Soviet Union opposed second term to which UN Secretary General?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 1:

**Trygve Lie** served as the first Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1946 to 1952. His tenure coincided with the very early and increasingly tense years of the Cold War. The crucial point of contention that led to the Soviet Union’s opposition to his second term was his firm stance on the Korean War (1950–1953). When North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, Trygve Lie swiftly condemned the action and strongly supported the United Nations Security Council's decision to authorize intervention, viewing it as an act of collective security against aggression. The Soviet Union, which was boycotting the Security Council at the time, was furious over this move and Lie’s vocal support for the UN action. They considered him a tool of the Western powers, particularly the United States, and declared him *persona non grata*. When his initial five-year term was set to expire in 1951, the Soviet Union used its veto power in the Security Council to block his formal re-election. Since the UN Charter mandates agreement from all five permanent members of the Security Council for the appointment of the Secretary-General, the stalemate meant Lie could not be formally reappointed. To bypass the Soviet veto, the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the United States, voted to extend his term for three more years, escalating the diplomatic confrontation. Trygve Lie eventually resigned in November 1952, stating that the hostility of one major power made his continued effective functioning impossible.

The incorrect option is 2:
**Dag Hammarskjöld**, the second Secretary-General (1953–1961), actually had a complex relationship with the Soviet Union, but the primary opposition leading to a non-renewal of a second term was directed at Lie. Hammarskjöld initially had decent relations with the USSR, who supported his appointment. However, Soviet relations dramatically worsened after his vigorous actions during the Congo Crisis (1960–1961). The Soviet Union, led by Nikita Khrushchev, demanded that the office of the Secretary-General be replaced by a three-person "troika" representing Western, Communist, and non-aligned blocs, essentially proposing to neutralize the office's independence. While this was a profound show of Soviet opposition to his leadership, it occurred during his second term, and he died in office before his term’s end. The opposition was not to his reappointment *for* a second term, but to his continuation *during* his second term.

The incorrect option is 3:
**U Thant** (1961–1971) of Burma was appointed following the death of Dag Hammarskjöld. He was considered a neutral figure from the Non-Aligned Movement. While he was criticized by the US for his handling of the Vietnam War and by the Soviet Union for certain actions, he actually served two full terms and was not primarily blocked from a second term by the USSR. In fact, he was unanimously reappointed for a second term in 1966. U Thant voluntarily decided not to seek a third term, having served for ten years, making the question of Soviet opposition to his re-election for a second term irrelevant.

The incorrect option is 4:
**Kurt Waldheim** (1972–1981) served two terms as Secretary-General. During his selection process in 1971, both the US and USSR preferred him over the incumbent U Thant. He was initially vetoed by China, but eventually secured the position with the support of both the US and the USSR. Although he was strongly opposed and ultimately blocked from serving a third term in 1981, this opposition came primarily from China and the United States, not the Soviet Union, which actually supported him for a third term. Therefore, the Soviet opposition targeted Trygve Lie for a second term during the Korean War crisis, not Kurt Waldheim.