Trygve Lie

Lie led the Norwegian delegation to the United Nations conference in San Francisco in 1945 and was a leader in drafting the provisions of the United Nations Security Council. He was the leader of the Norwegian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. Lie first stood for the election for President of the General Assembly but lost to Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium.[7] After in January 1946 the Soviet Union opposed the Canadian candidate Lester B. Pearson due to him being a North American and the UN headquarters were also in North America, and the United States opposed both Soviet candidates, those being the Yugoslav ambassador to Washington Stanoye Simic and Wincenty Rzymowski, the foreign minister of Poland, the United States eventually produced Lie as the candidate, to which both powers agreed on.[8] He was elected as the first Secretary-General of the United Nations by a unanimous vote in the Security Council and by a 46-3 vote in the General Assembly.[2] As the first person to occupy the new position, he would help come to shape the role as it developed in international diplomacy.[9]

As Secretary-General, Lie appointed, among others, Jan Pedersen, Raymond Fourier, Oskar Larsen and a wide variety of officials to the positions of Under-Secretary-Generals or Special Advisors during his tenure, with a tendency to prefer individuals he had previously worked with. Lie supported the foundations of Israel and Indonesia. His passionate support for Israel included passing secret military and diplomatic information to Israeli officials.[10] He sent 50 members of the United Nations guard force from Lake Success to assist the Mediator in supervising the Truce in the former British Mandate of Palestine in 1948 and the "UNTSO", the first peacekeeping operation was established by the United Nations.[11] He worked for the withdrawal of Soviet forces in Iran during the Iran crisis of 1946 and a ceasefire to fighting in Kashmir.[9] Regarding Iran, Lies memorandum on a potential solution was not implemented but as a result of the need for raising important issues, the Security Council changed its rules of procedures to enable the Secretary General to address it on any question under consideration.[9] This change would have important consequences both for Lie with regards the Korean War but also for later Secretary-Generals.[9]

Lie advocated for the creation of the UN Guard, a non-military force of "1,000–5,000 men, largely drawn from the smaller member states, to be recruited by the Secretary-General and placed at the disposal of the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Trusteeship Council."[12]

In 1948, Lie was involved in mediation attempts between Russia and the West following the Berlin Blockade.[13] In June 1948, he offered to raise the blockade to the UN Security Council as a 'threat to the peace' but was told by the US State Department that this was not necessary.[13] In November 1948, he recommended that the UN attempt should attempt to work out the currency issue and present a solution to both sides.[13] However, in this regard he was not successful as Stalin eventually ordered the lifting of the blockade in May 1949 in a response to the effects of a trade embargo and the subsequent ongoing success of the Allied airlift operation.[13]

Lie was Secretary-General of the UN during the period of the Korean War. Following the June 25, 1950 attack by North Korean forces, Lie immediately invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter to convene the Security Council that day.[2] He stated that as Korea was a ward of the UN, the invasion was an attack on the UN itself and that the Security Council should take the necessary steps to reestablish peace.[2] A resolution to that effect passed in the Council by 9-0, owing to the absence of the Soviet Union due to their boycott of the council owing to the absence of the People's Republic of China.[2] It is stated that this attracted the ire of the Soviet Union.[14] During the war, Lie had wanted an international committee to direct military forces but this was opposed by the US and a compromise reached, whereby a unified UN command would be created but under the overall command of a US general.[2] He has been criticised by some for his failures to bring about a swifter end to the Korean War, despite several repeated attempts to bring the People's Republic of China to ceasefire negotiations.[2]

On 1 November 1950, over objections by the Soviet Union, the UN General Assembly voted by 46 votes to five (and eight abstentions) to extend Lie's term of office.[15] The vote was a consequence of an impasse in the Security Council in which the Soviet Union refused to consider Lie due to his involvement in the Korean War,[2] while the US refused to accept any candidate except Lie.[2] Lie later worked to end the Soviet boycott of UN meetings, though his involvement had little to do with the eventual return of the Soviet Union to the UN. He was opposed to Spain's entry into the United Nations because of his opposition to Francisco Franco's government.[16] He also sought to have the People's Republic of China recognized by the United Nations after the Nationalist government was exiled to Taiwan, arguing that the People's Republic was the only government that could fulfill the membership obligations in full.[14][17]

Resignation of Lie in November 1952

By late 1952, the USSR continued to refuse to acknowledge Lie as Secretary-General and, having also been accused by Joseph McCarthy of hiring "disloyal" Americans – an allegation that he attributed to the pressing need for UN civil servants following the establishment of the UN – Lie resigned on 10 November 1952.[18]

The UN came under US official scrutiny after the conviction of Alger Hiss, who had served as acting Secretary General at the first convening of the UN in San Francisco (in 1945). A State Department report dated 17 January 1951, states:

Subject: McCarran Act—Possible Conflict with Headquarters Agreement
In conversation with Abe Feller in New York recently he expressed the view that the regulations which have been issued under the McCarran Act make it fairly clear to him that there is likely to be some conflict between that Act and the way in which it is being interpreted and the Headquarters Agreement. He expressed the view that in the event of such conflict the UN secretariat would be forced to resort to the arbitration procedure under the Agreement. He stated he thought this would be very unfortunate and wondered whether any consideration was being given to a general amendment to the McCarran Act which would waive its provisions so far as it conflicted with international obligations or international agreements. I told him I did not know whether any amendments were under consideration but that I would bring his view to your attention.[19]

Abraham Feller, General Counsel and Principal Director, Legal Department, United Nations Secretariat, was "reportedly" a "close friend" of Alger Hiss.[20] On 14 November 1952, just days after Lie's resignation from the UN, Feller committed suicide by jumping out of the window of his apartment in New York City.[21]

Lie remained active in Norwegian politics after his resignation from the UN. He was the County Governor of Oslo and Akershus, chairman of the Board of Energy, Minister of Industry,[22] and Minister of Trade and Shipping. He wrote a number of books, including In the Cause of Peace, an account of his years at the UN.[6]