| Dag
Hammarskjøld
by
Maria Dahlin and Petra Tøtterman
Dag Hammarskjøld
was born on July 29, 1905, in a small town in Sweden.
He was brought up in an aristocratic family whose origins
date back to the seventeenth century. Hammarskjøld
received his education at the University of Uppsala between
1926 and 1930. He earned a Master of Arts degree in political
economy and a Bachelor of Law degree. After he received
his Doctorate in political economy at Stockholm University
he started his political career as a secretary in the
national Bank of Sweden in 1936. He was soon appointed
Under-Secretary of Finance.
Following the end of World War II, he moved into the
Foreign Affairs Ministry as Under- Secretary and later
advanced to Secretary-General of the Foreign Office. His
concern with international matters and the respect which
he gained among other diplomats within the Organization
for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) led to his nomination
for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations
in 1953.
Hammarskjøld was known for his level-headedness,
his problem solving ability, and his diplomacy. Hammarskjøld
was primarily an economic expert and a technician rather
than a politician. His ability to bring parties together
was rooted in his great economic expertise rather than
political skill.
Hammarskjøld believed strongly in a Western Liberal
Democracy. He considered himself a citizen of the world
even prior to his arrival the UN. His belief in the equality
of all men and the need for social justice were rooted
in his outlook on life. His childhood in Sweden had a
major impact on his view on the world, especially the
movement within the Swedish Lutheran Church which brought
the teachings of the church to bear on social, economic
and industrial problems of society.
Hammarskjøld found it important to be a civil
servant whose role is to serve the state rather than a
particular group within it. He saw the commitment to serve
society as the decisive basis for his actions. As a servant
within the UN, Hammarskjøld saw the importance
in protecting the independence of small states and the
positive role they could play in international politics.
The law was considered an integral part of Western Civilization
in Hammarskjøld's estimations, because law assured
order and prevented the capricious rule of the leaders
of society. Hammarskjøld's training in law made
him very concerned with how results were achieved and
what impact actions would have on the legal development
of the UN.
Hammarskjøld was instrumental in raising the status
of the UN in the eyes of the American people and most
other peoples of the world. He raised the morale of the
secretarial staff, and set a personal example of international
civil service for others to follow. A few days before
Hammarskjøld left on his final mission he explained
those at a staff meeting, "We all know that if we
feel what we do is purposeful, not to say essential, for
the progress of men and human society in a broader sense-
yes, even if we believe that what we do is essential only
for a small group of people and its future happiness-
we are willing to accept hardships and serve gladly for
the value of serving".
Hammarskjøld developed procedures for international
cooperation that have given the world organization greater
permanence and more efficiency. Some procedures have been
diplomatic and others have dealt with ways and means of
improving social and economic conditions in many parts
of the world. He encouraged the growth and development
of the various UN-related agencies as well as organizational
innovations such as the special fund.
The Secretary-General made an important political contribution
to the turbulent era of 1953 to 1961. As a "keeper
of the peace," he was significant in preventing tension
spots from escalating to uncontrollable conflicts (in
the Far East in 1955, in the Suez in 1956, Lebanon in
1958, Laos in 1960-1, and the Congo in 1960-1).
During Hammarskjøld's eight and one-half years
as Secretary General, he sought to increase the influence
of the United Nations's decisions and the moral values
which are stated in the Principles an Purposes of the
Charter in International Relations. One of the major ways
in which he did this was by broadening the forms of international
cooperation. He hoped that the through such cooperation,
the governments and populations of states would become
more sensitive and considerate of foreign peoples and
would realize that they shared common interests and common
ideals with these foreign groups.
Hammarskjøld encouraged the expansion of the
Secretary-General's practices as an active mediator. He
also encouraged the creation of United Nations peace keeping
operations and forces. He proposed this idea to the UN
in 1959 when he stated, "The policy line, as I see
it, is that the United Nations simply must respond to
those demands which may be put to it. If we feel that
those demands must go beyond the present capacity, for
my point of view, that in itself is not a reason why I,
for my part, would say no, because I do not know the exact
capacity of this machine. It did take the steep hill of
Suez; it may take other and even steeper hills. I would
not object before hand unless I could say, and had to
say in all sincerity, that I know it cannot be done".
Shortly before midnight September 17, 1961, a DC-6B of
the United Nations with 16 people aboard crashed in the
Rhodesian bushland near the Katanga border. Hammarskjøld's
mission of peace for the Congo had become a rendezvous
with death. The puzzling circumstances surrounding the
flight and crash of the Secretery-General's plane elevated
the tragedy to one of the 20th Century's greatest diplomatic
mysteries. Was Hammarskjøld's plane sabotaged or
brought down by the bullets of some airborne assassin?
Could it have been pure accident at that time of bitterness
and hatred for the UN and its works?
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