Peace Pact

a treaty involving the five great powers (USSR, USA, China, Great Britain, and France) that was first proposed in September 1949 by the Soviet delegation at the fourth session of the UN General Assembly. The USSR proposed that the other great powers declare their rejection of the use or threat of force and that they appeal to all countries to resolve disputes and disagreements solely by peaceful means. The Soviet proposal was not adopted, however, owing to the resistance of the NATO states and the countries supporting them. In February 1951 the World Peace Council adopted an appeal demanding that the five great powers conclude a peace pact. In the course of a two-year worldwide campaign, more than 600 million signatures were collected for the appeal. In December 1952 the Congress of the Partisans of Peace, held in Vienna, called on the governments of the five great powers to begin negotiations on the conclusion of a peace pact. The Western powers ignored the appeal.