Polish soldiers on UN missions
The United Nations Organization is a universal intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international cooperation and to create and maintain international order established after the second world war.
Poland is a founding member of this organization.
You will know the history of Polish engagement in UN missions.
You will understand the importance of UN involvement in creating and maintaining international peace and order.
You will be able to describe a few current UN missions.
The first mission, in which Poles took part, was a mission to overseeto oversee the demilitarization of the Korean Peninsula in 1953. The international commission was responsible at that time to make sure the terms of the trucetruce between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (supported by the USSR and other communist states) and South Korea (supported by the US) are observed. Polish officers were also involved in international commissions in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia (1954–1975), and Nigeria (1968–1970). During the cold war the interest of antagonistic blocs of states clashedclashed in the UN as well. The communist states backed North Korea for example. It was not until 1973, the time of détente (relaxation) in international relations, that Poland was invited to send its troops for a peace mission to the Middle East (UNEF II).
![Zapoznaj się z informacjami na temat pomocy udzielanej przez siły pokojowe ONZ w różnych regionach świata. United Nations peacekeeping. We are a global partnership. 1. Countries contributing to peacekeeping. Over 128 countries. Contribute: troops, police and civilian personnel. 2. Working with international partners such as African Union, European Union & supported by 193 member states which provide personnel, equipment, funds, technology & training. 3. Peacekeeping includes 15 snoissiw, across 4 continents. Peacekeeping operations since 1948: 71. 4. Budget 7,3 Billion dollars. Less than 0,5 % of global military expenditures. 5. Largest mission is in [monusco] Dr Congo est. 2010. 22,461 authorized strenght: troops - 16,215, military observers - 660, police - 1,441, civilian staff - 4,145. 6. Over 112,000 field personnel including military, police and civilians. 7. A global logistics operation: 54 airplanes, 158 helicopters, 26 UUAV (unarmed, unmanned, aerial vehicle), 7 ships, 14,000 vehicles, 310 medical clinics. 8. Working in partnership with the host countries we help people around the world. 7 million total square kilometres in which we operate. 125 million total population of areas in which we operate. United Nations Peacekeeping. un.org/peacekeeping. Data used from 2016-2017. Approved resources for the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017](https://static.zpe.gov.pl/portal/f/res-minimized/R1I55q7A5BoSF/1/1Tzvw7o1Wd4GOvhsF5KIo2e7RjZ5iv4b.png)
Polish soldiers were the first ones to wear the blue helmets of all Warsaw Pact member states. Another significant mission Polish troops took part in was a mission to Golan HeightsGolan Heights – a disputed territorydisputed territory between Syria and Israel, strategically important because of access to drinking water and convenient shooting position. You can see in a reportage on Cambodia in 1993 by Waldemar Milewicz, a TVP war correspondent, just how dangerous UN missions can be. The reportage presents the end of a long civil war, and a bloody dictatorshipdictatorship of Pol Pot in that country.
Create a crossword, where the main password is the word “MISSION”, and the other words are connected to missions run by the UN.
What year did the Polish soldiers appear for the first time in blue helmets as part of the UN peacekeeping mission?
- 1953
- 1973
- 1989
Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise. Match the pairs: English and Polish words.
Wzgórza Golan, dyktatura, terytorium sporne, odprężenie, rozejm, nadzorować, ścierać się
| to oversee | |
| to clash | |
| truce | |
| détente | |
| Golan Heights | |
| disputed territory | |
| dictatorship |
Keywords
peace operation/mission, international commission, demilitarization, blue helmet
Glossary
nadzorować
ścierać się
rozejm
Wzgórza Golan
terytorium sporne
dyktatura