204-721: The United Nations Operation in the Congo ( French : Opération des Nations Unies au Congo , abbreviated ONUC ) was a United Nations peacekeeping force which was deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis . The ONUC was the UN's first peacekeeping mission with significant military capability, and remains one of the largest UN operations in size and scope. The Congo descended into chaos and disorder after it became independent from Belgium on 30 June 1960. This prompted
408-720: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
612-593: A candidate for Secretary-General or the admission of a member state, not in critical international security situations. In the negotiations leading up to the creation of the UN, the veto power was opposed by many small countries and was in fact forced on them by the veto nations—the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, and the Soviet Union—by threatening that the UN would otherwise not be founded. Here
816-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
1020-543: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1224-649: A more aggressive approach. UN troops from Sweden, Ireland, India, and Ethiopia were involved in heavy fighting for Katanga's capital, Elizabethville, in December 1961 and eventually took the city. During the fighting, eleven Swedish soldiers were taken prisoner; they were released on 15 January 1962 in exchange for Katangan gendarmes. On 13 September 1961, the ONUC led an Indian brigade in Operation Morthor ("twist and break" in Hindi ,
1428-688: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1632-485: A regional basis for a term of two years. The body's presidency rotates monthly amongst its members. Resolutions of the Security Council are typically enforced by UN peacekeepers , which consist of military forces voluntarily provided by member states and funded independently of the main UN budget. As of November 2021 , there have been 12 peacekeeping missions with over 87,000 personnel from 121 countries, with
1836-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
2040-460: A resolution calling on Belgium to withdraw its forces and the UN to assist the Congolese government, Dag Hammarskjöld appointed senior Indian diplomat Rajeshwar Dayal (who would become India's foreign secretary) as his special representative. Lumumba's assassination shocked Jawaharlal Nehru , who reacted sharply. Calling it "an international crime of the first magnitude", he asked Hammarskjöld to take
2244-650: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,
SECTION 10
#17328631219292448-423: A result, the delegations can negotiate with each other in secret, striking deals and compromises without having their every word transcribed into the permanent record. The privacy of the conference room also makes it possible for the delegates to deal with each other in a friendly manner. In one early consultation, a new delegate from a Communist nation began a propaganda attack on the United States, only to be told by
2652-509: A retaliatory offensive to eliminate secessionist opposition. Major General Dewan Prem Chand launched Operation Grandslam on 28 December, and UN troops controlled downtown Élisabethville by the end of the day. Reinforced by recently-amassed air power, United Nations peacekeepers completed the operation's first phase by the end of the year. In early January, United Nations forces turned their attention to southern Katanga's remaining strongholds. Indian peacekeepers exceeded their orders and crossed
2856-562: A searchlight and a cooling fan. The most famous Irish action of the operation was the Siege of Jadotville where 150 Irish troops of "A" Company, 35th Battalion, held out against a much larger force of 3,000–5,000 Belgian, French, and Rhodesian led Katanga mercenaries and irregulars. The Irish fought until their ammunition ran out, inflicting hundreds of casualties on their opponents while suffering only several wounded. However, an attempt by Irish and Swedish reinforcements to relieve them failed, and in
3060-426: A second resolution on 21 February 1961, Nehru agreed to send an Indian Army brigade of about 4,700 troops to the Congo and the 99th Indian Infantry Brigade was dispatched. The United Nations mission was strengthened and expanded in an effort to keep foreign mercenaries out of the country. The second UN resolution would restore order in the Congo (preventing civil war), oversee the withdrawal of all foreign advisors in
3264-641: A short document, based on the Atlantic Charter and the London Declaration , which later came to be known as the United Nations Declaration . The next day the representatives of 22 other nations added their signatures. The term "United Nations" was first officially used when 26 governments had signed the Declaration. By 1 March 1945, 21 additional states had signed. The term " Four Powers "
3468-614: A small peacekeeping force in the country. By autumn 1963, plans were underway to remove the United Nations force from the Congo after the reincorporation of Katanga. At that time, six battalions of UN troops were stationed in Katanga; one battalion was in Luluabourg , one was at force headquarters, and administrative personnel were in Leopoldville . Canadian Brigadier-general Jacques Dextraze
3672-509: A standoff between Cuba and Colombia only ended after three months and a record 154 rounds of voting; both eventually withdrew in favour of Mexico as a compromise candidate. A retiring member is not eligible for immediate re-election. The African Group is represented by three members; the Latin America and the Caribbean , Asia-Pacific, and Western European and Others groups by two apiece; and
3876-404: A stepped-up version of Operation Rampunch) and swiftly took Katanga. However, Hammarskjöld was not informed about the later operation. The operation led to an eight-day military engagement between the ONUC and Katangese forces. Tshombe's mercenaries were prepared for the UN forces, and launched a counterattack. Thirteen UN troops and 200 Katangese civilians and troops were killed. Operation Morthor
4080-667: A swift return of Belgian troops, under the pretext of restoring order and protecting its nationals. In response to the Congolese government 's appeal for assistance, on 14 July 1960 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 143 (S/4387), which called on Belgium to withdraw its troops and authorized the UN Secretary-General to provide the Congolese government with military assistance. The first UN troops, drawn mostly from African and Asian states, reached
4284-709: A total annual budget of approximately $ 6.3 billion. In the century prior to the UN's creation, several international treaty organizations and conferences had been formed to regulate conflicts between nations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 . Following the catastrophic loss of life in World War I , the Paris Peace Conference established
SECTION 20
#17328631219294488-633: A tough line. When the Security Council passed a second resolution on 21 February 1961, Nehru agreed to send an Indian Army brigade of about 4,700 troops to the Congo. President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu , who resented Dayal's and Nehru's support for Lumumba, objected strongly to the moves and threatened dire consequences for the UN mission if Dayal remained at its helm. At Hammarskjöld's request, Nehru agreed that Dayal should step down. Indian Army involvement escalated. The 99th Indian Infantry Brigade launched Operation Morthor on 13 September, which quickly took control of Katanga. Major Krishnaswamy Sundarji ,
4692-536: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
4896-791: A whole received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. As of 28 February 2023, the UN had 86,903 uniformed and civilian personnel serving in 12 peacekeeping missions, with 121 countries contributing military personnel. The largest was the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( MONUSCO ), which included 20,688 uniformed personnel. The smallest, United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan ( UNMOGIP ), included 42 uniformed personnel responsible for monitoring
5100-453: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As
5304-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
5508-607: Is a description of the situation by Francis O. Wilcox, an adviser to the US delegation to the 1945 conference: At San Francisco, the issue was made crystal clear by the leaders of the Big Five: it was either the Charter with the veto or no Charter at all. Senator Connally [from the U.S. delegation] dramatically tore up a copy of the Charter during one of his speeches and reminded the small states that they would be guilty of that same act if they opposed
5712-467: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
5916-484: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
6120-450: Is authorized to issue both Presidential Statements (subject to consensus amongst Council members) and notes, which are used to make declarations of intent that the full Security Council can then pursue. The presidency of the council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states' names. The list of nations that will hold
6324-590: Is elected for this term. Terms beginning in odd-numbered years consist of two Western European and Other members, and one each from Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. During the 2016 United Nations Security Council election , neither Italy nor the Netherlands met the required two-thirds majority for election. They subsequently agreed to split the term of the Western European and Others Group. It
United Nations Operation in the Congo - Misplaced Pages Continue
6528-628: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
6732-549: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
6936-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
7140-405: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
7344-775: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
7548-561: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
7752-538: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
7956-479: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
8160-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
8364-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
United Nations Operation in the Congo - Misplaced Pages Continue
8568-500: The ANC seized Bakwanga (Kalonji's capital in South Kasai) without serious resistance: "In the next two days it temporarily put an end to the secession of Kasai." Lincoln P. Bloomfield wrote in 1963, [L]ocal authorities were sensitive of their new independence, nonetheless they were clearly waiting for someone to take action; indeed, the ONUC troops were initially welcomed as saviors from
8772-738: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
8976-600: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
9180-461: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and
9384-869: The Dumbarton Oaks Conference in Washington, D.C. to negotiate the UN's structure, and the composition of the UN Security Council quickly became the dominant issue. France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the UK and US were selected as permanent members of the Security Council; the US attempted to add Brazil as a sixth member but was opposed by the heads of the Soviet and British delegations. The most contentious issue at Dumbarton and in successive talks proved to be
9588-700: The Eastern European Group by one. Traditionally, one of the seats assigned to either the Asia-Pacific Group or the African Group is filled by a nation from the Arab world , alternating between the groups. Currently, elections for terms beginning in even-numbered years select two African members, and one each within Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean; the traditional "Arab seat"
9792-530: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
9996-463: The FN FAL rifle replaced the Lee–Enfield. The Irish Battalions had a huge area to patrol and not much transport to patrol it with. Most patrols consisted of a couple of Land Rovers or Willys CJ3As , carrying soldiers armed with rifles, Gustav M45 submachineguns and Bren Guns . One such patrol was ambushed at Niemba on 8 November 1960 by Baluba tribesmen. Of the 11 Irish soldiers, 9 were killed and only 2 escaped, while 25 Baluba were also killed in
10200-441: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
10404-437: The General Assembly , and approving any changes to the UN Charter . Its powers as outlined in the United Nations Charter include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions , and authorizing military action . The UNSC is the only UN body with authority to issue resolutions that are binding on member states. Like the UN as a whole, the Security Council was created after World War II to address
SECTION 50
#173286312192910608-439: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
10812-445: The League of Nations to maintain harmony between the nations. This organization successfully resolved some territorial disputes and created international structures for areas such as postal mail, aviation, and opium control, some of which would later be absorbed into the UN. However, the League lacked representation for colonial peoples (then half the world's population) and significant participation from several major powers, including
11016-412: The Lufira River ahead of schedule, generating panic behind the Katangan lines and causing problems with the United Nations leadership. Tshombe, realizing that his position was untenable, sued for peace on 15 January 1963. Two days later, he signed an instrument of surrender and declared the Katangan secession over. After Operation Grandslam, the United Nations shrank its force significantly and kept only
11220-414: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), though there are other states known or believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons. The block of Western democratic and generally aligned permanent members (France, the UK and the US) is styled as the "P3". Under Article 27 of the UN Charter, Security Council decisions on all substantive matters require the affirmative votes of nine (i.e. three-fifths) of
11424-420: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
11628-459: 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 Security Council demonstrated its renewed vigor by condemning the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on the same day of the attack and later authorizing a US-led coalition that successfully repulsed the Iraqis. Undersecretary-General Brian Urquhart later described
11832-417: The Security Council at a night meeting on 13 July, asking the council to act "with utmost speed" on the request. At the meeting the Security Council adopted Resolution 143 , which called on the government of Belgium to withdraw its troops from the Congo. The resolution authorized the secretary-general to facilitate the withdrawal of Belgian troops, maintain law and order, and help to establish and legitimize
12036-452: The Sinai Peninsula . With the collapse of the Soviet Union , UN peacekeeping efforts increased dramatically in scale, with the Security Council authorizing major military and peacekeeping missions in Kuwait , Namibia , Cambodia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Rwanda , Somalia , Sudan , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The Security Council consists of fifteen members , of which five are permanent : China , France , Russia ,
12240-430: The Tunisian Armed Forces . The first contingent of Belgian forces left Leopoldville on 16 July, upon the arrival of United Nations troops. After assurances that United Nations contingents would arrive in sufficient numbers, Belgian authorities agreed to withdraw all their forces from the Leopoldville area by 23 July. The last Belgian troops left the country by that day, as United Nations forces continued to deploy throughout
12444-501: The United Kingdom , and the United States . These were the great powers that were the victors of World War II (or their recognized successor states). Permanent members can veto (block) any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states to the United Nations or nominees for the office of Secretary-General . This veto right does not carry over into General Assembly matters or votes, which are non-binding. The other ten members are elected on
SECTION 60
#173286312192912648-428: The Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by
12852-436: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
13056-408: The island of Taiwan in 1949, during the Chinese Civil War . The Chinese Communist Party assumed control of mainland China , thenceforth known as the People's Republic of China. In 1971, General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognized the People's Republic as the rightful representative of China in the UN and gave it the seat on the Security Council that had been held by the Republic of China, which
13260-497: The provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to
13464-427: The ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in
13668-426: The 16 December attack on Camp Massart , the Katangese Gendarmerie stronghold was captured. Tshombe signed the 21 December Kitona Declaration, recognizing the authority of the central government and reintegrating Katanga into the Republic of the Congo. He then deferred to the Katangan parliament, however, and postponed any reconciliation. The rival Free Republic of the Congo government was subdued in January 1962, and
13872-451: The 1970s, the UN budget for social and economic development was far greater than its budget for peacekeeping. After the Cold War, the UN saw a radical expansion in its peacekeeping duties, taking on more missions in ten 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 more than tenfold. The UN negotiated an end to
14076-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
14280-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
14484-399: The Belgian officers of causing the mutiny and trying to annex the Congo. When Belgium received Moïse Tshombé 's acceptance, they sent troops to take over Katanga Province and protect mining interests. Katanga was rich in minerals and natural resources, contributing over 60 percent of the Congo's raw materials. It had some of the world's major sources of copper, cobalt, diamonds and uranium in
14688-604: The Belgians. While relationships with the ANC ( Armée Nationale Congolaise ) were complicated by the latter's lack of responsible commanders at any level, in most instances the ANC during that first month did lay down arms wherever there were UN troops, and ONUC took over custody of arms, ammunition depots, and arsenals. Local UN commanders used their own judgment as to how to keep the Congolese troops under control, with outstanding success in many areas. By February 1961, there were four leaders in
14892-682: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
15096-834: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
15300-605: The Congo (UNOC), the largest military force of its early decades, to restore order to the breakaway State of Katanga , restoring it to the control of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by 1964. However, the Security Council found itself bypassed in favour of direct negotiations between the superpowers in some of the decade's larger conflicts, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis or the Vietnam War . Focusing instead on smaller conflicts without an immediate Cold War connection,
15504-477: The Congo the following day. In the face of worsening conditions—including an insurrection in Katanga , the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba , the collapse of the central government, and the intervention of foreign mercenaries—the ONUC's initial mandate gradually expanded to include protecting the territorial integrity and political independence of the Congo, preventing an impending civil war, and securing
15708-399: The Congo. The buildup continued, with ONUC's strength increasing to over 8,000 by 25 July and to over 11,000 by 31 July 1960. Troops had also arrived from countries which included Sweden, Norway, Ireland and Ethiopia. The UN secretary-general said that there would be no troops from the great powers or from countries with an interest in the crisis. A basic agreement between the United Nations and
15912-679: The Congo: Antoine Gizenga (leading Lumumba's followers), Joseph-Desire Mobutu , Tshombe, and the self-appointed King Albert Kalonji . There were four armed forces: Mobotu's ANC (numbering about 12,000), the South Kasai constabulary loyal to Albert Kalonji (3,000 or less), the Katanga Gendarmerie which were part of Moise Tshombe 's regime (totalling about 10,000), and Stanleyville dissident ANC troops loyal to Antoine Gizenga (numbering about 8,000). Early in 1961, Patrice Lumumba
16116-445: The Congo; there were 300 to 500 mercenaries in Katanga (as many as there had been before previous UN operations), and airfields and defensive positions were being constructed. ONUC personnel and consuls from troop-contributing supporters of ONUC faced increasing harassment by Katangan forces. The situation reached a breaking point on 24 December 1962, when Katangan gendarmes attacked peacekeeping forces in Katanga and led Thant to authorize
16320-540: The Congolese government on the operation of the force was finalized by 27 July, and the UN set up a headquarters in a seven-story apartment building on the Boulevard d'Albert in central Léopoldville. Albert Kalonji declared the region of south-eastern Kasai, on the Congo's southern border with Portuguese Angola , the new mining state of South Kasai ( État minier du Sud-Kasaï ) or Autonomous State of South Kasai ( État autonome du Sud-Kasaï ) on 9 August 1960. The use of
16524-524: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
16728-512: The FP officers. Disorder and mutinies quickly followed, four days after the Congo gained independence. While President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba were trying to negotiate with the mutineers, the Belgian government decided to intervene to protect Belgians remaining in the country. Interference from Belgium was seen as neo-colonial aggression by the Congolese government; Lumumba accused
16932-476: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
17136-722: The ICC to investigate the Libyan government's violent response to the Libyan Civil War . Security Council Resolution 1674 , adopted on 28 April 2006, "reaffirms the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document regarding the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity". The Security Council reaffirmed this responsibility to protect in Resolution 1706 on 31 August of that year. These resolutions commit
17340-621: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as
17544-842: The International Criminal Court recognizes that the Security Council has authority to refer cases to the Court in which the Court could not otherwise exercise jurisdiction. The Council exercised this power for the first time in March 2005, when it referred to the Court "the situation prevailing in Darfur since 1 July 2002"; since Sudan is not a party to the Rome Statute, the Court could not otherwise have exercised jurisdiction. The Security Council made its second such referral in February 2011 when it asked
17748-693: The Katanga secession movement was over. Although most observers interpreted that as meaning that the UN military forces had successfully defeated Tshombe's troops, O'Brien's announcement was premature. During the Siege of Jadotville , a company of 155 Irish UN troops was attacked by Moise Tshombe's forces in Katanga. The Irish were outnumbered and outgunned but held out for six days (until they ran out of ammunition), inflicting heavy losses on Tshombe's foreign mercenaries without any of their own being killed . The United Nations launched Operation Unokat in early December 1961, which put pressure on Tshombe to negotiatiate with Congolese prime minister Cyrille Adoula . In
17952-477: The Katangan government to abide by the plan timetable. Still doubting the likelihood of a peaceful resolution of the Katangan secession, he sent Ralph Bunche to Léopoldville. Bunche worked with local UN mission chief Robert Gardiner and force commander Sean MacEoin to create a plan for freedom of movement of ONUC personnel and eliminate foreign mercenaries. By then, it was obvious that Tshombe did not intend to rejoin
18156-448: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
18360-646: The Presidency in 2024 is as follows: Unlike the General Assembly, the Security Council is not bound to sessions . Each Security Council member must have a representative available at UN Headquarters at all times in case an emergency meeting becomes necessary. The Security Council generally meets in a designated chamber in the United Nations Conference Building in New York City. The chamber
18564-531: The Security Council "may investigate any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute". The Council may "recommend appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment" if it determines that the situation might endanger international peace and security. These recommendations are generally considered to not be binding, as they lack an enforcement mechanism. A minority of scholars, such as Stephen Zunes , have argued that resolutions made under Chapter VI are "still directives by
18768-423: The Security Council and differ only in that they do not have the same stringent enforcement options, such as the use of military force". Under Chapter VII , the council has broader power to decide what measures are to be taken in situations involving "threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, or acts of aggression." In such situations, the council is not limited to recommendations but may take action, including
18972-723: The Security Council are signatory to the NPT, and all permanent members are nuclear weapons states . The UN's role in international collective security is defined by the UN Charter, which authorizes the Security Council to investigate any situation threatening international peace; recommend procedures for peaceful resolution of a dispute; call upon other member nations to completely or partially interrupt economic relations as well as sea, air, postal and radio communications, or to sever diplomatic relations; and enforce its decisions militarily, or by any means necessary. The Security Council also recommends
19176-738: The Security Council deployed the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority in West New Guinea in 1962 and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus in 1964, the latter of which would become one of the UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions. On 25 October 1971, over US opposition, but with the support of many Third World nations, along with the Socialist People's Republic of Albania ,
19380-562: The Security Council held 160 consultations, 16 private meetings and 9 public meetings. In times of crisis, the Security Council still meets primarily in consultations, but it also holds more public meetings. After the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, the Security Council returned to the patterns of the Cold War, as Russia and the Western countries engaged in verbal duels in front of
19584-626: The Security Council met for the first time at Church House, Westminster , in London, United Kingdom. Subsequently, during the 1946–1951 period it conducted sessions at the United Nation's interim headquarters in Lake Success, New York , which were televised live on CBS by the journalist Edmund Chester in 1949. The Security Council was largely paralyzed in its early decades by the Cold War in between
19788-533: The Security Council moved into a temporary facility in the General Assembly Building as its chamber underwent renovations as part of the UN Capital Master Plan. The renovations were funded by Norway, the chamber's original donor, for a total cost of US$ 5 million. The chamber reopened on 16 April 2013. The representatives of the member states are seated on a horseshoe-shaped table, with
19992-406: The Security Council to protect civilians in an armed conflict, including taking action against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The Security Council's five permanent members, below, have the power to veto any substantive resolution; this allows a permanent member to block adoption of a resolution, but not to prevent or end debate. At the UN's founding in 1945,
20196-410: The Soviet delegate, "We don't talk that way in here." A permanent member can cast a "pocket veto" during the informal consultation by declaring its opposition to a measure. Since a veto would prevent the resolution from being passed, the sponsor will usually refrain from putting the resolution to a vote. Resolutions are vetoed only if the sponsor feels so strongly about a measure that it wishes to force
20400-480: The UN could refocus its efforts on ending the Katangan secession; contact between the central government and Katanga had broken down, and ONUC intelligence reports indicated that Katanga was rebuilding its forces. In August 1962, secretary-general U Thant drew up a Plan for National Reconciliation in which Katanga would rejoin a federalized Congo; Adoula and Tshombe accepted the proposal. Thant, wary of Tshombe's delaying tactics, applied increasing political pressure on
20604-405: The UN force could and could not do continued throughout its deployment. In response, Lumumba accused the UN of siding with Tshombe and foreign mining companies. He then asked the Soviet Union for assistance, and received aid in the form of trucks and aircraft; this deeply concerned the United States and its allies. Using materiel from the former Force Publique , Lumumba ordered the army to attack
20808-493: The UN force may be used to subdue the rebel government of Katanga". Secretary-general Hammarskjöld refused; to him the secession of Katanga was an internal Congolese matter, and the UN was forbidden to intervene by Article 2 of the United Nations Charter . He said that intervention in Katanga would mean that the UN would be using force in part of the country, which would not be seen as peacekeeping. Disagreements over what
21012-531: The UN identifying legend on their fuselages. Most of the missions involved attacking ground targets with internal cannons and unguided rockets. No aircraft were lost in action, despite large amounts of ground fire . The consensus of the crews and foreign observers was that the Swedish Tunnan's capabilities were exceptional. (The Katanga secessionists used a few Fouga Magisters and other aircraft with relatively poor air-combat capabilities.) The only aircraft lost
21216-529: The UN in the Congo was significant. India sent more troops than any country, and they were active throughout 1962 in defeating the secessionist forces. The UN forces were commanded by Indian officers who included major-general Dewan Prem Chand . Nehru did not insist on an immediate withdrawal of the Indian brigade during the Sino-Indian War , but called back the country's Canberra bombers . The troops returned after
21420-426: The UN over the new force's mandate . Because the Congolese army had been in disarray since the mutiny, Lumumba wanted to use the UN troops to subdue Katanga by force; he saw their refusal as betraying the United Nations' initial plans. Lumumba wrote to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld that, from the text of United Nations Security Council Resolution 143, "it is clear that, contrary to your personal interpretation,
21624-406: The UN's peacekeeping approach in the Congo had no clear place in the Soviet view. Khrushchev went on to criticise the secretary-general's role in the UN, saying that the position gave one person far too much power. He suggested a radical reform, replacing the position of secretary-general with a troika system. Khrushchev's proposal was rejected. On 12 July 1960, after the Security Council adopted
21828-634: The US and USSR and their allies and the Council generally was only able to intervene in unrelated conflicts. (A notable exception was the 1950 Security Council resolution authorizing a US-led coalition to repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea , passed in the absence of the USSR .) In 1956, the first UN peacekeeping force was established to end the Suez Crisis ; however, the UN was unable to intervene against
22032-400: The US using the veto to block the re-election of Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1996. Along with the five permanent members, the Security Council of the United Nations has temporary members that hold their seats on a rotating basis by geographic region. Non-permanent members may be involved in global security briefings. In its first two decades, the Security Council had six non-permanent members,
22236-540: The US, the USSR , Germany, and Japan; it failed to act against the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria , the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935, the 1937 Japanese occupation of China , and Nazi expansions under Adolf Hitler that escalated into World War II . On New Year's Day 1942, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill , Maxim Litvinov of the USSR, and T. V. Soong of the Republic of China , signed
22440-496: The USSR's simultaneous invasion of Hungary following that country's revolution . Cold War divisions also paralysed the Security Council's Military Staff Committee , which had been formed by Articles 45–47 of the UN Charter to oversee UN forces and create UN military bases. The committee continued to exist on paper but largely abandoned its work in the mid-1950s. In 1960, the UN deployed the United Nations Operation in
22644-498: The United States 89. Roughly two-thirds of Soviet and Russian combined vetoes were in the first ten years of the Security Council's existence. Between 1996 and 2012, the United States vetoed 13 resolutions, Russia 7, and China 5, whilst France and the United Kingdom did not use the veto. An early veto by Soviet Commissar Andrei Vishinsky blocked a resolution on the withdrawal of French forces from Syria and Lebanon which were under French mandate in February 1946; this veto established
22848-630: The battle. Trooper Anthony Browne was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry (the highest Irish military award) for giving his life to save his comrade. As a result of the ambush, the army equipped its contingent with 8 Ford armoured cars. These had been constructed in Ireland during the Second World War as a stop-gap armoured vehicle. Armament consisted of a single turret-mounted Vickers HMG. Modifications included extra ammunition storage,
23052-492: The breakaway Katanga province but failed to take it back. President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismissed Lumumba on 5 September 1960, which was condemned by the Congo's houses of parliament; Lumumba refused to step down. On 14 September, Kasa-Vubu dissolved parliament and Joseph Desire Mobutu announced on radio that he would take control of the country's military. After Lumumba's dismissal, Hammarskjöld's Léopoldville representative Andrew Cordier instructed that all airfields be closed and
23256-574: The capital's main radio station be shut down. Lumumba was unable to fly in any troops who were loyal to him, and lost his only means of mass communications. By 20 July 1960, 3,500 ONUC troops had arrived in the Congo. They included 460 troops from the Ethiopian Army (later to become the Tekil Brigade ), 770 troops from the Ghana Armed Forces , 1,250 troops from Morocco , and 1,020 troops from
23460-541: The ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir . Peacekeepers with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) have been stationed in the Middle East since 1948, the longest-running active peacekeeping mission. UN peacekeepers have also drawn criticism in several postings. Peacekeepers have been accused of child rape, soliciting prostitutes, or sexual abuse during various peacekeeping missions in
23664-563: The central government against Katanga). The Swedes had to maintain order in a camp with about 40,000 BaLuba refugees in Kasai which was formed in two weeks in 1961, with refugees fleeing attacks in northern Katanga. In 1962, the Swedes moved to the Kamina base. On New Year's Eve 1962, UN troops advanced towards Kamina, cleared the gendarmes' roadblocks, and defeated the organized resistance. The Congo Crisis
23868-489: The chamber to voice their positions in different ways, such as with walkouts . Due to the public scrutiny of the Security Council Chamber, much of the work of the Security Council is conducted behind closed doors in "informal consultations". In 1978, West Germany funded the construction of a conference room next to the Security Council Chamber. The room was used for "informal consultations", which soon became
24072-490: The city's N'djili Airport . Swedes (like other UN troops) had difficulty keeping track of the fluid and rapidly-changing political allegiances of the groups, and their fighting did not always have an obvious reason. In August they moved to Elizabethville in Katanga, where they encountered their first combat situation and had their first loss while escorting a train. The trains, which were carrying Katangan Baluba prisoners, were attacked by BaLuba (an ethnic group who supported
24276-684: The civilians. Both subject to the American Ralph Bunche , who was appointed head of the operation. In September 1961, responding to an appeal by the UN for military support, an initial force of five J 29Bs was stationed in the Republic of Congo as the F ;22 Wing of the Swedish Air Force . It was reinforced by four more J 29Bs and two S 29C photo-reconnaissance Tunnans in 1962. F-86 Sabres operated by Italian, Iranian, Ethiopian and Filipino crews and Swedish J 29s were flown with
24480-662: The council, but not procedural resolutions, meaning that the permanent members could not prevent debate on a resolution. On 25 April 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, attended by fifty governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the United Nations Charter . At the conference, H. V. Evatt of the Australian delegation pushed to further restrict
24684-466: The council. After approval by the Security Council, the UN may send peacekeepers to regions where armed conflict has recently ceased or paused to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage combatants from resuming hostilities. Since the UN does not maintain its own military, peacekeeping forces are voluntarily provided by member states. These soldiers are sometimes nicknamed "Blue Helmets" for their distinctive gear. The peacekeeping force as
24888-517: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council ( UNSC ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security , recommending the admission of new UN members to
25092-484: The country within 48 hours of the resolution, and civilian experts were tasked with keeping the country's infrastructure operating smoothly. Lumumba asked the United Nations to intervene and use military force to stop Tshombe's forces in Katanga. The first UN troops arrived on 15 July, many airlifted by the United States Air Force as part of Operation New Tape. There was instant disagreement between Lumumba and
25296-419: The country, and attempt to reconvene the Congolese parliament . In August of that year, three of the four groups claiming control of the country reconciled with help from the United Nations. Parliament was restored, and a large civil war was prevented. Tshombe's breakaway Katanga province was not part of this reconciliation, and United Nations forces clashed with Tshombe's foreign mercenaries several times late in
25500-508: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
25704-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
25908-585: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
26112-478: The end, the besieged Irish troops were forced to surrender. A total of 6,000 Irish soldiers served in the Congo from 1960 until 1964, taking 26 casualties in that time. The Congo deployment resulted in greater investment by the government in personal kit and eventually, armoured personnel carriers. The UN Operations in the Congo would be the first international mission for the Philippine Air Force since it
26316-610: The face of ethnic cleansing. In 1994, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda failed to intervene in the Rwandan genocide in the face of Security Council indecision. In the late 1990s, UN-authorized international interventions took a wider variety of forms. The UN mission in the 1991–2002 Sierra Leone Civil War was supplemented by British Royal Marines and the UN-authorized 2001 invasion of Afghanistan
26520-554: The failings of the League of Nations in maintaining world peace . It held its first session on 17 January 1946 but was largely paralyzed in the following decades by the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (and their allies). Nevertheless, it authorized military interventions in the Korean War and the Congo Crisis and peacekeeping missions in Cyprus , West New Guinea , and
26724-422: The final battles of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009 concluded that the organization had suffered "systemic failure". In November/December 2014, Egypt presented a motion proposing an expansion of the NPT ( non-Proliferation Treaty ), to include Israel and Iran ; this proposal was due to increasing hostilities and destruction in the Middle-East connected to the Syrian Conflict as well as others. All members of
26928-406: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
27132-498: The first of which were Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, the Netherlands and Poland. In 1965, the number of non-permanent members was expanded to ten. These ten non-permanent members are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for two-year terms starting on 1 January, with five replaced each year. To be approved, a candidate must receive at least two-thirds of all votes cast for that seat, which can result in deadlock if there are two roughly evenly matched candidates. In 1979,
27336-432: The five permanent members of the Security Council were the Republic of China , France (represented by the Provisional Government of the French Republic ), the Soviet Union , the United Kingdom, and the United States. There have been two major seat changes since then. China's seat was originally held by Chiang Kai-shek 's Nationalist Government , the Republic of China. However, the Nationalists were forced to retreat to
27540-439: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
27744-715: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
27948-424: The help of the Belgians (who wrote his declarations), Tshombé proclaimed the independence of the State of Katanga by television on 11 July and announced himself as president. He was widely regarded by critics worldwide as a puppet for the Belgians and their mining interests in Katanga. On 12 July, the president and prime minister asked for help from the United Nations. UN Secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld addressed
28152-475: The hopes raised by these successes as a "false renaissance" for the organization, given the more troubled missions that followed. Though the UN Charter had been written primarily to prevent aggression by one nation against another, in the early 1990s, the UN faced a number of simultaneous, serious crises within nations such as Haiti, Mozambique and the former Yugoslavia. The UN mission to Bosnia faced "worldwide ridicule" for its indecisive and confused mission in
28356-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
28560-424: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
28764-501: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
28968-428: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
29172-456: The mainland, communist People's Republic of China replaced Republic of China with a seat on the Security Council; the vote was widely seen as a sign of waning US influence in the organization. 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 ostensibly secondary goals of economic development and cultural exchange. By
29376-516: The members. A negative vote or a "veto" by a permanent member prevents adoption of a proposal, even if it has received the required votes. Abstention is not regarded as a veto in most cases, though all five permanent members must vote for adopting any amendment of the UN Charter. Procedural matters cannot be vetoed, so the veto right cannot be used to avoid discussion of an issue. The same holds for certain non-binding decisions that directly regard permanent members. Most vetoes have been used for blocking
29580-435: The mission was completed in March 1963. Malaya (now Malaysia ) was invited to send a contingent to serve in ONUC. In response to the United Nations' request, Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman offered a force of 120 men in a 4 August 1960 telegram to the secretary-general. The force was increased to 450 men in a 24 August telegram, settling at 613: 42 officers and 571 men of other ranks. The ONUC Malayan Special Force (MSF)
29784-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
29988-434: The new Secretary-General to the General Assembly and recommends new states for admission as member states of the United Nations . The Security Council has traditionally interpreted its mandate as covering only military security, though US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke controversially persuaded the body to pass a resolution on HIV/AIDS in Africa in 2000. Under Chapter VI of the Charter, "Pacific Settlement of Disputes",
30192-457: The one hand, they include bodies such as the Security Council Committee on Admission of New Members. On the other hand, both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda were also created as subsidiary bodies of the Security Council. The by now numerous Sanctions Committees established in order to oversee implementation of the various sanctions regimes are also subsidiary bodies of
30396-475: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
30600-456: The other two were Gaza battalions transferred to the Congo as reinforcements. The Irish Army 's first large deployment to the Congo was in 1960. The 32nd Infantry Battalion was the first deployment of Irish troops overseas and they were woefully ill-equipped. The standard uniform was a heavy bullswool tunic and trousers and the service rifle was the .303 Lee–Enfield . Issues with kit were eventually solved, new lightweight uniforms were issued and
30804-506: The permanent member to cast a formal veto. By the time a resolution reaches the Security Council Chamber, it has already been discussed, debated and amended in the consultations. The open meeting of the Security Council is merely a public ratification of a decision that has already been reached in private. For example, Resolution 1373 was adopted without public debate in a meeting that lasted just five minutes. The Security Council holds far more consultations than public meetings. In 2012,
31008-418: The post-colonial government in consultation with the government of the Republic of the Congo. The mission was approved by a security-council vote of eight in favor and none against, with three countries abstaining: the Republic of China, France and the United Kingdom. The United States and Soviet Union voted in favor. The mandate was extended to maintain the territorial integrity of the Congo, particularly through
31212-399: The precedent that permanent members could use the veto on matters outside of immediate concerns of war and peace. The Soviet Union went on to veto matters including the admission of Austria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, South Vietnam and Transjordan as UN member states, delaying their joining by several years. The United Kingdom and France used
31416-401: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
31620-440: The president in the very middle flanked by the Secretary on the right and the Undersecretary on the left. The other representatives are placed in clockwise order alphabetically from the president leaving two seats at the ends of the table for guest speakers. The seating order of the members is then rotated each month as the presidency changes. Because of the public nature of meetings in the Security Council Chamber , delegations use
31824-431: The primary meeting format for the Security Council. In 1994, the French ambassador complained to the Secretary-General that "informal consultations have become the Council's characteristic working method, whilst public meetings, originally the norm, are increasingly rare and increasingly devoid of content: everyone knows that when the Council goes into public meeting everything has been decided in advance". When Russia funded
32028-415: The reintegration of Katanga in February 1963, the ONUC was gradually phased out; civilian aid increased, becoming the single largest assistance effort by the UN up to that time. UN personnel were withdrawn entirely on 30 June 1964. The Congo became independent on 30 June 1960, but Belgian Lieutenant General Émile Janssens , commander of the Force Publique (FP) (the army) refused to rapidly "Africanize"
32232-423: The removal of all unauthorized foreign armed forces. UN forces numbered nearly 20,000 military personnel at its peak from over two dozen countries, led largely by India, Ireland, and Sweden. During the peak of hostilities between September 1961 and December 1962, the ONUC transitioned from a peacekeeping to a military force and engaged in several clashes and offensives against secessionist and mercenary forces. After
32436-405: The removal of foreign mercenaries supporting the secession of Katanga. ONUC was an unprecedented role for a UN force because it was not, strictly speaking, peacekeeping in nature. The United Nations stated four goals for the operation: to restore law and order, to keep other nations out of the crisis, to help build the country's economy, and to restore stability. A peacekeeping force had landed in
32640-426: The renovation of the consultation room in 2013, the Russian ambassador called it "quite simply, the most fascinating place in the entire diplomatic universe". Only members of the Security Council are permitted in the conference room for consultations. The press is not admitted, and other members of the United Nations cannot be invited into the consultations. No formal record is kept of the informal consultations. As
32844-407: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
33048-415: The riots, Dag Hammarskjöld said that it was important to have white UN troops in the country. Hammarskjöld asked Sweden and Ireland to send a battalion each to more easily win white confidence than soldiers from African states would. The first Swedish battalion arrived in Congo from Gaza , where it had been deployed as part of UNEF ) on 22 July 1960. Initially, the Swedes patrolled in Leopoldville and guarded
33252-525: The staff officer who planned the operation, would become chief of the Indian Army. The British government sought to arrange the fateful meeting between Hammarskjöld and Tshombe in Ndola to negotiate a ceasefire. On the eve of Operation Rampunch, the UN had 5,720 troops in Katanga: 1,600 Indians, 500 Irish and 400 Swedes in Élisabethville, 1,200 Indians in Albertville, 1,000 Indians at Kamina Air Base , 500 Indians at Kabalo , 400 Ethiopians and Indians in Manono , and 120 Irish in Jadotville . Nehru's support for
33456-424: The television cameras. In 2016, the Security Council held 150 consultations, 19 private meetings and 68 public meetings. Article 29 of the Charter provides that the Security Council can establish subsidiary bodies in order to perform its functions. This authority is also reflected in Rule 28 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure. The subsidiary bodies established by the Security Council are extremely heterogenous. On
33660-488: The threatened aid workers and missionaries under attack. Troops began to withdraw in May 1964, beginning with the Irish unit in Kolwezi on 11 May and ending with units in Leopoldville in June. The United Nations maintained a civilian staff of 2,000 experts in the country in 1963 and 1964. The final group of peacekeepers, 85 men from the First Nigerian Battalion and 58 men from the 57th Canadian Signals, left N'djili Airport in Leopoldville on 30 June. The last soldier to leave
33864-414: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
34068-619: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
34272-400: The unanimity principle. "You may, if you wish," he said, "go home from this Conference and say that you have defeated the veto. But what will be your answer when you are asked: 'Where is the Charter? ' " As of 2012 , 269 vetoes had been cast since the Security Council's inception. In this period, China used the veto 9 times, France 18, the Soviet Union or Russia 128, the United Kingdom 32, and
34476-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
34680-425: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
34884-449: The use of armed force "to maintain or restore international peace and security." This was the legal basis for UN armed action in Korea in 1950 during the Korean War and the use of coalition forces in Iraq and Kuwait in 1991 and Libya in 2011. Decisions taken under Chapter VII, such as economic sanctions , are binding on UN members; the Security Council is the only UN body with authority to issue binding resolutions. The Rome Statute of
35088-406: The veto power of Security Council permanent members. Due to the fear that rejecting the strong veto would cause the conference's failure, his proposal was defeated twenty votes to ten. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five then-permanent members of the Security Council and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. On 17 January 1946,
35292-432: The veto rights of permanent members. The Soviet delegation argued that each nation should have an absolute veto that could block matters from even being discussed, whilst the British argued that nations should not be able to veto resolutions on disputes to which they were a party. At the Yalta Conference of February 1945, the American, British and Russian delegations agreed that each of the "Big Five" could veto any action by
35496-457: The veto to avoid Security Council condemnation of their actions in the 1956 Suez Crisis. The first veto by the United States came in 1970, blocking General Assembly action in Southern Rhodesia . From 1985 to 1990, the US vetoed 27 resolutions, primarily to block resolutions perceived as anti-Israel but also to protect its interests in Panama and Korea. The Soviet Union, the United States and China have all vetoed candidates for Secretary-General, with
35700-439: The victim's strength. The Port Francqui incident , which was considered very sensitive by the UN and the Congolese government, had been covered up. A total of 6,334 Swedes served in the Congo from 1960 to 1964. Eleven soldiers, including Stig von Bayer and Torsten Stålnacke , received the Swedish Vasa Medal for "extraordinary courage and commendable action to save human lives". The first Swedish UN battalion in Sinai in 1956
35904-585: The word "state" ( état ) was deliberately ambiguous, allowing Kalonji to avoid specifying whether South Kasai claimed independence as a nation-state (like Katanga) or a province within the Congo. Due to rejection of requests to the UN for aid to suppress the South Kasai and Katanga revolts, the Lumumba Government decided to request Soviet assistance. De Witte wrote that "Leopoldville asked the Soviet Union for planes, lorries, arms, and equipment ... Shortly afterwards, on 22 or 23 August, about 1,000 soldiers left for Kasai." De Witte also wrote that on 26–27 August,
36108-481: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
36312-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
36516-443: The world's most powerful military forces ever since. They annually topped the list of countries with the highest military expenditures . In 2013, they spent over US$ 1 trillion combined on defence, accounting for over 55% of global military expenditures (the US alone accounting for over 35%). They are also amongst the world's largest arms exporters and are the only nations officially recognized as " nuclear-weapon states " under
36720-446: The world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in
36924-473: The world, with its uranium used for the nuclear bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. On 10 July, Belgian troops were sent to Elisabethville (the capital of Katanga) to control the situation and protect Belgian civilians. There were 100,000 Belgians living in the Congo at the time, and many were in a state of panic. The presence of Belgian troops was illegal under international law, because Congolese officials had not requested their presence. With
37128-427: The year. The UN launched Operation Rampunch under the command of Indian Army Brigadier-general K.A.S. Raja in August, a surprise attack that led to the peaceful surrender of 81 foreign mercenaries. Hammarskjöld was flying to Rhodesia to negotiate peace talks between the government and Tshombe in response to Operation Morthor on 17 September 1961 when his plane crashed , killing him and everyone aboard. The crash
37332-415: Was assassinated. UN Swedish troops witnessed Lumumba's transfer to Elisabethville after his capture by Mobutu's forces, and he was badly bruised and beaten. He was executed by a Katangan firing squad, and his body was dissolved in acid. Jawaharlal Nehru reacted sharply. Calling it "an international crime of the first magnitude", Nehru asked Hammarskjöld to take a tough line. When the Security Council passed
37536-424: Was by a high-ranking officer who made a trial run and crashed during an aborted takeoff. Some of the Swedish aircraft were destroyed at their base when ONUC was ended in 1964, since they were no longer needed at home and the cost of retrieving them was considered excessive. From 1960 to 1964, the Swedish Army sent nine battalions to the Congo. Early in the crisis, when white people in the Congo became targets during
37740-413: Was by far the most serious international task the Swedish Armed Forces faced during the Cold War, and it was the first time in 140 years that Swedish forces were forced into battle. During the crisis, 40 Swedish soldiers were injured and 19 killed. It was reported in 2004 that the bodies of two dead Swedes were eaten by local people, purportedly because cannibals were believed by some African groups to absorb
37944-431: Was coined to refer to the four major Allied countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the Republic of China. and became the foundation of an executive branch of the United Nations, the Security Council. Following the 1943 Moscow Conference and Tehran Conference , in mid-1944, the delegations from the Allied " Big Four ", the Soviet Union , the UK, the US and the Republic of China , met for
38148-442: Was composed of three fighter squadrons – the 22nd Swedish Squadron's J-29 Tunnan, the 103rd Iranian Squadron's F-86F Sabre and the Philippines' 9th Tactical Fighter Squadron's F-86E Sabre. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from
38352-441: Was designed by the Norwegian architect Arnstein Arneberg and was a gift from Norway. The United Nations Security Council mural by Norwegian artist Per Krohg (1952) depicts a phoenix rising from its ashes, symbolic of the world's rebirth after World War II. The Security Council has also held meetings in cities including Nairobi , Kenya; Addis Ababa , Ethiopia; Panama City , Panama; and Geneva , Switzerland. In March 2010,
38556-413: Was drawn from the Malayan Army's 4th Battalion, the Royal Malay Regiment , and C Squadron of the 2nd Reconnaissance Regiment (now 2 Armour). Sweden had an active role in the UN force during the crisis. When Dag Hammarskjöld established ONUC, he organized it into two parts: military and civilian. Swedish major-general Carl von Horn headed the military, and Swedish diplomat Sture Linnér was responsible for
38760-531: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
38964-473: Was executed without full approval by several UN member countries, particularly the UK, France, and the United States. The Soviet Union accused the US of supporting the assassination of Lumumba (a Soviet ally) and installing the American ally Mobutu as president, seeing the ONUC as acting as a proxy for the US rather than supporting the interests of the entire Security Council. During the fighting, UN special representative in Katanga Conor Cruise O'Brien said that
39168-417: Was expelled from the UN altogether with no opportunity for membership as a separate nation . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation was recognized as the legal successor state of the Soviet Union and maintained the latter's position on the Security Council. The five permanent members of the Security Council were the victorious powers in World War II and have maintained
39372-421: Was force commander Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi . The UN was criticised a number of times during its involvement in the Congolese crisis about its handling of situations such as the death of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and the secession in Katanga. After Lumumba's death, many people believed that he should have been better protected by the organisation. The best-known demonstration against the UN about Lumumba's death
39576-413: Was founded in 1947. This was in response to the United Nations' call for member-states to support the on-going UN Operations in the Congo. Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal deployed the 9th Tactical Fighter "Limbas" Squadron of the Philippine Air Force. The Philippine contingent left for the Congo on 11 February 1963. The PAF 9th Tactical Fighter operated from Kamina Air Base . The UN Combat Wing
39780-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
39984-541: Was in New York, when African-American protesters pushed their way into the UN building and disturbed the General Assembly . The UN office in Belgium was also attacked. The USSR also criticised UN involvement. Nikita Khrushchev addressed the General Assembly on 23 December 1960, noting the operation's controversial political direction and accusing the UN of responsibility for Lumumba's death with its moves favoring Lumumba's political opponents and its initial lack of willingness to deal with Katanga. According to Norrie Macqueen,
40188-469: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
40392-411: Was named Battalion 1. This numbering continued until Battalion 9, which was deployed in Sinai and later in Gaza. After Battalion 9, the numbering was changed to odd numbers starting with 11 and with the additional letter G (for Gaza). Battalion 8 was transferred from Gaza to the Congo, and took the name Battalion VIII K (Kongo). Seven of the Congo battalions (10 to 22) were recruited to serve in ONUC, and
40596-433: Was overseen by NATO . In 2003, the US invaded Iraq despite failing to pass a UN Security Council resolution for authorization, prompting a new round of questioning of the organization's effectiveness. In the same decade, the Security Council intervened with peacekeepers in crises including the War in Darfur in Sudan and the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2013, an internal review of UN actions in
40800-405: Was sent to the Congo in 1963 as mission chief of staff, effectively the deputy of the mission's military commander. The military headquarters, coordinated by Dextraze, was in the process of planning the mission's withdrawal in early 1964 as the Simba rebellion loomed. Dextraze launched a small-scale operation during Pierre Mulele 's Kwilu Province uprising in January 1964 to save at least some of
41004-411: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
41208-464: Was suspicious, and evidence exists that the plane was shot down. A 2016 book by Susan Williams uncovered evidence that a specially-equipped fighter plane from the Katanga Gendarmerie shot down Hammarskjöld's plane. He was succeeded as UN secretary-general by U Thant . Swedish troops were assigned to keep order in a large camp with about 40,000 refugees which was established in two weeks in August and September 1961. After Hammarskjöld's death, U Thant took
41412-439: Was the first time in over five decades that two members agreed to do so. Usually, intractable deadlocks are resolved by the candidate countries withdrawing in favour of a third member state. The current elected members, with the regions they were elected to represent, are as follows: The role of president of the Security Council involves setting the agenda, presiding at its meetings and overseeing any crisis. The president
41616-437: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
#928071