Let’s go back into time…
1814 - it was the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) that proved to be the relevant turning point in history, when certain conditions allowed a number of European States to set in motion a series of innovations, inventions and learning processes that shaped the core of what we today refer to as international organizations (IOs).
After the French Revolution of 1789, Napoleon Bonaparte upset the balance of power in Europe with his military campaigns of conquests. Following his defeat at the battle of Paris in March 1814, however, he was forced to abdicate. French territorial borders were re-established, and eight European States convened at the Congress of Vienna, held between September 1814 and June 1815, to restore the balance of power, while hoping to maintain a lasting peace. The Great Powers recognized that the existing state system was no longer adequate and that they had to seek new institutional arrangements.
Among the conditions that allowed for the creation of a new international order at Vienna were, according to Inis Claude: States functioning as independent political units; a substantial measure of contact between them; an awareness of the problems which arose out of their coexistence; and recognition of the need to create institutional devices and systematic methods for regulating their relations with each other. John Ikenberry later added that in various respects the strongest state, called the hegemon, may use a strategy of institutional binding at junctions after major wars.
Since the 1860s, in a process of institutionalization, the series of multilateral conferences were replaced with permanent institutions, referred to at the time as Public International Unions.
1863 - On 9 February 1863 in Geneva, Henry Dunant founded the "Committee of the Five" (together with four other leading figures from well-known Geneva families) as an investigatory commission of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare
1865 - International Telegraph Union
1874 - Universal Postal Union
1884 - International Association of Railway Congresses
1899 - the Permanent Court of Arbitration
1907 - International Office of Public Health. This was the predecessor to the W.H.O.
Many of the early International Organizations transformed into what we now call “specialized agencies,” and their subdivisions (assemblies, boards and secretariats), became institutional prototypes for the League of Nations and the United Nations System. See later on for details.
1913 - The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 established the Federal Reserve System as the central bank of the United States to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. The law sets out the purposes, structure, and functions of the System as well as outlines aspects of its operations and accountability. Congress has the power to amend the Federal Reserve Act, which it has done several times over the years.
1913 - The I.R.S. or Internal Revenue Service As the threat of war loomed, Wyoming became the 36th and last state needed to ratify the 16th Amendment. The amendment stated, "Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration." Later, Congress adopted a 1 percent tax on net personal income of more than $3,000 with a surtax of 6 percent on incomes of more than $500,000. It also repealed the 1909 corporate income tax. The first Form 1040 was introduced.
1919 - the Covenant of the League of Nations that took place in Versailles.
1919 - International Labour Organization
1920 - The League of Nations (French: Société des Nations was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War.
This was the first attempt of the Internationalists.
1923 - Health Organization of the League of Nations.
“Let us boldly state that aggression wherever it occurs and however it may be defended, is an international crime, that it is the duty of every peace-loving state to resent it and employ whatever force is necessary to crush it, that the machinery of the Charter, no less than the machinery of the Covenant, is sufficient for this purpose if properly used, and that every well-disposed citizen of every state should be ready to undergo any sacrifice in order to maintain peace…I venture to impress upon my hearers that the great work of peace is resting not only on the narrow interests of our own nations, but even more on those great principles of right and wrong which nations, like individuals, depend.
The League is dead. Long live the United Nations."
1945 - The UN was established after World War II with the aim of preventing future world wars, succeeding the League of Nations, which was characterized as ineffective. On 25 April 1945, 50 governments met in San Francisco for a conference and started drafting the UN Charter, which was adopted on 25 June 1945 and took effect on 24 October 1945, when the UN began operations.
After 1945 we are merely witnessing the last moves of a game of chess still being played to get us to today.
1948 - The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health". Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it has six regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide. The WHO was established on 7 April 1948.
And some other get togethers to keep us safe:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Universal Postal Union (UPU)
World Bank Group (WBG)
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
World trade Organization (WTO)
Great post. Industrialization was picking up speed in early 19th century.