The First Hague Peace Conference, convened in 1899 by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and initiated by Czar Nicholas II of Russia, brought together 100 representatives from 26 countries to discuss disarmament, international humanitarian law and the laws of war and—the keynote to the conference—the peaceful settlement of disputes. Agreement was reached on a number of documents, the most notable of which was the First Hague Convention on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes. In effect, this brought about the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

In the years following the conference, Andrew Carnegie, who had been an outspoken supporter of The Hague’s efforts to establish an international court, founded three “temples of peace,” as he called them. Largest among these—and both the first begun and the last completed—was the Palace of Peace at The Hague.

When Carnegie was approached by Frederick Holls, secretary of the American delegation to the Conference, and Andrew White, then Ambassador to Germany, with a proposal to build a house for the international judicial body, he instead offered to build an international law library for use by the court. The Minister of the Netherlands to the United States, however, subsequently assured Carnegie that Her Majesty’s Government would be pleased to accept the gift of a courthouse and, were Carnegie to provide funds for the structure, would provide a site for the building.

In October of 1903, Carnegie signed the formal deed to create a foundation for the purpose of “erecting and maintaining at The Hague a courthouse and library for the Permanent Court of Arbitration.” The Carnegie Foundation, as the organization was called, was given $1.5 million with which to build the Peace Palace. In 1906, an international competition was held for the most suitable design for the building; the winner was French architect Louis M. Cordonnier, whose design was amended by Dutch architect Van der Steur. The Palace was completed in 1913.

Now, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the Carnegie Foundation is solely responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the Peace Palace and its grounds, as well as the Peace Palace Library. Inside the Palace, there are the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, and the Hague Academy of International Law. The Carnegie Foundation is also established in the Peace Palace.