weapons inspectors to the Syrian Civil War . In 2013, an internal review of UN actions in the final battles of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009 concluded that the organization had suffered a "systemic failure". In 2010, the organization suffered the worst loss of life in its history, when 101 personnel died in
2945-548: The World Economic Forum in order to "jointly accelerate" the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development . The United Nations is part of the broader UN System, which includes an extensive network of institutions and entities. Central to the organization are five principal organs established by the UN Charter: the General Assembly , the Security Council , the Economic and Social Council ,
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3040-597: The " Four Powers ", refers to the four major Allied countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China , emerged in the Declaration by the United Nations. On New Year's Day 1942, Roosevelt, Churchill, the Soviet Union's former Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov , and the Chinese Premier T. V. Soong signed the " Declaration by United Nations ", and the next day the representatives of twenty-two other nations added their signatures. During
3135-475: The 1960s. Since then, 80 former colonies have gained independence, including 11 trust territories that had been monitored by the Trusteeship Council . By the 1970s, the UN's budget for economic and social development programmes vastly exceeded its spending on peacekeeping . After the end of the Cold War in 1991, the UN shifted and expanded its field operations, undertaking a wide variety of complex tasks. The UN comprises six principal operational organizations:
3230-453: The 1970s, the UN budget for social and economic development was far greater than its peacekeeping budget. After the Cold War, the UN saw a radical expansion in its peacekeeping duties, taking on more missions in five years than it had in the previous four decades. Between 1988 and 2000, the number of adopted Security Council resolutions more than doubled, and the peacekeeping budget increased by more than tenfold. The UN negotiated an end to
3325-573: The Assembly's business. It began with four permanent members—the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Japan . After some limited successes and failures during the 1920s, the League proved ineffective in the 1930s, as it failed to act against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1933. Forty nations voted for Japan to withdraw from Manchuria but Japan voted against it and walked out of
3420-420: The Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of the Republic of China (also known as Taiwan). The vote was widely seen as a sign of waning American influence in the organization. Third World nations organized themselves into the Group of 77 under the leadership of Algeria, which briefly became a dominant power at the UN. On 10 November 1975, a bloc comprising the Soviet Union and Third World nations passed
3515-404: The Congo by 11 May 1964. While travelling to meet rebel leader Moise Tshombe during the conflict, Dag Hammarskjöld , often named as one of the UN's most effective secretaries-general, died in a plane crash . Months later he was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . In 1964, Hammarskjöld's successor, U Thant , deployed the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus , which would become one of
3610-428: The ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social co-operation and development. It was established to serve as the UN's primary forum for global issues and is the largest and most complex UN body. The ECOSOC's functions include gathering data, conducting studies and advising and making recommendations to member states. Its work is carried out primarily by subsidiary bodies focused on
3705-552: The Economic and Social Council and other agencies. The UN's chief administrative officer is the secretary-general , currently António Guterres , who is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. He began his first five-year term on 1 January 2017 and was re-elected on 8 June 2021. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. The UN, its officers, and its agencies have won multiple Nobel Peace Prizes , although other evaluations of its effectiveness have been contentious. Some commentators believe
3800-539: The General Assembly on a regional basis . The presidency of the Security Council rotates alphabetically each month. The UN Secretariat carries out the day-to-day duties required to operate and maintain the UN system. It is composed of tens of thousands of international civil servants worldwide and headed by the secretary-general , who is assisted by the deputy secretary-general . The Secretariat's duties include providing information and facilities needed by UN bodies for their meetings and carrying out tasks as directed by
3895-443: The League instead of withdrawing from Manchuria. It also failed to act against the Second Italo-Ethiopian War , after the appeal for international intervention by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I at Geneva in 1936 went with no avail, including when calls for economic sanctions against Italy failed. Italy and other nations left the League. When war broke out in 1939 , the League effectively closed down. The first step towards
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3990-454: The Millennium Development Goals. In addition to addressing global challenges, the UN has sought to improve its accountability and democratic legitimacy by engaging more with civil society and fostering a global constituency. In an effort to enhance transparency, in 2016 the organization held its first public debate between candidates for secretary-general. On 1 January 2017, Portuguese diplomat António Guterres , who had previously served as
4085-418: The Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and other UN bodies. The secretary-general acts as the spokesperson and leader of the UN. The position is defined in the UN Charter as the organization's chief administrative officer. Article 99 of the charter states that the secretary-general can bring to the Security Council's attention "any matter which in their opinion may threaten
4180-449: The UN began operations. The UN's objectives, as outlined by its charter, include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights , delivering humanitarian aid , promoting sustainable development , and upholding international law . At its founding, the UN had 51 member states ; as of 2024 , it has 193 sovereign states , nearly all of the world's recognized sovereign states. The UN's mission to preserve world peace
4275-420: The UN can only make recommendations to member states, the Security Council has the power to make binding decisions that member states have agreed to carry out, under the terms of Charter Article 25. The decisions of the council are known as United Nations Security Council resolutions . The Security Council is made up of fifteen member states: five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and
4370-468: The UN system obey the Noblemaire principle , which calls for salaries that will attract and retain citizens of countries where compensation is highest, and which ensures equal pay for work of equal value regardless of the employee's nationality. In practice, the International Civil Service Commission , which governs the conditions of UN personnel, takes reference to the highest-paying national civil service. Staff salaries are subject to an internal tax that
4465-399: The UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions. With the spread of decolonization in the 1960s, the UN's membership shot up due to an influx of newly independent nations. In 1960 alone, 17 new states joined the UN, 16 of them from Africa. On 25 October 1971, with opposition from the United States, but with the support of many Third World nations, the People's Republic of China was given
4560-424: The United Kingdom and Singapore. Boutros Boutros-Ghali , the secretary-general from 1992 to 1996, initiated a reform of the Secretariat, somewhat reducing the size of the organisation. His successor, Kofi Annan , initiated further management reforms in the face of threats from the US to withhold its UN dues. Though the UN Charter had been written primarily to prevent aggression by one nation against another, in
4655-580: The United Nations can establish various specialized agencies to fulfill its duties. Specialized agencies are autonomous organizations working with the United Nations and each other through the coordinating machinery of the Economic and Social Council. Each was integrated into the UN system through an agreement with the UN under UN Charter article 57. There are fifteen specialized agencies, which perform functions as diverse as facilitating international travel, preventing and addressing pandemics, and promoting economic development. The United Nations system includes
4750-452: The United Nations. After months of planning, the UN Conference on International Organization opened in San Francisco on 25 April 1945. It was attended by 50 nations' governments and a number of non-governmental organizations. The delegations of the Big Four chaired the plenary meetings. Previously, Churchill had urged Roosevelt to restore France to its status of a major power after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. The drafting of
4845-436: The United States) and ten non-permanent members (currently Algeria , Ecuador , Guyana , Japan , Malta , Mozambique , the Republic of Korea , Sierra Leone , Slovenia and Switzerland ). The five permanent members hold veto power over UN resolutions, allowing a permanent member to block adoption of a resolution, though not debate. The ten temporary seats are held for two-year terms, with five members elected each year by
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#17327978368964940-612: The World Court, is the primary judicial organ of the UN. It is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice and occupies the body's former headquarters in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands , making it the only principal organ not based in New York City. The ICJ's main function is adjudicating disputes among nations. Examples of issues they have heard include war crimes, violations of state sovereignty and ethnic cleansing. The court can also be called upon by other UN organs to provide advisory opinions on matters of international law. All UN member states are parties to
5035-504: The birth of Trial by Jury in 1875. Peter Pratt played Carte, Kenneth Sandford played Gilbert, and John Ayldon played Sullivan. His other plays included: Douglas Home's screenwriting credits include: United Nations The United Nations ( UN ) is a diplomatic and political international organization with the intended purpose of maintaining international peace and security , developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and serving as
5130-430: The city. The Germans surrendered after two-days' fighting and I Corps moved on to Boulogne , which was also subjected to a heavy aerial bombardment. At that time Douglas-Home, who had been placed under supervision (he did not consider himself at that time to have been "arrested") wrote to the Maidenhead Advertiser and the publication of his letter in the newspaper prompted his formal arrest and detention. Douglas-Home
5225-415: The delegations from the Allied Big Four at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference from 21 September to 7 October 1944. They agreed on proposals for the aims, structure and functioning of the new organization. It took the conference at Yalta in February 1945, and further negotiations with the Soviet Union, before all the issues were resolved. By 1 March 1945, 21 additional states had signed the Declaration by
5320-434: The early 1990s the UN faced several simultaneous, serious crises within Somalia, Haiti, Mozambique, and the nations that previously made up Yugoslavia. The UN mission in Somalia was widely viewed as a failure after the United States' withdrawal following casualties in the Battle of Mogadishu . The UN mission to Bosnia faced worldwide ridicule for its indecisive and confused mission in the face of ethnic cleansing. In 1994,
5415-436: The editor of the Maidenhead Advertiser who published an exclusive on how Le Havre was captured without firing a single shot. Unlike the letters from other ranks the letters from officers were not subject to 100% censorship but to random screening. In any event when the War Office saw the newspaper article they immediately investigated the source of the information. The initial upshot was that our CO Lieutenant Colonel H. Waddell
5510-417: The eight governments in exile of countries under Axis occupation , together with the Soviet Union and representatives of the Free French Forces , unanimously adopted adherence to the common principles of policy set forth by Britain and the United States. Roosevelt and Churchill met at the White House in December 1941 for the Arcadia Conference . Roosevelt is considered a founder of the UN, and coined
5605-420: The establishment of the United Nations was the Inter-Allied Conference in London that led to the Declaration of St James's Palace on 12 June 1941. By August 1941, American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had drafted the Atlantic Charter ; which defined goals for the post-war world. At the subsequent meeting of the Inter-Allied Council in London on 24 September 1941,
5700-457: The field he ate by himself and slept under a tank. He did not seem to be in charge of anyone. However he was put in charge of a group of tanks for the attack on Le Havre. This created something of a situation because he refused to go into action but at the same time was claiming that he could capture Le Havre without firing a single shot. The CO accordingly put him under close arrest under the supervision of another officer. Another officer described
5795-424: The incident in front of Le Havre as follows: I was a troop leader in C Squadron 141 RAC and was the escorting officer of William Douglas Home, for two or three days, following his arrest. If my memory serves me correctly he was arrested by order of Major Dan Duffy, our squadron commander and he so ordered the arrest because Captain Douglas Home refused to act as an LO. Home told me that the reason he refused this duty
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#17327978368965890-405: The last man, and not to surrender. When the Allied forces invested the city in advance of the planned aerial bombardment and subsequent assault, Wildermuth asked the British commander if the French civilians could be evacuated from the city, but that request was refused. Lieutenant (acting Captain) Douglas-Home was near Le Havre, awaiting the completion of the aerial bombardment. He was to serve as
5985-430: The latter became Conservative Prime Minister in 1963. Alec uncharacteristically missed all the birds in the first drive. When William asked him what was wrong, Alec replied "I had to speak against some bloody Liberal last night!" He had been unaware that the "bloody Liberal" was his own younger brother. William's comment was : "I would have given him a lift if I'd known he was going." Previously, William had briefly been
6080-495: The laws of the countries where they operate, safeguarding the UN's impartiality with regard to host and member countries. Below the six organs are, in the words of the author Linda Fasulo, "an amazing collection of entities and organizations, some of which are actually older than the UN itself and operate with almost complete independence from it". These include specialized agencies, research and training institutions, programmes and funds and other UN entities. All organizations in
6175-410: The maintenance of international peace and security", a phrase that secretaries-general since Trygve Lie have interpreted as giving the position broad scope for action on the world stage. The office has evolved into a dual role of an administrator of the UN organization and a diplomat and mediator addressing disputes between member states and finding consensus to global issues . The secretary-general
6270-428: The members. The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN, except matters of peace and security that are under consideration by the Security Council. Draft resolutions can be forwarded to the General Assembly by its six main committees: As well as by the following two committees: The Security Council is charged with maintaining peace and security among nations. While other organs of
6365-474: The organization to be a leader in peace and human development, while others have criticized it for ineffectiveness, bias, and corruption . In the century prior to the UN's creation, several international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross were formed to ensure protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and strife. During World War I , several major leaders, especially U.S. President Woodrow Wilson , advocated for
6460-440: The other 46 nations. The first meetings of the General Assembly , with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council took place in London beginning in January 1946. Debates began at once, covering topical issues such as the presence of Russian troops in Iranian Azerbaijan and British forces in Greece . British diplomat Gladwyn Jebb served as interim secretary-general. The General Assembly selected New York City as
6555-443: The regiment to Normandy, William had continued his private war-against-war. While headquarters were near Bayeux , he had written to the newspapers about some German ambulances shot up by British fighters. And what he had written was true. Wilson had seen the ambulances, riddled with bullets on the Tilly road. Later Waddell had posted William to Duffy’s squadron to take part in the assault on Le Havre. There were thousands of civilians in
6650-437: The site for the headquarters of the UN. Construction began on 14 September 1948 and the facility was completed on 9 October 1952. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie , was the first elected UN secretary-general . Though the UN's primary mandate was peacekeeping , the division between the United States and the Soviet Union often paralysed the organization; generally allowing it to intervene only in conflicts distant from
6745-486: The term United Nations to describe the Allied countries . Churchill accepted it, noting its use by Lord Byron . The text of the Declaration by United Nations was drafted on 29 December 1941, by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Harry Hopkins . It incorporated Soviet suggestions but included no role for France. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom , which Stalin approved after Roosevelt insisted. Roosevelt's idea of
6840-435: The town, which was soon to be bombed with 50,000 tons of explosive. William’s moment of decision had at last arrived. On the morning of the battle he returned to regimental headquarters and, finding the C.O. in the act of shaving, told him that be refused to take part. Waddell called a witness. "Will you carry out my order, Home?" – "No, sir". In 1988, Douglas-Home was roused to challenge his cashiering for disobeying orders, in
6935-512: The wake of an article in The Times , prompted by the election of Kurt Waldheim as the president of Austria. The article attacked Waldheim, who was claimed to have been a Schutzstaffel (SS Officer) in the Greek theatre of war, supervising the loading of prisoners who were being transported north for imprisonment or worse. The article asserted that Waldheim should have disobeyed those orders. It
7030-654: The war, the United Nations became the official term for the Allies. In order to join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis powers . The October 1943 Moscow Conference resulted in the Moscow Declarations , including the Four Power Declaration on General Security which aimed for the creation "at the earliest possible date of a general international organization". This
7125-811: The wartime Coalition Government had agreed not to contest by-elections when a vacancy arose in a seat held by the other coalition parties. At the Glasgow Cathcart by-election in April 1942 , he won 21% of the votes, and at Windsor in June 1942 , he won 42%. In April 1944, he came a poor third at the Clay Cross by-election , losing his deposit . He had intended to contest the St Albans by-election in October 1943 , but communications difficulties with
7220-566: Was David Fraser . At Sandhurst, he was critical of the war, which he said had been unnecessary. Douglas-Home was commissioned in the Buffs in March 1941. While an officer he stood in the three parliamentary by-elections. Douglas-Home was assigned to the 7th Battalion of the Buffs, which was converted to tanks as the 141 Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (141 RAC). In the Normandy campaign , 141 RAC
7315-518: Was a British dramatist and politician. Douglas-Home (he later dropped the hyphen from his surname) was the third son of Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home , and Lady Lilian Lambton, daughter of the 4th Earl of Durham . His eldest brother was Sir Alec Douglas-Home , Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964. He was educated at Ludgrove School , Eton College and New College, Oxford , where he read history. His first play, Murder in Pupil Room ,
7410-487: Was argued that if Waldheim had disobeyed those orders he would have been punished and probably executed. Douglas-Home accordingly applied for a pardon and was told that he had to petition the War Office to reverse the sentence of the Court Martial. He was supported in his efforts by the military law expert Professor Gerald Draper OBE, who died in the midst of preparing the arguments supporting the petition. His argument
7505-602: Was assigned to I Corps , a British formation within the First Canadian Army . In August, First Canadian Army was directed to mop up the German forces cut off in various sea ports in Normandy and Pas de Calais . In the first week of September 1944, the Allies moved against the port of Le Havre . A German garrison under Colonel Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was dug in on the hill overlooking the city. Wildermuth had been ordered by Hitler to defend Fortress Le Havre to
7600-468: Was based on his experience in gaol and in the latter some of the characters were drawn from his family." Although Douglas-Home was a prolific playwright, his works have neither the depth nor the durability of such near contemporaries as Rattigan or Coward . However, his play The Reluctant Debutante (1955) has been adapted twice into film. The first film, called The Reluctant Debutante , released in 1958, featured Rex Harrison and Sandra Dee , with
7695-478: Was being required to take part in an event which was morally indefensible, fell on deaf ears. He was convicted and sentenced to be cashiered and to serve one year's imprisonment with hard labour . The proceedings lasted two hours. Because of the article in the Maidenhead Advertiser , the Allied forces besieging Calais allowed the civilians to be evacuated from the town before it was subjected to
7790-536: Was charged at a Field General Court Martial held on 4 October 1944 that, when on active service, he disobeyed a lawful command given by his superior officer (contrary to Section 9 (2) of the Army Act 1881). He conducted his own defence. None of those involved in the court martial, including Douglas-Home had a copy of the new edition of the Manual of Military Law , which had been prepared and published in April 1944, but
7885-423: Was complicated in its initial decades due in part to Cold War tensions that existed between the United States and Soviet Union and their respective allies. Its mission has included the provision of primarily unarmed military observers and lightly armed troops charged with primarily monitoring, reporting and confidence-building roles. UN membership grew significantly following the widespread decolonization in
7980-619: Was established to end the Suez Crisis ; however, the UN was unable to intervene against the Soviet Union's simultaneous invasion of Hungary , following the country's revolution . On 14 July 1960, the UN established the United Nations Operation in the Congo (or UNOC), the largest military force of its early decades, to bring order to Katanga , restoring it to the control of the Democratic Republic of
8075-606: Was finally seen to be done because William Home was sent to prison. He served 8 months, initially in Wormwood Scrubs , then completing his term in Wakefield Prison . Captain Andrew Wilson, M.C. also served in 141 RAC. In his autobiography Flame Thrower , published in 1956, he recounts this incident and its consequences. Wilson wrote his story deliberately in the third person: Even when he sailed with
8170-460: Was later adapted into an Italian film, Duck in Orange Sauce ( L'anatra all'arancia ; 1975), which starred Monica Vitti and Ugo Tognazzi and was directed by Luciano Salce . As part of the 1975 centennial season of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company , Douglas-Home wrote a curtain raiser called Dramatic Licence , in which Richard D'Oyly Carte , W. S. Gilbert , and Arthur Sullivan plan
8265-719: Was not called to speak on a motion on the United Nations during a Party Conference. Despite his opposition to the policy of requiring the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany he was conscripted into the Army in July 1940 and joined the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) . He went to 161 Officer Cadet Training Unit (161 OCTU) in the buildings of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst , where one of his colleagues
8360-639: Was performed by his classmates at Eton in 1926 when he was only fourteen. On 26 July 1951, he married the Hon. Rachel Brand (who later inherited the barony of Dacre ), the daughter of Thomas Brand, 4th Viscount Hampden and 26th Baron Dacre , and Leila Emily Seely. They had four children. During the Second World War, Douglas-Home contested three parliamentary by-elections as an independent candidate opposed to Winston Churchill 's war aim of an unconditional surrender by Germany. The political parties in
8455-546: Was rejected; Douglas-Home had to rely on the judgement of the public as to whether, some three decades after one of the worst civilian tragedies in French history, indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilians in pursuit of wartime objectives was acceptable. William Douglas-Home wrote some 50 plays, most of them comedies in an upper class setting. "In the space of a month or two after his release he wrote two plays which were successful in London in 1947. The first, Now Barabbas ,
8550-483: Was relieved of command and demoted to Major although he continued in combat until we reached Brussels . Here he [Lt Col Waddell] faced a Court Martial and managed to win his case and be reinstated. It was suspected that Home had used his influence with his brother, a member of the Government, the future Lord Home and future Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas Home. This could have explained the demotion of our CO. Justice
8645-405: Was supplemented by a British military intervention . The invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was overseen by NATO. In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq despite failing to pass a UN Security Council resolution for authorization, prompting a new round of questioning of the UN's effectiveness. Under the eighth secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon , the UN intervened with peacekeepers in crises such as
8740-476: Was that if the operation was carried out as planned a large number of French civilians would be killed. He told me that he had offered to negotiate a German surrender but had been refused and consequently declined to serve. I did not know Home before his secondment to the squadron as an LO for the Le Havre operation as he spent most of his time at RHQ. Wareing continued: Whilst under arrest Home had written to
8835-482: Was that the attack on Le Havre was morally indefensible, because of the failure to evacuate civilians and that even though he was not engaged directly in attacking those civilians, he was entitled to refuse to take part in the operation or to support it. It was Professor Draper who had discovered that the current edition of the Manual of Military Law had not been available to the October 1944 Field Court Martial. The duty on
8930-407: Was the first public announcement that a new international organization was being contemplated to replace the League of Nations. The Tehran Conference followed shortly afterwards at which Roosevelt, Churchill and Joseph Stalin , the leader of the Soviet Union, met and discussed the idea of a post-war international organization. The new international organisation was formulated and negotiated amongst
9025-432: Was yet to reach personnel in Normandy. Prior to April 1944, a British soldier accused of refusing to obey an order had no defence available that the order was illegal. Even had that been brought to the court martial's attention, the grounds of objection by Douglas-Home for refusing to obey Colonel Waddell's order were rejected as he had to admit that the order, to act as a liaison officer, was not illegal. His argument, that he
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