Upu: World's 2nd Oldest Organiation

The 8 November issue of Linn's says, "Established in 1874, the Universal Postal Union (UPU)...is the second oldest international organization worldwide."

So here's my question, what is the oldest international organization?

Kirk

P.S. It's not a contest; I don't know the answer either

This is a very open-ended question with no authoratative right answer. In fact, I suspect there are as many answers to the question as one could imagine, since there are so many interpretations as to what the definition of an "international organization" might be. Some possible answers:

YMCA (1844)
International Committee of the Red Cross (1863)
The Salvation Army (1865)

If you search the web for "oldest international organization" the response is often "The Catholic Church".

Here's a link to the Wiki definitions of an "international organization" and depending upon which definition you subscribe to, the answers will be different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intern...organization

The Mafia?

I agree, WT1. I also tried Google, to no avail.

I also visited the UPU website and found the page I assume is the resource for Mr. Baadke's editorial:
http://www.upu.int/en/the-upu/the-upu.html

Kirk

[Edit to add UPU link]

Consider the source, UPU as the second oldest as it relates to stamps.

Then we could say Thurn & Taxis the private postal service in Germany the first.

Opps International ? Oh Well!

I got it!... The Knights Templar!

Are those guys still around?

As it correlates to UPU, here's the link I think we're all looking for (advance down to Section 9.13):

http://web.utk.edu/~wrobinso/534_lec_intl.html

For those who prefer not to check out the link, the following is quoted:

"Established in 1874, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) with its Headquarters in the Swiss capital Bern, is the second oldest international organization after the International Telecommunications Union."

The Freemanson 1717.

But there was no Telecommunications until the Telephone in 1876. Telegraph yes, Telephone No.

If you believe Wiki, ITU was "founded at Paris in 1865":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intern...cation_Union

OK, we're going to go with International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the correct answer

By the way, I emailed Michael Baadke and received this nice reply:

I found that the "World Meteorological Organization" started 1873, 2 years before UPU.
The "International Telecommunication Union" founded as the "International Telegraph Union" in 1865.
The "International Committee for Relief to the Wounded" in 1863 became the "International Red Cross & Red Cresent Movement" in 1934.
The oldest I've found is the "Danube Commission" founded in 1856, supressed by German pressure in 1938 reinstated in 1948.

Believe it or not,I found the same info on Facebook. The UPU has a page there, but it lists the UPU as the 3rd oldest organization.
http://zh-cn.facebook.com/pages/Uni...29158?v=info

Donna