ADVOCATE OF WAR OR PROMOTER OF PEACE?-BY AWAKE! WRITER IN SWEDEN

Each year, the Nobel prize is awarded to individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions toward the good of humanity in a number of fields. When did this tradition start, and how is it related to the quest for world peace?

HIS name is associated with the betterment of mankind, yet he amassed great wealth  selling weapons of war.  Who was he?  Alfred Bernard Nobel, a Swedish industrialist and chemist. Nobel has been lauded for his humanitarian efforts, but he has also been called "a merchant of death."  Why? Because Nobel invented dynamite, and during his life he made a fortune manufacturing and selling lethal explosives.

After Nobel's death in 1896, however, a startling discovery was made. His will stipulated that $9 million be set aside and that each year the interest accrued be awarded to individuals who made noteworthy achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.

At first, many people were perplexed. Why would an explosives entrepreneur be so eager to award benevolent and even peaceful attainments?  Some assumed that  Nobel was conscience-stricken over the destructive nature of his lifework.  Others , however, came to feel that Nobel was working for peace all along. Indeed, it seems he believed that as weapons became more deadly, war would become less likely.  "Perhaps my factories will put an end to war even sooner than your congresses," he reportedly  told one writer, adding:   "On the day when two army camps may mutually annihilate each other in a second, all civilized nations will probably recoil with horror and disband their troops."

Did Nobel's prediction prove true? What lessons were learned during the century that elapsed after Nobel's death? 

 Next time: A CENTURY OF VIOLENCE

From the Awake! magazine