During the quarter of a century preceding the establishment of the League of Nations a permanent Court of Arbitration was established at The Hague (1900), and many arbitration treaties were signed, but most of these fell far short of the comprehensive proposals of Bahá’u’lláh. No arbitration treaty was made between two great Powers in which all matters of dispute were included. Differences affecting “vital interests,” “honor” and “independence” were specifically excepted. Not only so, but effective guarantees that nations would abide by the terms of the treaties into which they had entered were lacking. In the Bahá’í proposals, on the other hand, questions of boundaries, of national honor and of vital interest are expressly included, and agreements will have the supreme guarantee of the World League of Nations behind them. Only when these proposals are completely carried out will international arbitration attain the full scope of its beneficent possibilities and the curse of war be finally banished from the world. Limitation of Armaments ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:— By a general agreement all the governments of the world must disarm simultaneously. It will not do if one lays down its arms and the others refuse to do so. The nations of the world must concur with each other concerning this supremely important subject, so that they may abandon together the deadly weapons of human slaughter. As long as one nation increases her military and naval budget other nations will be forced into this crazed competition through their natural and supposed interests.—Diary of Mírzá Aḥmad Sohrab, May 11–14, 1914. Nonresistence As a religious body, Bahá’ís have, at the express command of Bahá’u’lláh, entirely abandoned the use of armed force in their own interests, even for strictly defensive purposes. In Persia many, many thousands of the Bábís and Bahá’ís have suffered cruel deaths because of their faith. In the early days of the Cause the Bábís on various occasions defended themselves and their families by the sword, with great courage and bravery. Bahá’u’lláh, however, forbade this. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:—