History of the League of Nations (1919-1946)

History of the League of Nations (1919-1946)

1. History of the League of Nations (1919-1946) Source: https://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B8954/(httpAssets)/36BC4F83BD9E4443C1257AF3004FC0AE/%24file/Historical_overview_of_the_League_of_Nations.pdf What could be the relevance to study today League of Nations? Understanding the past to use it for the present Helps to know especially in the tumultuous period (during crisis) of history how nations managed their affairs The role of individuals vis-à-vis role of states/community The nuances of diplomacy To compare with UN Dr. VK 1

2. History of the League of Nations (1919-1946) Overview – Slides: 3, 4 Before the League of Nations-Forerunner to the League of Nations – Slide/s : 5 Organization and establishment - The founding of the League of Nations – Slide/s: 5 The Covenant of the League of Nations – Slide/s : 6 The main bodies of the League of Nations - – Slide/s : 7 Activities – Slide/s : The end of the League of Nations – Slide/s : 13, 14 Political activities – Slide/s : 8, 9 International conflicts International reconciliation and disarmament Technical activities : – Slides: 10,11,12 The financial reconstruction of Austria and Hungary The International Economic Conferences of 1927 and 1933 Transit, transport and communications Social questions: the traffic in women and the protection of children The Health Organisation Opium and dangerous drugs Intellectual cooperation The repatriation of prisoners of war and the problem of refugees Dr. VK 2

3. History of the League of Nations (1919-1946) Born with the will of the victors of the First World War to avoid a repeat of a devastating war, the League of Nations objective was to maintain universal peace. President Woodrow Wilson of the United States of America was one of its most powerful advocates. In accordance with President Wilson’s ideals, the Covenant outlined the League of Nations’ three basic objectives : to ensure collective security, to assure functional cooperation, and to execute the mandates of peace treaties. However, the League of Nations could only begin to function, formally and officially, after the Peace Treaty of Versailles came into effect and was officially inaugurated on 10 January 1920 . The first years of existence of the League of Nations were marked by great successes . In accordance with the provisions of the Pact, several international disagreements – between Sweden and Finland, and between Greece and Bulgaria – were resolved peacefully The Locarno Agreements signed in October 1925, which marked the beginnings of a Franco-German reconciliation, Germany became a Member in 1926. The unprecedented work on behalf of refugees carried out by the Norwegian F. Nansen from 1920 should also be stressed. Dr. VK 3

4. In spite of these early successes, the League of Nations did not manage to prevent neither the invasion of Manchuria by Japan, nor the annexation of Ethiopia by Italy in 1936, nor that of Austria by Hitler in 1938. The powerlessness of the League of Nations to prevent further world conflict, the alienation of part of its Member States and the generation of the war itself, added to its demise from 1940 . The failure , politically, of the mission of collective security of the League of Nations must nevertheless not make one overlook its success in, what was from the beginning to be a secondary aspect of its objectives: international technical cooperation. Under its auspices, in fact, considerable number of conferences, intergovernmental committees and meetings of experts were held in Geneva, in areas as diverse as health and social affairs, transport and communications, economic and financial affairs and intellectual cooperation. This fruitful work was validated by the ratification of more than one hundred conventions by the Member States . Dr. VK 4

5. Before the League of Nations Forerunner to the League of Nations: The Inter-parliamentary Union : whose aim was to promote international arbitration and world peace Even though the International Peace Bureau (IPB) was not an officially recognized organization of member States, it can be considered a forerunner of the League of Nations because of its visions, its goals and its prominent activists. The Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom- furthered two causes: suffrage, and the use of arbitration as a means of solving international disputes Organization and establishment The founding of the League of Nations 29 April 1919, the final version of the Covenant of the League of Nations was adopted, and it became Part I of the Treaty of Versailles and officially inaugurated on 10 January 1920 The League of Nations was open to all other States, providing they fulfilled certain requirements Dr. VK 5

6. Dr. VK 6 The Covenant of the League of Nations consists of Preamble Specified the nature and power of the Assembly and the Council, the two main bodies of the Organization, Secretary-General, the establishment of the League of Nations’ Secretariat at Geneva, and its budget Subject of disarmament Political and social mandates of the League of Nations Obligations and rights of the Member States to achieve international peace and collective security Extending international relations in the fields of finance, trade, transport by land, sea and air as well as the promotion of health and the struggle against drugs, prostitution and slavery. Supported the aims of the Red Cross

7. Dr. VK 7 The main bodies of the League of Nations The League of Nations consisted of the Assembly and the Council (both assisted by the Permanent Secretariat), and the Permanent Court of International Justice The Council was a coalition of the four permanent members: France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. 10 non-permanent Council members were elected by the Assembly for a three-year period. Geneva, headquarters of the League of Nations Activities: Political activities International conflicts International reconciliation and disarmament Technical activities: The financial reconstruction of Austria and Hungary The International Economic Conferences of 1927 and 1933 Transit, transport and communications Social questions: the traffic in women and the protection of children The Health Organisation Opium and dangerous drugs Intellectual cooperation The repatriation of prisoners of war and the problem of refugees

8. Dr. VK 8 International conflicts • The settlement of disputes Depended on the willingness of the sovereign States Some peaceful settlements happened like the Aaland Islands China: the Manchurian crisis of 1932 On 19 September 1931, the League of Nations was made aware of an incident provoked by anti-Japanese activists at the Japanese-owned South Manchurian railway line in China. Consequently, the Japanese army invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria. Under the chairmanship of Aristide Briand, and with the active participation of the United States of America (which had thus far refrained from recognizing the League of Nations as a global mediator), the Council attempted to negotiate a peaceful solution. League of Nations’ recommendations for restoring peace in the area, Japan did not accept and, as a result, withdrew from the League of Nations in 1935 Ethiopia (Abyssinia) Council was unable to protect a small Member State from the interests of a larger and more influential one…oil sanctions that would have halted Mussolini’s military endeavours were not imposed…Italy was able to launch an attack on Ethiopia Political activities

9. Dr. VK 9 International reconciliation and disarmament The 1925 Locarno Pact Reconciliation between Germany and her neighbours Belgium and France, and for Germany’s eventual entry into the League of Nations in 1926 Briand’s plan for a European Union Progressed to an extent within the framework of the League of Nations The Geneva Protocol and the Disarmament Conference of 1932 Issue was discussed in each Assembly and in many sessions of the Council and other special meetings, but all these efforts failed in the end. One of the main obstacles faced was the belief of the main Powers that their security depended on maintaining a level of armaments equal or even superior to those of their neighbours . The protection of minorities After the war, the new Eastern European States like Yugoslavia were forced to sign agreements granting religious, social and political equality to their minorities. In order to supervise these agreements, the League of Nations set up the Minority Section. However, Council very reluctantly condemned the accused State of improper treatment. The Mandate system The Allied and associated Powers acquired the territories that were previously under the sovereignty of Germany and the Ottoman Empire…inhabitants were at this time considered incapable of ruling themselves…Belgium, the British Empire, and France were entrusted with the governance of the mandated territories

10. Dr. VK 10 The International Economic Conferences of 1927 and 1933 First, Soviet Union and the United States of America also attended. To reinforce international trade laws, and to halt the widespread practice of tariff increases. However, rise of economic nationalism all over the world Second, to stabilize international monetary standards, and to have prices rise at a steady and reasonable rate. This Conference was a complete failure, as no State was prepared to voluntarily give up any of its own financial and economic strengths. Thereafter, the Economic and Financial Section of the League of Nations decided to focus more on the cooperation of individuals rather than of States, and thus began to work more closely with the Health Organization, the International Labour Office, and the International Institute of Agriculture in Rome. Technical activities

11. Dr. VK 11 Transit, transport and communications Subcommittees were set up to deal with such matters as rail transport, inland navigation, ports and maritime navigation, road traffic and power transmission Social questions: the traffic in women and the protection of children In 1904 and 1910, several agreements intended to protect the rights of women and children were put in place by a number of States. The Covenant entrusted the League of Nations with supervising the execution of these agreements. Improved some conditions. The Health Organisation League of Nations had Health Committee and Health Section… A link between national health administrations in many ways…To control the spread of epidemic diseases Opium and dangerous drugs In order to prevent the illicit smuggling of drugs, drug manufacture and production had to be controlled at the source… League of Nations organized two Opium Conferences. That time focus was on Regulation of narcotic drugs to be used by the world’s medical and scientific communities…not indicated the need to limit and control the cultivation of the opium-producing poppy flower

12. Dr. VK 12 Intellectual cooperation The Council set up… Intellectual Cooperation Committee (ICC). Its purpose was to improve the working conditions of the educated workforce. ..it was made up of some of the foremost intellectual personalities of the time, including Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Béla Bartók and Thomas Mann. The repatriation of prisoners of war and the problem of refugees 500,000 prisoners of war… Nansen (The Council of the League of Nations appointed,) took initiative and organized the repatriation of the prisoners on his own. In less than two years, and despite a very limited budget. As a result of the 1917 Revolution, there were more than 1.5 million Russian refugees scattered all over Europe. In 1921, the League of Nations set up a Refugee Organization in order to deal with this problem. After the situation of the Russian refugees had been settled, many requesting help from the League of Nations… the outcomes were small

13. Dr. VK 13 The end of the League of Nations Although the League of Nations did enjoy some remarkable political success in the 1920s, the increasing economic strife and militant nationalism which characterized the 1930s led not only to the breakup of cooperation between States but also to several conflicts which could not be easily resolved. League of Nations unfulfilled promise of collective security, and states had returned to the traditional system of defensive alliances and power blocs. At the end of the 2 nd World War, 43 States were still Members of the League of Nations, though for all intents and purposes it had ceased to exist. A final and official disposition had to be taken concerning the transfer of the League of Nations’ properties to the United Nations. In 1945, the San Francisco Conference set up a Preparatory Commission to do this. At the initiative of the British Foreign Office, the last Assembly (the twenty-first) was held in Geneva on 8 April 1946. In his final speech, Lord Robert Cecil, one of the League of Nations’ founders, proclaimed to closed the Assembly with the words: “ The League is dead, long live the United Nations!”

14. Dr. VK 14 In many ways to the League of Nations, the United Nations sought to continue many of the operations already in place. For example, economic activities were transferred to the new Economic and Social Council; the Health Organization evolved into the World Health Organization (WHO); the Nutrition Committee became the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); the Committee of Intellectual Cooperation became the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Permanent Mandates Commission was replaced by the Trusteeship Council; and the work of the Nansen Office was continued by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR ). https://ccepdpu.wordpress.com / https://www.linkedin.com/in/cce-centre-of-continuing-education-pdpu-807443164/