International Peace Bureau (IPB), organization est. 1891 in Bern, Switerland, by Fredrik Bajer and other members of the third World Peace Congress. Dedicated to promoting world peace, it brought together various European pacifist groups and coordinated their activities. It advocated disarmament and took positions on international conflicts. Extremely influential, the IPB was the voice of the world peace movement in the 1890s and early 1900s, and in 1910 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. After World War I, with the formation of the League of Nations (which the IPB promoted) and other peace organizations, the IPB waned in importance, and it ceased operation during World War II. Shortly thereafter, some of its former members founded the Liaison Committee of Organizations for Peace (ILCOP), which later was granted the IPB's assets and took the name International Peace Bureau in 1964. It merged with the International Confederation for Disarmament and Peace in 1984. Based in Geneva, the organization has a membership that now includes 265 international, national, and local peace organizations from more than 60 countries and many individuals.
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