Nobel Peace Prize Award for 1906 to 1920

About the Nobel Peace Prize Award from 1906 to 1920 including winners Roosevelt and Root, their works, and history.

PEACE

1906 Theodore Roosevelt (1858--1919), American

Work: Arbitrated end of Russo-Japanese War

1907 Ernesto T. Moneta (1833--1918), Italian

Work: Founded peace groups and wrote extensively on matters of peace Louis Renault (1843--1918), France

Work: Worked for the establishment of rules for naval warfare, the extension of Red Cross influence, and international arbitration

1908 Fredrik Bajer (1837--1922), Danish

Work: President of International Peace Bureau, Bern; worked to relax tension among Scandinavian countries

Klas P. Arnoldson (1844--1916), Swedish

Work: Cofounded Swedish Peace and Arbitration League; argued for peaceful secession of Norway from its union with Sweden

1909 August M. F. Beernaert (1829--1912), Belgian

Work: Advocated arbitration and disarmament Paul H. Benjamin Balluat, Baron d'Estournelles de Constant (1852--1924), French

Work: Worked for European union

1910 Permanent International Peace Bureau

Work: Various peace projects, most notably the collection, storage, and dissemination of pacifist-related data

1911 Tobias M. C. Asser (1838--1913), Dutch

Work: International law

Alfred H. Fried (1864--1921), Austrian

Work: Founder of the German Peace Society and editor of The Peace Watch

1912 Elihu Root (1845--1937), American

Work: Strengthened Pan-American unity and negotiated several arbitration agreements with European nations

Nobel Laureate: As a crack corporate attorney based in New York, Root early befriended Theodore Roosevelt, then a rising star in state politics. He joined President McKinley's cabinet as war secretary in 1899 and quickly took charge of administering Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, just acquired in the Spanish-American War. Appointed secretary of state by President Roosevelt, he set aside his boss's "big stick" approach long enough to forge friendlier ties with Latin America and Canada. He also coaxed several quarreling European countries to arbitration and struck a compromise with Great Britain over North Atlantic fishing rights. He opposed President Wilson until the U.S. entered W.W.I, when he was dispatched to Russia in a doomed bid to shore up the Kerenski regime. In the 1920s he worked tirelessly to set up a world court and tried in vain to persuade his government to join it.

Nobel Lore: Many opposed giving the peace award to a man who had helped implement American foreign policy at its imperialistic height.

1913 Henri Lafontaine (1854--1943), Belgian

Work: President of International Peace Bureau; compiled pacifist literature; wrote case histories of international arbitration

1914 No award

1915 No award

1916 No award

1917 International Committee of the Red Cross

Work: Implemented Geneva Convention principles of humane warfare; coordinated wartime efforts of national Red Cross units

1918 No award

1919 Woodrow Wilson (1856--1924), American

Work: Joined the fight for the creation of the League of Nations

1920 Leon V.A. Bourgeois (1851--1925), French

Work: Laid the groundwork for the League of Nations