League of Nations

The League of Nations was an international organization founded after the First World War at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The League's goals included disarmament; preventing war through collective security; settling disputes between countries through negotiation and diplomacy; and improving global welfare. The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift in thought from the preceding hundred years. The old philosophy, growing out of the Congress of Vienna (1815), saw Europe as a shifting map of alliances among nation-states, creating an equilibrium of power maintained by strong armies and secret agreements. Under the new philosophy, the League was a government of governments, with the role of settling disputes between individual nations in an open and legalist forum. The impetus for the founding of the League came from Democratic U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, but, along with many other countries, the United States never joined the League of Nations.

Mandates

League of Nations Mandates were established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. These territories were former colonies of the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire that were placed under the supervision of the League following World War I. There were three Mandate classifications:

Related Topics:
Colonies - German Empire - Ottoman Empire

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; An "A" Mandate : This was a territory which "had reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised, subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a "Mandatory" until such time as they are able to stand alone." These were mainly parts of the old Ottoman Empire.

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; A "B" Mandate : This was a territory which "was at such a stage that the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee:

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:*Freedom of conscience and religion

Related Topics:
Conscience - Religion

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:*The maintenance of public order and morals

Related Topics:
Public order - Morals

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:*Prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms traffic and the liquor traffic

Related Topics:
Slave trade - Liquor

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:*The prevention of the establishment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of military training of the natives for other than political purposes and the defence of territory

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:*Equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other Members of the League."

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; A "C" Mandate : This was a territory "which, owing to the sparseness of their population, or their small size, or their remoteness from the centres of civilisation, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the Mandatory, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of the Mandatory."

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(Quotations taken from The Essential Facts About the League of Nations, a handbook published in Geneva in 1939).

Related Topics:
Geneva - 1939

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The territories were governed by "Mandatory Powers", such as the UK in the case of the Mandate of Palestine and the Union of South Africa in the case of South-West Africa, until the territories were deemed capable of self-government. There were fourteen mandate territories divided up among the six Mandatory Powers of the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. In practice, the Mandatory Territories were treated as colonies and were regarded by critics as spoils of war. With the exception of Iraq, not until World War II did the territories began to gain their independence, a process that did not end until 1990. Following the demise of the League, most of the remaining mandates became United Nations Trust Territories.

Related Topics:
Mandate of Palestine - Union of South Africa - South-West Africa - United Kingdom - France - Belgium - New Zealand - Australia - Japan - Iraq - World War II - 1990 - United Nations Trust Territories

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In addition to the Mandates, the League itself governed the Saarland for 15 years, before it was returned to Germany following a plebiscite, and the free city of Danzig (now Gda?sk, Poland) from 15 November 1920 to 1 September 1939.

Related Topics:
Saarland - Germany - Free city - Danzig - Poland - 15 November - 1920 - 1 September - 1939

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