The League of Nations: From Collective Security to Global Rearmament by United Nations Publications

The League of Nations From Collective Security to Global Rearmament

UNITED NATIONS

The League of Nations From Collective Security to Global Rearmament

Marit Fosse and John Fox

United Nations â&#x20AC;˘ 2012

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PREFACE The League of Nations was created through a complicated series of events, full of hazards but holding the promise of hope—peace among nations. After the First World War, a Peace Conference took place at Versailles on 18 January 1919. It brought together 26 countries and six observers. The defeated nations were excluded. On 28 June of the same year the Peace Conference completed its work; it was brought to a conclusion by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. President Wilson is known as the founding father of the League of Nations. However, without the philosophical ideas that had evolved during the course of the nineteenth century this Organization would probably never have seen the light of day.1 Considerable evidence for this can be found in Wilson’s words on the subject.2 Recalling the activities of the League of Nations today is not a fruitless activity given what is taking place on the international scene. Even more so since, for a long time, academic research has neglected this area where ideology and political setbacks lived side by side. Nevertheless, when the League of Nations was dissolved on 18 April 1946 with the words of Lord Robert Cecil: “The League is dead. Long live the United Nations”, we already had a premonition that the League of Nations was the international ideological laboratory that had designed, the universe of the international world to come. This book makes available a synthesis of the documentation outlining the main themes of the League of Nations, from its political origins to its most significant activities. Important personalities appear on its stage confirming the role that was to be fulfilled by international cooperation: in the areas of, for instance, refugees, drugs and health. This is primarily a book of illustrations. Compared to the present ascendancy of photography, it is the drawings that capture and display the day-to-day workings of the League of Nations: the caricatures and sketches of Derso and Kelen, Petrovic, Erna Plachte, Oscar Lazar, David Low, Violet Oakley, Rolf Roth, without forgetting the frescos, paintings and furniture that represent the artistic treasures of the Palais des Nations in

Geneva, the symbol of the hopes that international society placed in the League of Nations. The League of Nations became the melting pot of major ideals, initiatives and joint efforts. The creation of the High Commission for Refugees is attributable to the personal and determined efforts of Fridtjof Nansen. Both UNESCO and WHO were foreshadowed in the League of Nations. It even anticipated the European Union. While Richard Coudenhove presented a “note on the organization of Europe”, Albert Thomas declared: “European society must be organized. This is the primary condition for peace in the world. It is in any event the primary condition for the development of the League of Nations. All the while this European Union has not taken on definite form, the League will remain in a quandary: it always appears too European for the non-Europeans, and too universal for the European people.” In September 1929, Aristide Briand did not hesitate to envisage a European Union “as a sort of federal link and of solidarity” between European peoples. As for the subsequent Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its premises are already to be found in the Covenant of the League of Nations and in what was called at that time “social and humanitarian work”. This concerned the traffic in women and children, the protection of children, assistance to destitute foreigners and the carrying out in all countries of programmes to feed the population, as well as criminal affairs and prison matters. It is in the context of the Human Rights Commission created in 1946 that Eleanor Roosevelt, René Cassin, Fernanda De Husse and their colleagues would bring to term the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed at the Palais de Chaillot on the night of 10 December 1948. Jan Eliasson Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, President of the United Nations General Assembly from 2005 to 2006, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs from 24 April 2006 to 6 October 2006. United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Darfur, Sudan from December 2006 to June 2008. Eminent Member of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation and sits on the advisory board of the Alliance for Peacebuilding

Notes on the Authors Marit Fosse and John Fox are Geneva-based journalists who have conducted considerable research on international organizations. Note The responsibility for opinions expressed rests solely with the authors and publication does not constitute endorsement by the United Nations.

CONTENTS Mandates and the Problem of Creating New Member States . . . . . . . 43

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

PART I. AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR PEACE . . . . . . . 3 The League of Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Covenant of the League of Nations . . . 5 The Structures of the League of Nations . . . 7

The Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Secretariat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The Matter of the League’s Headquarters . . 11 A Pioneering Work in a Fragmented World 14 e Technical Bodies of the League of Nations Th The Permanent Court of International Justice The International Labour Organization . . . . The Economic and Financial Organization . . The Financial Committee . . . . . . . . . . . The Economic Committee . . . . . . . . . . . The Fiscal Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Committee of Statistical Experts . . . . . The Intellectual Cooperation Organization . . The Health Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . The Organization for Communications and Transit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14 14 15 17 20 20 21 21 22 26 28

Arbitration on Local Conflicts Resulting from the Great War and the Rights of Minorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The Free City of Danzig . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Upper Silesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The Dispute over the Åland Islands . . . . 35 The Balkans: The Greek-Bulgarian Crisis . . 36 The League of Nations and the Question of National Minorities . . . . . . 36 Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Azerbaijan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Ukraine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

The Definition of Mandates . . . . . . . . . The Middle East and its Mandates . . . . . Palestine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transjordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Iraq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lebanon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . African Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

43 44 45 45 46 47 47

Human Rights and Problems of Society . . 49 The League of Nations and Refugees . . . . 49

Slavery and Slave Labour . . . . . . . . . . 52 The Opium Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . 53 The First Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The Second Conference . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The Advisory Commission on Social Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Preparing for Peace and Disarmament . . . 61 The Geneva Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

The Locarno Conference and Agreements . Germany Becomes a Member . . . . . . . . The Paris Pact or the Briand-Kellogg Pact . . The Study Commission for a European Union . . . . . . . . . . . The Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference . . . . .

62 64 65 68 69

PART II. MOVING TOWARDS WAR . . . 71 The Heart of the Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 China on the World Stage . . . . . . . . . . 72 Towards Global Rearmament: The Failure of the Disarmament Conference . . . . . . . 76 Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 The Rearmament of Germany . . . . . . . . 82 The Abyssinian Affair . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 The USSR Joins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 The League of Nations and Territorial Conflicts in South America: The Chaco Boreal War and the Leticia Dispute . . . . . . . . . . . 91

The Civil War in Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 The Chinese Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 The Austrian Anschluss . . . . . . . . . . . 99 The Occupation of Czechoslovakia . . . . . 101 The Occupation of Albania . . . . . . . . . 103 Danzig and Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

PART III. THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE END OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 The League of Nations Anticipates the Possibility of War . . . . . . . . . . 107 The Survival of the Secretariat . . . . . . . 108 Reforming the League of Nations . . . . . 109 The Bruce Reforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 The Finnish Crisis of December 1939 . . . 111 The Resignation of Avenol . . . . . . . . . . 114 From the League of Nations to the United Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

The San Francisco Conference . . . . . . . 116 The Dissolution of the League of Nations . 118 CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 EPILOGUE: THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WHOLE WORLD . . . . . . . . . . . 123 What were the Particular Failings of the League of Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 APPENDIX I. President Wilson’s Speech to the Joint Session of the United States’ Congress on 8 January 1918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 APPENDIX II. The Covenent of the League of Nations (Including Amendments Adopted to December 1924) and Annex to the Covenant . .129 APPENDIX III. A Few Historical Dates . . . . . 136 NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

FOREWORD Life is full of unpredictable events—as the present book demonstrates. When one of us set out to complete a doctoral thesis at the Catholic Institute of Paris, the situation evolved in such a way that we found ourselves quite unintentionally working on the birth of an idea: an organization of States to maintain peace. The League of Nations was created during a complicated period, fraught with great dangers but full of promise. After the First World War, the Peace Conference met at Versailles on 18 January 1919. It brought together 26 countries and six observers. The defeated powers were excluded since the victorious ones refused to allow them to participate in the meetings and decisions. On 28 June of the same year, the Peace Conference ended; it concluded its work with the signature of the Treaty of Versailles. President Woodrow Wilson is known as the founder of the League of Nations. However, without the ideas that had been germinating throughout the nineteenth century, no doubt this Organization would never have seen the light of day. We can see the evidence of this in Wilson’s first words on the subject (APPENDIX I). Our research led us into a passionate period: the Versailles Peace Treaty, the creation of the League of Nations, and all of the work that this international organization carried out until the end of 1946. We found this keenly interesting, and we came to realize that we did not have the right to keep all of these “discoveries” to ourselves. Thus was born the idea of a book based on the

surviving documents from that era. At no time could we claim to be experts in this domain. We simply wanted to share what we had learned with others so that they could understand that the world has not changed an awful lot despite technical progress. We wish especially to thank Pierre Pelou, former Director of the United Nations Library in Geneva for his support, encouragements and valuable help that he provided to us at every stage of this enterprise. We are also grateful to Philippe Bourrinet, who devoted the time necessary to revise the original French manuscript. We would also like to thank the United Nations Library in Geneva and Pierre Le Loarer, as well as the entire team of the Archives of the League of Nations— Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, Bernhardine Pejovic and Ansoumane Diara—who were an enormous help to us, without forgetting the kindness and help from the staff of the United Nations Library. We wish to thank Nicolas Bovay, Head of the Acquisitions Team at United Nations Publications in New York and Donald Stampfli who lent us documents concerning the League of Nations from his private collection. We would like to express our gratitude to the United Nations Graphic Design Unit in New York for the design and layout work done on this book. Finally, we would like to mention Serge Diakonoff who provided us with advice, assistance and encouragements. A big thank you to all those who supported us in this adventure. Marit Fosse and John Fox

PART I

AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR PEACE It was the height of the First World War. At the United States’ Congress on 8 January 1918, the American President, Woodrow Wilson, mentioned for the first time the setting up of a League of Nations in his speech entitled The Objectives of the War and the Conditions Required for Peace, also known as “The Fourteen Points”. The creation of an international forum figured as the last of the fourteen points that Wilson listed as necessary conditions for peace (APPENDIX I). The United States entered the war on 6 April 1917 as a direct result of attacks by German submarines on American merchant shipping. Since 1914, Wilson had managed to keep the United States out of the war, but had been obliged to give severe warnings to Germany about the freedom of the seas for the ships of neutral nations. Following a change of tactics decided by the German high command, in the early part of 1917, German submarines began sinking merchant shipping indiscriminately. As soon as American ships began to be sunk, Congress voted that the United States would enter the war. After the Allied victory in November 1918, the Versailles Peace Conference took place in France from January to June 1919. This Conference brought together: for the United States— Woodrow Wilson; for the United Kingdom— David Lloyd George; for France—Georges ▶▶ Origin of the League of Nations, an information pamphlet. The Commission of the League of Nations was set up at the Versailles Conference on 25 January 1919 and met for several months at the Hotel Crillon (hence the name sometimes used of the Hotel Crillon Commission). [© Archives of the League of Nations, Palais des Nations, Geneva.]

Clemenceau; and for Italy—Vittorio Orlando, as well as some 30 statesmen representing other countries.

The League of Nations In summary, the first thirteen of Wilson’s Fourteen Points were as follows3: 1. 2. 3. 4.

The elimination of secret diplomacy; Freedom of navigation upon the seas; The removal of economic barriers; Limiting armaments;

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5. T aking the interests of the people into account in colonial claims; 6. The evacuation of all Russian territory by foreign powers; 7. The restoration of Belgian sovereignty; 8. The return of Alsace-Lorraine to France; 9. The readjustment of the frontiers of Italy along clearly recognized lines of nationality; 10. Autonomous development of the peoples of Austria-Hungary; 11. Free and secure access to the sea for Serbia; 12. The Dardanelles permanently opened as a free passage for shipping; 13. An independent Polish State with secure access to the sea. The fourteenth point requested the creation of a League of Nations in these words: A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small States alike.

During the plenary session of the Versailles Conference held on 25 January 1919, the delegates accepted President Wilsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposals, leading to the creation of a League of Nations. Two days later, on the 27 January, a commission composed of Woodrow Wilson himself, Lord Robert Cecil of Chelwood, the South African General Jan Smuts (British Empire), LĂŠon Bourgeois (France), Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando and Senator Vittorio Scialoja (Italy), as well as the Japanese delegation and those of seven small and medium-sized nations, began its work. The objective was to prepare a draft Covenant for the new League of Nations. The Covenant was finally adopted during the fifth plenary session of the Versailles Conference on 28 April 1919. In the month of June of the same year, Sir James Eric Drummond presented a note on the functioning of the future administrative services, of which the Secretariat would initially be installed at Sunderland House in London.4

Part I: An International Organization for Peace

The Covenant of The League of Nations The Covenant of the League of Nations consists of 26 articles preceded by a short Preamble; they also formed Articles 1 to 26 of the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty entered into force on 10 January 1920, and incorporated the Covenant of the League of Nations.5 The 26 articles would also form an integral part of four other contemporary treaties—those of Saint-Germainen-Laye, Trianon, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Sèvres. The Preamble defines the commitment of the nations signing the Treaty of Versailles. It establishes the principle of peace and describes the means for its preservation through the rejection of secret diplomacy and the commitment always to conduct international relations in the public domain based on justice and honour. It binds the nations to cooperate and to accept international law in order to guarantee their peace and security. In fact, the Covenant represents a new departure in international relations by recognizing the fundamental importance of international law, as well as technical activities and the need to coordinate them under the aegis of an international organization. The seven initial articles of the Covenant describe the organization of the new institution and the roles of its principal bodies. In the first place, the League of Nations is composed of three bodies: the Assembly (Article 3); the Council (Article 4); and a Permanent Secretariat (Article 6). The first Article of the Covenant defines the composition of the League of Nations, the Member States and the conditions of membership. There are several types of membership. Firstly, founding members: these are the 32 countries that signed the Treaty of Versailles and the 13 countries that were neutral during the First World War. Other countries were entitled to become members of the League of Nations on condition that their membership was approved by two-thirds of the votes in the Assembly and that the State in question committed itself to respect the rules of the League of Nations.

Preamble of the Covenant of the League of Nations, adopted on 28 April 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference. [© Museum of the League of Nations, Palais des Nations, Geneva.]

The first Article of the Covenant of the League of Nations concerning the admission of a new member says that: “any full, self-governing State, Dominion or Colony […] may become a Member of the League […] provided that it shall give effective guarantees of its sincere intention to observe its international obligations.” At the same time, each State had the possibility of leaving the League of Nations by simply giving two years’ notice before its final departure. According to the Covenant, the decisions of the Assembly or of the Council had to be adopted in unanimity by the members of the Society present at the meeting. There are, however, three exceptions to this principle: ▶▶ Matters of procedure may be decided by a majority of members present;

▶▶ The proclamation to the people of Geneva on 29 April 1919 made by the Geneva State Council, following the choice of Geneva as the seat of the League of Nations, instead of Brussels in Belgium. Adopting a lyrical tone, the Proclamation calls upon the people of Geneva to “wave the flags”, to “let the joyful bells ring” and to “do their duty with dignity and to welcome the illustrious guests who henceforth will be sacrosanct to them”. [© Museum of the League of Nations, Geneva.]

▶▶ Reports concerning conflicts presented to the Council, in accordance with Article 15 of the Covenant, shall be adopted by unanimity, less the parties concerned. ▶▶ The exclusion from the League of any State that has been found guilty of violating the commitments of the Covenant shall be proclaimed by the other Member States, without the State in question being able to participate in the vote. The ambitious principles of the Covenant of the League of Nations would prove impossible to respect. They would be eroded by the Great Powers themselves who persisted with bilateral negotiations and secret diplomacy, and the League would ultimately be totally humiliated by the actions of totalitarian regimes in the 1930s.

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Part I: An International Organization for Peace

The Structures of the League of Nations The Assembly 6 The Assembly consisted of representatives of Member States. Each State had one vote, despite their different political, economic and particularly demographic situations. The jurisdiction of the Assembly was as follows: “any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world” (Article 3). During the first Assembly in 1920, the frequency and place of its meetings were established. The Assembly would meet each year on the first Monday in September at the Headquarters of the League of Nations. Its decisions would be unanimous and would take the form of resolutions. Member States paid an annual membership fee. The amount varied according to a system of units based on various indicators concerning the financial and economic circumstances of participating States. These contributions were intended to cover the expenditures of the League of Nations. Each year, a report on the work of the Council and the activities of the Secretariat was presented to the delegates. They could unanimously adopt and approve the budget of the League of Nations and its autonomous institutions, such as the International Labour Organization and the International Court of Justice.7 In November 1920, the first ordinary session of the Assembly opened under the chairmanship of the Belgian politician Paul Hymans. Representatives of 41 States were present. This session took note of the refusal by the American Congress to participate in any conventions or to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. As a result, the five permanent members of the Council were reduced to four. The defection of the United States was to become a decisive blow for the League of Nations for its universality was no longer guaranteed. Furthermore, the Americans would have provided the principal part of the budget. Indeed, even if the absence of the United States was not ultimately fatal for the League

of Nations, its presence would certainly have contributed to ensuring its success. Even so, the United States never stopped collaborating with the League of Nations and participating in its technical and humanitarian activities from 1923 onwards, but not as a member State. Even in the field of politics, it took an interest in specific conflicts and sometimes took the initiative in important affairs.

The Council 8 The Council of the League of Nations consisted, in principle, of nine members. Five permanent members (the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan and the United States) sat on the Council, but, as already mentioned, this number was reduced to four by the absence of the United States.9 Four non-permanent members were elected for limited periods by the Assembly. These were, until the first elections of the Assembly, the representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Greece and Spain. Even if the Great Powers always played a dominant role, from the very beginning the Council gave an opportunity for smaller Member States to exert a genuine influence on international affairs by increasing the number of members of the League of Nations designated by the Assembly that could be represented on the Council. The Council was the decision-making body of the League of Nations. Like the Assembly, each member of the League represented on it had one vote.10 The limited number of representatives meant that meetings could always be organized in a hurry. Such meetings were not open to the public. Decisions were taken by unanimity, with the exception of procedural matters. For technical and legal matters, the Council could benefit from the opinions of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Behind-the-scenes negotiations occasionally took place between the Great Powers (notwithstanding Point 1 of Wilson’s Fourteen Points!). The Council decided to set up a certain number of technical commissions whose opinions would guide its action. Furthermore, it was to create separate “organizations”, some of which still function to a certain extent to this day, such as

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◀◀ The Council of the League of Nations, an information brochure. The five permanent members and the nine elected members in 1929-1930: the British Empire (Austen Chamberlain); France (Aristide Briand); Germany (Gustav Stresemann); Italy (Vittorio Scialoja); Japan (Adatci Mineitcirô); Canada (Raoul Dandurand); Chile (Enrique Villegas); Cuba (Aristide Aguero y Bethancourt); Finland (Hjalmar Procope); Persia (Mohammed Ali Khan Foroughi); Poland (Stephan Zaleski); Romania (Nicolae Titulesco); Spain (José Quiñones de Léon); and Venezuela (Cesar Zumeta). [© Archives of the League of Nations, Geneva.]

interest of the international community. Its role was to prepare for and execute the decisions taken by the two other bodies. The Council, with the approval of a majority of the Assembly, appointed the Secretary-General.13

the Organization of Hygiene, which was to lead to the World Health Organization; the Institute for Intellectual Cooperation which was the forerunner of UNESCO in Paris; and the International Nansen Office for Refugees, the forerunner of UNHCR. When a matter arose that concerned non-member States, that country would also be invited to participate in the Council. The Council’s competence extended to all matters covered by the League’s sphere of activities or affecting peace in the world. The Council met three times a year at four-monthly intervals. The meetings of the Council took place in different European countries, for example France (Paris), the United Kingdom (London), Belgium (Brussels), Spain (San Sebastian) and Italy (Rome).11

The Secretariat 12 The League of Nations had a standing body, the Secretariat, which was responsible for maintaining, between two sessions of the Council or Assembly, the continuity of its activities. It was, therefore, an administration serving the general

The Secretariat was assembled by the first Secretary-General, Sir (James) Eric Drummond. The Secretariat had five main tasks:14 (a) material and technical functions (translation of documents, speeches and discussions; preparation and reproduction of minutes

Part I: An International Organization for Peace

The caricature of a typical official, drawn by Branimir Petrovic. Petrovic was a Yugoslav Croat from Zagreb who came to live in Geneva. [© Archives of the League of Nations, Geneva.]

and reports; distribution and dispatch of documents); (b) documentation; (c) direct support to the work of the governing bodies (participation in their work; the preparation of draft resolutions; important contributions to the technical functions); (d) personal political initiatives by the Secretary-General; and (e) work by the information service. The SecretaryGeneral was the master of the Secretariat.15 The Secretary-General of the League was also the Secretary-General of the Assembly and the Council. He was responsible for organizing the Secretariat of the Assembly, as well as any commissions set up by the Assembly. He was in close personal contact with the Assembly and with the members of the commissions and conferences held under the auspices of the League of Nations. ◀◀ Sir Eric Drummond, the first Secretary-General of the League of Nations, drawn by the caricaturist Oscar Lazar. [© Archives of the League of Nations, Geneva.]

The ideal secretary? One of Petrovic’s caricatures. [© Archives of the League of Nations, Geneva.]

He served as the liaison and coordinator of the various bodies of the League of Nations, as well as between these bodies and the member and non-member States of the League. The services of the Secretariat were divided into two, and later three, major sections: the general organization of the Secretariat (general services, directorate); the internal administrative services (personnel office, etc.); and the special bodies (dealing with specific themes, such as minorities, mandates, etc.). The Secretariat sought to “denationalize” its officials. They had to maintain at all times a certain objectivity. Furthermore, they were never to favour one nation more than another, nor were they to serve as channels of communication between the organization and their own governments. Staff was organized into three divisions according

to the nature of the services provided. In the “first division”, officials carried out preparatory intellectual work on the basis of which decisions would be taken. They implemented the resolutions of the Assembly or the Council. It was not a homogenous grouping, since it brought together the Assistant Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretaries-General, the Directors and the staff members in each section—the true operatives of the Secretariat. The “second division” included the staff carrying out day-to-day administrative functions and secretarial staff, such as typists, précis-writers, clerks, etc. The “third division” covered the technical staff of the Secretariat, such as drivers, electricians, gardeners, etc. They were usually locally recruited. One’s level of studies, qualifications and age were not entirely sufficient for recruitment. It was necessary, above all, to be able to integrate oneself

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into a multinational body, to have a suitable attitude and to master foreign languages, particularly the two official languages (English and French). Officials should also have been ready to leave their country for a more or less lengthy period and to adapt themselves to different situations. The Secretary-General also had to take into account the nationality of all candidates for posts in the “first division” and attempt to achieve a certain geographical balance between countries, despite the strong pressure from each Member State to promote its own nationals. The staff and the representatives of members of the League benefited from diplomatic privileges and immunities in the exercise of their functions (Art. 7, Para. 4 of the Covenant). As already mentioned, there were only two official languages—English and French—as had been the case during the Peace Conference.

Appendix I

APPENDIX I President Wilson’s Speech to the Joint Session of the United States’ Congress on 8 January 1918. GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: Once more, as repeatedly before, the spokesmen of the Central Empires have indicated their desire to discuss the objects of the war and the possible basis of a general peace. Parleys have been in progress at Brest-Litovsk between Russian representatives and representatives of the Central Powers to which the attention of all the belligerents has been invited for the purpose of ascertaining whether it may be possible to extend these parleys into a general conference with regard to terms of peace and settlement. The Russian representatives presented not only a perfectly definite statement of the principles upon which they would be willing to conclude peace, but also an equally definite program of the concrete application of those principles. The representatives of the Central Powers, on their part, presented an outline of settlement which, if much less definite, seemed susceptible of liberal interpretation until their specific program of practical terms was added. That program proposed no concessions at all, either to the sovereignty of Russia or to the preferences of the populations with whose fortunes it dealt, but meant, in a word, that the Central Empires were to keep every foot of territory their armed forces had occupied — every province, every city, every point of vantage as a permanent addition to their territories and their power. It is a reasonable conjecture that the general principles of settlement which they at first suggested originated with the more liberal statesmen of Germany and Austria, the men who have begun to feel the force of their own peoples’ thought and purpose, while the concrete terms of actual settlement came from the military leaders who have no thought but to keep what they have got. The negotiations have been broken off. The Russian representatives were sincere and in earnest. They cannot entertain such proposals of conquest and domination.

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The whole incident is full of significance. It is also full of perplexity. With whom are the Russian representatives dealing? For whom are the representatives of the Central Empires speaking? Are they speaking for the majorities of their respective parliaments or for the minority parties, that military and imperialistic minority which has so far dominated their whole policy and controlled the affairs of Turkey and of the Balkan States which have felt obliged to become their associates in this war? The Russian representatives have insisted, very justly, very wisely, and in the true spirit of modern democracy, that the conferences they have been holding with the Teutonic and Turkish statesmen should be held within open, not closed, doors, and all the world lies been audience, as was desired. To whom have we been listening, then? To those who speak the spirit and intention of the resolutions of the German Reichstag of the 9th of July last, the spirit and intention of the liberal leaders and parties of Germany, or to those who resist and defy that spirit and intention and insist upon conquest and subjugation? Or are we listening, in fact, to both, unreconciled and in open and hopeless contradiction? These are very serious and pregnant questions. Upon the answer to them depends the peace of the world. But whatever the results of the parleys at BrestLitovsk, whatever the confusions of counsel and of purpose in the utterances of the spokesmen of the Central Empires, they have again attempted to acquaint the world with their objects in the war and have again challenged their adversaries to say what their objects are and what sort of settlement they would deem just and satisfactory. There is no good reason why that challenge should not be responded to, and responded to with the utmost candor. We did not wait for it. Not once, but again and again we have laid our whole thought and purpose before the world, not in general terms only, but each time with sufficient definition to make it clear what sort of definite terms of settlement must necessarily spring out of them. Within the last week Mr. Lloyd George has spoken with admirable candor and in admirable spirit for the people and Government of Great Britain.

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There is no confusion of counsel among the adversaries of the Central Powers, no uncertainty of principle, no vagueness of detail. The only secrecy of counsel, the only lack of fearless frankness, the only failure to make definite statement of the objects of the war, lies with Germany and her allies. The issues of life and death hang upon these definitions. No statesman who has the least conception of his responsibility ought for a moment to permit himself to continue this tragical and appalling outpouring of blood and treasure unless he is sure beyond a peradventure that the objects of the vital sacrifice are part and parcel of the very life of society and that the people for whom he speaks think them right and imperative as he does. There is, moreover, a voice calling for these definitions of principle and of purpose which is, it seems to me, more thrilling and more compelling than any of the many moving voices with which the troubled air of the world is filled. It is the voice of the Russian people. They are prostrate and all but helpless, it would seem, before the grim power of Germany, which has hitherto known no relenting and no pity. Their power, apparently, is shattered. And yet their soul is not subservient. They will not yield either in principle or in action. Their conception of what is right, of what is humane and honorable for them to accept, has been stated with a frankness, a largeness of view, a generosity of spirit, and a universal human sympathy which must challenge the admiration of every friend of mankind; and they have refused to compound their ideals or desert others that they themselves may be safe. They call to us to say what it is that we desire, in what, if in anything, our purpose and our spirit differ from theirs; and I believe that the people of the United States would wish me to respond, with utter simplicity and frankness. Whether their present leaders believe it or not, it is our heartfelt desire and hope that some way may be opened whereby we may be privileged to assist the people of Russia to attain their utmost hope of liberty and ordered peace. It will be our wish and purpose that the processes of peace, when they are begun, shall be absolutely

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open and that they shall involve and permit henceforth no secret understandings of any kind. The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret covenants entered into in the interest of particular governments and likely at some unlooked-for moment to upset the peace of the world. It is this happy fact, now clear to the view of every public man whose thoughts do not still linger in an age that is dead and gone, which makes it possible for every nation whose purposes are consistent with justice and the peace of the world to avow now or at any other time the objects it has in view. We entered this war because violations of right had occurred which touched us to the quick and made the life of our own people impossible unless they were corrected and the world secured once for all against their recurrence. What we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealing by the other peoples of the world, as against force and selfish aggression. All the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest, and for our own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to others it will not be done to us. The program of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s peace, therefore, is our program; and that program, the only possible program, all we see it, is this: 1. Open covenants of peace must be arrived at, after which there will surely be no private international action or rulings of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. 2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. 3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment

Appendix I

of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. 4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest points consistent with domestic safety. 5. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the population concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined. 6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy, and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. 7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired. 8. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the

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wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all. 9. A re-adjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. 10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development. 11. Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into. 12. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. 13. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant. 14. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

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In regard to these essential rectifications of wrong and assertions of right, we feel ourselves to be intimate partners of all the governments and peoples associated together against the imperialists. We cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose. We stand together until the end. For such arrangements and covenants we are willing to fight and to continue to fight until they are achieved; but only because we wish the right to prevail and desire a just and stable peace such as can be secured only by removing the chief provocations to war, which this program does remove. We have no jealousy of German greatness, and there is nothing in this program that impairs it. We grudge her no achievement or distinction of learning or of pacific enterprise such as have made her record very bright and very enviable. We do not wish to injure her or to block in any way her legitimate influence or power. We do not wish to fight her either with arms or with hostile arrangements of trade, if she is willing to associate herself with us and the other peace-loving nations of the world in covenants of justice and law and fair dealing. We wish her only to accept a place of equality among the peoples of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;the new world in which we now liveâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;instead of a place of mastery.

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Neither do we presume to suggest to her any alteration or modification of her institutions. But it is necessary, we must frankly say, and necessary as a preliminary to any intelligent dealings with her on our part, that we should know whom her spokesmen speak for when they speak to us, whether for the Reichstag majority or for the military party and the men whose creed is imperial domination. We have spoken now, surely, in terms too concrete to admit of any further doubt or question. An evident principle runs through the whole program I have outlined. It is the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak. Unless this principle be made its foundation, no part of the structure of international justice can stand. The people of the United States could act upon no other principle, and to the vindication of this principle they are ready to devote their lives, their honor, and everything that they possess. The moral climax of this, the culminating and final war for human liberty has come, and they are ready to put their own strength, their own highest purpose, their own integrity and devotion to the test.

Appendix II

APPENDIX II The Covenant of the League of Nations (Including Amendments Adopted to December 1924) THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, in order to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war, by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations between nations, by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another, Agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations. Article 1 The original Members of the League of Nations shall be those of the Signatories which are named in the Annex to this Covenant and also such of those other States named in the Annex as shall accede without reservation to this Covenant. Such accession shall be effected by a Declaration deposited with the Secretariat within two months of the coming into force of the Covenant. Notice thereof shall be sent to all other Members of the League. Any fully self-governing State, Dominion or Colony not named in the Annex may become a Member of the League if its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of the Assembly, provided that it shall give effective guarantees of its sincere intention to observe its international obligations, and shall accept such regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its military, naval and air forces and armaments. Any Member of the League may, after two yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; notice of its intention so to do, withdraw from the League, provided that all its international obligations and all its obligations under this Covenant shall have been fulfilled at the time of its withdrawal.

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Article 2 The action of the League under this Covenant shall be effected through the instrumentality of an Assembly and of a Council, with a permanent Secretariat. Article 3 The Assembly shall consist of Representatives of the Members of the League. The Assembly shall meet at stated intervals and from time to time as occasion may require at the Seat of the League or at such other place as may be decided upon. The Assembly may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world. At meetings of the Assembly each Member of the League shall have one vote, and may have not more than three Representatives. Article 4 The Council shall consist of Representatives of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, together with Representatives of four other Members of the League. These four Members of the League shall be selected by the Assembly from time to time in its discretion. Until the appointment of the Representatives of the four Members of the League first selected by the Assembly, Representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Greece shall be members of the Council. With the approval of the majority of the Assembly, the Council may name additional Members of the League whose Representatives shall always be members of the Council; the Council, with like approval, may increase the number of Members of the League to be selected by the Assembly for representation on the Council. The Council shall meet from time to time as occasion may require, and at least once a year, at the Seat of the League, or at such other place as may be decided upon. The Council may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world.

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Any Member of the League not represented on the Council shall be invited to send a Representative to sit as a member at any meeting of the Council during the consideration of matters specially affecting the interests of that Member of the League. At meetings of the Council, each Member of the League represented on the Council shall have one vote, and may have not more than one Representative. Article 5 Except where otherwise expressly provided in this Covenant or by the terms of the present Treaty, decisions at any meeting of the Assembly or of the Council shall require the agreement of all the Members of the League represented at the meeting. All matters of procedure at meetings of the Assembly or of the Council, including the appointment of Committees to investigate particular matters, shall be regulated by the Assembly or by the Council and may be decided by a majority of the Members of the League represented at the meeting. The first meeting of the Assembly and the first meeting of the Council shall be summoned by the President of the United States of America. Article 6 The permanent Secretariat shall be established at the Seat of the League. The Secretariat shall comprise a SecretaryGeneral and such secretaries and staff as may be required. The first Secretary-General shall be the person named in the Annex; thereafter the Secretary-General shall be appointed by the Council with the approval of the majority of the Assembly. The secretaries and staff of the Secretariat shall be appointed by the Secretary-General with the approval of the Council. The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity at all meetings of the Assembly and of the Council.

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The expenses of the League shall be borne by the Members of the League in the proportion decided by the Assembly. Article 7 The Seat of the League is established at Geneva. The Council may at any time decide that the Seat of the League shall be established elsewhere. All positions under or in connection with the League, including the Secretariat, shall be open equally to men and women. Representatives of the Members of the League and officials of the League when engaged on the business of the League shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities. The buildings and other property occupied by the League or its officials or by Representatives attending its meetings shall be inviolable. Article 8 The Members of the League recognise that the maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations. The Council, taking account of the geographical situation and circumstances of each State, shall formulate plans for such reduction for the consideration and action of the several governments. Such plans shall be subject to reconsideration and revision at least every ten years. After these plans shall have been adopted by the several governments, the limits of armaments therein fixed shall not be exceeded without the concurrence of the Council. The Members of the League agree that the manufacture by private enterprise of munitions and implements of war is open to grave objections. The Council shall advise how the evil effects attendant upon such manufacture can be prevented, due regard being had to the necessities of those Members of the League which are not able to manufacture the munitions and implements of war necessary for their safety.

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The Members of the League undertake to interchange full and frank information as to the scale of their armaments, their military, naval and air programmes and the condition of such of their industries as are adaptable to war-like purposes. Article 9 A permanent Commission shall be constituted to advise the Council on the execution of the provisions of Articles 1 and 8 and on military, naval and air questions generally. Article 10 The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled. Article 11 Any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting any of the Members of the League or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern to the whole League, and the League shall take any action that may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations. In case any such emergency should arise the Secretary-General shall on the request of any Member of the League forthwith summon a meeting of the Council. It is also declared to be the friendly right of each Member of the League to bring to the attention of the Assembly or of the Council any circumstance whatever affecting international relations which threatens to disturb international peace or the good understanding between nations upon which peace depends. Article 12 The Members of the League agree that, if there should arise between them any dispute likely to lead to a rupture they will submit the matter either to arbitration or judicial settlement or to enquiry by the Council, and they agree in no case to resort to war until three months after the award by the

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arbitrators or the judicial decision, or the report by the Council. In any case under this Article the award of the arbitrators or the judicial decision shall be made within a reasonable time, and the report of the Council shall be made within six months after the submission of the dispute. Article 13 The Members of the League agree that whenever any dispute shall arise between them which they recognise to be suitable for submission to arbitration or judicial settlement and which cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, they will submit the whole subject-matter to arbitration or judicial settlement. Disputes as to the interpretation of a treaty, as to any question of international law, as to the existence of any fact which if established would constitute a breach of any international obligation, or as to the extent and nature of the reparation to be made for any such breach, are declared to be among those which are generally suitable for submission to arbitration or judicial settlement. For the consideration of any such dispute, the court to which the case is referred shall be the Permanent Court of International Justice, established in accordance with Article 14, or any tribunal agreed on by the parties to the dispute or stipulated in any convention existing between them. The Members of the League agree that they will carry out in full good faith any award or decision that may be rendered, and that they will not resort to war against a Member of the League which complies therewith. In the event of any failure to carry out such an award or decision, the Council shall propose what steps should be taken to give effect thereto. Article 14 The Council shall formulate and submit to the Members of the League for adoption plans for the establishment of a Permanent Court of International Justice.

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The Court shall be competent to hear and determine any dispute of an international character which the parties thereto submit to it. The Court may also give an advisory opinion upon any dispute or question referred to it by the Council or by the Assembly. Article 15 If there should arise between Members of the League any dispute likely to lead to a rupture, which is not submitted to arbitration or judicial settlement in accordance with Article 13, the Members of the League agree that they will submit the matter to the Council. Any party to the dispute may effect such submission by giving notice of the existence of the dispute to the Secretary-General, who will make all necessary arrangements for a full investigation and consideration thereof. For this purpose the parties to the dispute will communicate to the Secretary-General, as promptly as possible, statements of their case with all the relevant facts and papers, and the Council may forthwith direct the publication thereof. The Council shall endeavour to effect a settlement of the dispute, and if such efforts are successful, a statement shall be made public giving such facts and explanations regarding the dispute and the terms of settlement thereof as the Council may deem appropriate. If the dispute is not thus settled, the Council either unanimously or by a majority vote shall make and publish a report containing a statement of the facts of the dispute and the recommendations which are deemed just and proper in regard thereto. Any Member of the League represented on the Council may make public a statement of the facts of the dispute and of its conclusions regarding the same. If a report by the Council is unanimously agreed to by the members thereof other than the Representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute, the Members of the League agree that they will not go to war with

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any party to the dispute which complies with the recommendations of the report. If the Council fails to reach a report which is unanimously agreed to by the members thereof, other than the Representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute, the Members of the League reserve to themselves the right to take such action as they shall consider necessary for the maintenance of right and justice. If the dispute between the parties is claimed by one of them, and is found by the Council to arise out of a matter which by international law is solely within the domestic jurisdiction of that party, the Council shall so report, and shall make no recommendation as to its settlement. The Council may in any case under this Article refer the dispute to the Assembly. The dispute shall be so referred at the request of either party to the dispute, provided that such request be made within fourteen days after the submission of the dispute to the Council. In any case referred to the Assembly, all the provisions of this Article and of Article 12 relating to the action and powers of the Council shall apply to the action and powers of the Assembly, provided that a report made by the Assembly, if concurred in by the Representatives of those Members of the League represented on the Council and of a majority of the other Members of the League, exclusive in each case of the Representatives of the parties to the dispute, shall have the same force as a report by the Council concurred in by all the members thereof other than the Representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute. Article 16 Should any Member of the League resort to war in disregard of its covenants under Articles 12, 13 or 15, it shall ipso facto be deemed to have committed an act of war against all other Members of the League, which hereby undertake immediately to subject it to the severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibition of all intercourse between their nationals and the nationals of the covenantbreaking State, and the prevention of all

Appendix II

financial, commercial or personal intercourse between the nationals of the covenant-breaking State and the nationals of any other State, whether a Member of the League or not. It shall be the duty of the Council in such case to recommend to the several governments concerned what effective military, naval or air force the Members of the League shall severally contribute to the armed forces to be used to protect the covenants of the League. The Members of the League agree, further, that they will mutually support one another in the financial and economic measures which are taken under this Article, in order to minimise the loss and inconvenience resulting from the above measures, and that they will mutually support one another in resisting any special measures aimed at one of their number by the covenant-breaking State, and that they will take the necessary steps to afford passage through their territory to the forces of any of the Members of the League which are co-operating to protect the covenants of the League. Any Member of the League which has violated any covenant of the League may be declared to be no longer a Member of the League by a vote of the Council concurred in by the Representatives of all the other Members of the League represented thereon. Article 17 In the event of a dispute between a Member of the League and a State which is not a Member of the League, or between States not Members of the League, the State or States not Members of the League shall be invited to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, upon such conditions as the Council may deem just. If such invitation is accepted, the provisions of Articles 12 to 16 inclusive shall be applied with such modifications as may be deemed necessary by the Council. Upon such invitation being given the Council shall immediately institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the dispute and recommend such action as may seem best and most effectual in the circumstances.

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If a State so invited shall refuse to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, and shall resort to war against a Member of the League, the provisions of Article 16 shall be applicable as against the State taking such action. If both parties to the dispute when so invited refuse to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, the Council may take such measures and make such recommendations as will prevent hostilities and will result in the settlement of the dispute. Article 18 Every treaty or international engagement entered into hereafter by any Member of the League shall be forthwith registered with the Secretariat and shall as soon as possible be published by it. No such treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so registered. Article 19 The Assembly may from time to time advise the reconsideration by Members of the League of treaties which have become inapplicable and the consideration of international conditions whose continuance might endanger the peace of the world. Article 20 The Members of the League severally agree that this Covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations or understandings inter se which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly undertake that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof. In case any Member of the League shall, before becoming a Member of the League, have undertaken any obligations inconsistent with the terms of this Covenant, it shall be the duty of such Member to take immediate steps to procure its release from such obligations. Article 21 Nothing in this Covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the Monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace.

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Article 22 To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the League. The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions and other similar circumstances. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience and religion, subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms traffic and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the establishment of

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fortifications or military and naval bases and of military training of the natives for other than police purposes and the defence of territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other Members of the League. There are territories, such as South-West Africa and certain of the South Pacific Islands, 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 as integral portions of its territory, subject to the safeguards above mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population. In every case of mandate, the Mandatory shall render to the Council an annual report in reference to the territory committed to its charge. The degree of authority, control, or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory shall, if not previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, be explicitly defined in each case by the Council. A permanent Commission shall be constituted to receive and examine the annual reports of the Mandatories and to advise the Council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates. Article 23 Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of international conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the Members of the League:

â&#x20AC;˘ will endeavour to secure and maintain

fair and humane conditions of labour for men, women, and children, both in their own countries and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend, and for that purpose will establish and maintain the necessary international organisations;

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• undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control;

• will entrust the League with the general supervision over the execution of agreements with regard to the traffic in women and children, and the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs;

• will entrust the League with the general supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest;

• will

make provision to secure and maintain freedom of communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all Members of the League. In this connection, the special necessities of the regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918 shall be borne in mind;

• will endeavour to take steps in matters of international concern for prevention and control of disease.

the

Article 24 There shall be placed under the direction of the League all international bureaux already established by general treaties if the parties to such treaties consent. All such international bureaux and all commissions for the regulation of matters of international interest hereafter constituted shall be placed under the direction of the League. In all matters of international interest which are regulated by general convention but which are not placed under the control of international bureaux or commissions, the Secretariat of the League shall, subject to the consent of the Council and if desired by the parties, collect and distribute all relevant information and shall render any other assistance which may be necessary or desirable. The Council may include as part of the expenses of the Secretariat the expenses of any

bureau or commission which is placed under the direction of the League. Article 25 The Members of the League agree to encourage and promote the establishment and co-operation of duly authorised voluntary national Red Cross organisations having as purposes the improvement of health, the prevention of disease and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world. Article 26 Amendments to this Covenant will take effect when ratified by the Members of the League whose Representatives compose the Council and by a majority of the Members of the League whose Representatives compose the Assembly. No such amendments shall bind any Member of the League which signifies its dissent therefrom, but in that case it shall cease to be a Member of the League.

Annex to the Convenant I. Original Members of the League of Nations Signatories of the Treaty of Peace: United States of America, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, British Empire, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hedjaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene State, Siam, CzechoSlovakia, Uruguay. States Invited to Accede to the Covenant: Argentine Republic, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Salvador, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela. II. First Secretary-General of the League of Nations: The Honourable Sir James Eric Drummond, K.C.M.G., C.B.

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APPENDIX III A Few Historical Dates

1918 8 January President Wilson puts forward the Fourteen Points which should serve as a basis for world peace. Notably, the fourteenth point suggests: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations alike.â&#x20AC;?

1919 25 January At its plenary session, the Peace Conference accepts the proposals in favour of creating a League of Nations.

13 February The Council accepts the mission entrusted to it concerning the protection of minorities. 16 June The International Committee of Jurists for the creation of the Permanent International Court of Justice meets in The Hague. 24 September International Financial Conference, Brussels. 1 November The Headquarters of the League of Nations is transferred from London to Geneva. 15 November First regular session of the Assembly in Geneva brought together by Woodrow Wilson. 1 December The Council approved the constitution of the Permanent Mandates Commission.

27 January Election of a Commission to prepare a draft covenant.

13 December Approval by the Assembly of the draft Statutes of the Permanent International Court of Justice.

28 April The Peace Conference unanimously adopts the draft covenant proposed by the President of the United States of America.

15 December Admission of Austria.

10 June Sir Eric Drummond presents a note concerning the organization of the administrative services. At the same time, the Secretariat is established in London. 28 June Signature of the Peace Treaty of Versailles, of which the First Part, Articles 1 to 26, contains the Covenant of the League of Nations, which also appears in the other peace treaties.

1920 10 January Entry into force of the Peace Treaty of Versailles and Covenant of the League of Nations. 16 January First meeting of the Council in Paris.

1921 10 March First General Conference on Communications and Transit, Barcelona. 20 April-30 June International Conference on the Traffic in Women and Children, Geneva. 2 September Entry into force of the Statutes of the Permanent International Court of Justice

1922 22 January First meeting of the Permanent International Court of Justice. 18 September Admission of Hungary.

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25 September The number of members of the Council elected by the Assembly is raised from four to six. 4 October Signature in Geneva of the protocols concerning the financial reconstruction of Austria.

1923 31 August International Conference Publications, Geneva.

against

Obscene

1924 14 March Signature in Geneva of the protocols concerning the financial reconstruction of Hungary. 1 October Resolution by the Assembly making the protocol on the peaceful resolution of conflicts open for signature by the Member States. 3 November First Opium Conference. 17 November Second Opium Conference 24 December Costa Rica gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League.

1925 4-13 February International Health Conference, Singapore. 1 March Opening of the Far-Eastern Epidemiological Information Office in Singapore. 4 May Conference on the Arms Trade. 14 December The Locarno Agreements are placed in the archives of the League of Nations.

1926 16 January Inauguration of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation. 12-18 May Passport Conference. 18 May First meeting in Geneva of the preparatory Commission on the Disarmament Conference. 14 June Brazil gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League. 8 September Admission of Germany. Germany is designated as a permanent member of the Council. The number of members of the Council elected by the Assembly is raised from six to nine. Spain gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League.

1927 1 January Costa Rica ceases to be a member of the League. 4-23 May International Economic Conference. 24-29 August International Conference of Press Experts.

1928 22 March The Spanish Government announces that it will continue to collaborate in the work of the League of Nations. 30 May Inauguration of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law in Rome. 13 June Brazil ceases to be a member of the League. 5 September Inauguration in Rome of the International Institute of Educational Cinematography.

138

League of Nations

26 September Adoption by the ninth Assembly of the General Act for the Peaceful Settlement of International Conflicts.

1932

1929

2 February Opening of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, Geneva. Opening of the League of Nations radio station.

16 August Entry into force of the General Act. 4-13 September Conference concerning the revision of the Statutes of the Permanent International Court of Justice. 24 November Stock Market Crash on Wall Street.

1930 13 May-7 June International Conference for the Unification of Rights on Letters of Exchange, Letters of Credit and Cheques. 23 September First session of the Study Commission on a European Union. 30 September Creation of the International Nansen Office for Refugees.

1931 24 January The Council decides to hold a Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments. 16-30 March European Conference on Road Transport. 27 May Conference on Limiting the Manufacture of Harmful Drugs. 26 September The Assembly adopts the General Convention on Developing Means to Prevent War. 9-27 November Conference on the Eradication of Opium for Smoking, Bangkok.

11-14 January Conference of Governmental Press Services and representatives of the Press, Copenhagen.

4 September Signature of the Lytton Report in Beijing. 14 September The President of the Disarmament Conference is notified by the German Government of its decision no longer to collaborate in the work of the Conference. 3 October Iraq is admitted to the League of Nations. 11 December Agreement is reached between Germany and France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America on equal rights to security. 14 December Mexico gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League.

1933 30 January Adolf Hitler assumes power in Germany. 27 March Japan gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League. 12 June Opening of the Monetary and Economic Conference, London. 29 June The Disarmament Conference adjourns its work. 1 July Sir Eric Drummond is replaced as SecretaryGeneral by Joseph Avenol.

139

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26 September The Argentine Government informs the Secretary-General that the Argentine Parliament has approved the Covenant of the League of Nations. 2 October The Assembly raises provisionally the number of non-permanent seats of the Council from nine to ten. 14 October Germany withdraws from the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments. 21 October Germany gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League. 9 November The Conference of Governmental Press Services and representatives of the Press, Madrid.

1934 29 May Meeting of the General Commission of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments. 22 June Resolution adopted by the International Labour Conference inviting the Government of the United States of America to join the International Labour Organization. The President of the United States of America communicated his acceptance on 20 August 1934. 18 September The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is admitted to the League of Nations. The Assembly approves the proposal that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics becomes a permanent member of the Council. 28 September Ecuador, which was a founder member of the League and whose name appears in the Annex to the Covenant, agrees to accept the Covenant of the League of Nations.

1935 13 January Plebiscite in the Saarland. 17 January The Council decides that the Saarland shall be unified with Germany. 29 January The American Senate refuses to ratify the membership of the United States to the Permanent International Court of Justice. 23 February Paraguay gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League. 28 February-1 March Germany installs its Government over the territory of the Saarland. 15 March The Secretariat of the League records the fact that the United States of America has joined the International Labour Organization. 27 March Japan ceases to be a member of the League of Nations. 21 October Germany ceases to be a member of the League of Nations.

1936 17-22 February The Secretariat moves into the Palais des Nations. 8 March Germany denounces the Locarno Treaty. 9 May Proclamation of Italian sovereignty over Ethiopia. 26 May Guatemala gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League. 27 June Nicaragua gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League.

140

4 July The Assembly expresses the wish that the Council invites governments to present proposals with a view to improving the implementation of the Covenant and that the Coordination Committee should propose to governments to put an end to sanctions against Italy. 10 July Honduras gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League. 9 September Meeting in Rome between the Secretary-General Avenol and Mussolini. 17-23 September Intergovernmental conference to draw up an international convention on the use of radio broadcasting in the interests of peace. 2 October The Council raises the number of non-permanent members from nine to eleven for a period of three years. 10 October The Assembly decides to create a Committee of 28 members to study the question of implementing the principles of the Covenant. 14-16 December The first session of the Committee on implementing the principles of the Covenant.

1937 26 January Brazil renews its acceptance of the voluntary dispositions for the protocol of the Permanent International Court of Justice. 2-15 February Conference of the Central Authorities in FarEastern Countries at Bandoeng (Java) against the traffic in women and children. 23 February Paraguay ceases to be a member of the League of Nations. 4 March The Egyptian Government requests admission to the League.

League of Nations

22 April Entry into force of the Bangkok Agreements on opium smoking. 26-27 May Extraordinary session of the Assembly: Egypt becomes a member. 28 May The Council approves the reorganization of the Health and Financial Committees. 15 June The British Empire Conference expresses the wish that the Covenant should be separated from the Peace Treaty. 5-9 July Second General Conference of National Commissions for Intellectual Cooperation (Paris). 8 July Signature by Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey of a non-aggression treaty and a protocol introducing a Middle Eastern Entente. 15 July Expiration of the German/Polish Convention concerning Upper Silesia signed in Geneva on 15 May 1922. 26 July El Salvador gives notice of its intention to withdraw from membership of the League. 12-29 August The Secretary-General visits Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. 10-11 September Special Committee to study ways of implementing the principles of the Covenant. 16 September The Council decides to abandon further examination of reforming the calendar. 30 September The mandate of the Study Commission for a European Union is renewed for one year. 5 October The Council postpones the matter of bringing together the Steering Committee of the Disarmament Conference.

Appendix III

141

14 October Nicaragua sends a complaint to the League about the treatment of Nicaraguans living in Honduras.

14 May The Council takes note of the intention of the Swiss Government no longer to participate in sanctions and declares that it will not be asked to do so.

11 December Italy gives notice of its intention to withdraw from the League.

The Council passes on to the Assembly a request from the Chilean Government drawing attention to the need for a thorough reform of the Covenant.

14 December Italy withdraws from the International Labour Office.

26 May Guatemala is no longer a member of the League.

1938 21 January Communiqué from the Federal Swiss Government about the neutrality of the Swiss Confederation. 28 January The Council agrees to the League participating in the New York Exhibition of 1939. 29 January Adoption of new statutes for the Communications and Transit Organisation. 7-10 February A diplomatic conference reaches agreement on a convention concerning the status of German refugees. The convention is signed by representatives of seven countries. 18 March The German Government communicates to the Secretary-General the text of the Law of 13 March which concerns “the return of Austria to Germany”. 21 March The Swiss Federal Council makes a Declaration on the neutrality and independence of Switzerland. 9 April The British Government requests that the matter of “the consequences resulting from the present situation in Ethiopia” shall be included on the agenda of the next Council meeting. 29 April Memorandum from the Swiss Federal Council about Swiss neutrality.

2 June Chile gives notice of its intention to withdraw from the League. 4 June John G. Vinant (USA) is appointed Director of the International Labour Office. 29 June The Electoral Commission leaves the Sandjak of Alexandretta after having stopped its registration activities on 26 June and informs the Council that it was obliged by circumstance to cease its activities. 10 July Honduras is no longer a member of the League. 12 July Venezuela gives notice of its intention to withdraw from the League. 21 September The Dominican Republic, Greece and Yugoslavia are elected as non-permanent members of the Council. 22 September The Assembly expresses its recognition of the actions carried out by the mediating States to bring peace to the Chaco and the role played by Messrs Saavedra Lamas and Cantilo. 30 September The Council postpones the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Disarmament Conference. 14 October Meeting in Perpignan, France, of the Commission nominated by the Council to verify in the field the measures taken by the Spanish Government concerning the withdrawal of non-Spanish combatants in the civil war.

142

27-29 October Meeting in Nice of the Permanent Committee of Literature and Arts (Chairman: Paul ValĂŠry, France). 2 November Japan stops its cooperation with the technical bodies of the League. 17 November The International Nansen Office for Refugees is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 3 December Signature in Paris of an International Act granting to the Institute for Intellectual Cooperation the nature of an organization founded upon collective treaties. 9-12 December The Committee on Budgetary savings, meeting in Brussels, decides that the budget of the League for 1940 shall be reduced by 20 per cent compared to that in 1939.

1939 16-20 January The League of Nations holds its one hundredand-fourth Council Session in Geneva. 15 March German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. 16 March Establishment of German Protectorate over Slovakia. 28 March End of the Spanish Civil War. 6 April Anglo-French Mutual Aid Agreement with Poland. 7 April Italian invasion of Albania. 11 April Hungary withdraws from the League of Nations. 9 May Spain withdraws from League of Nations.

League of Nations

22-27 May The League of Nations holds its one hundredand-fifth Council Session 23 August Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact. 1 September German Invasion of Poland. 3 September British and French Declarations of War on Germany. 30 November Outbreak of Russo-Finnish Winter War. 24 November Japanese offensive in Southern China. 9 December One hundred-and-sixth Council Session of the League of Nations. 14 December One hundred-and-seventh Council Session and expulsion of USSR from League of Nations

1940 12 March End of the Soviet-Finnish Winter War. The Finns cede much territory to the USSR. 30 March German invasion of Denmark and Norway. 30 April Collapse of Norwegian Resistance. 10 May German Invasion of the Low Countries. 14 May The Dutch army surrenders to the Germans. 28 May King Leopold III of Belgium orders the Belgian army to cease fighting. May-June Evacuation of Allied Forces from France 13 June German occupation of Paris.

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15-17 June The Red Army occupies Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 22 June The French and German Governments conclude an armistice ending the fighting in France. 23 June General Charles De Gaulle, the leader of the French National Committee, establishes a Free French Government in London. 1 July The Government of Romania informs the League of Nations of its intentions of withdrawing from the organization. 2 July Establishment of the Vichy French Government. 3 July Battle of Oran and Mers el-Kabir. The British sink or capture part of the French fleet fearing it could fall into German hands. 6-19 August Italian occupation of British Somaliland. Augustâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;October The Battle of Britain. 13-15 September Italian invasion of Egypt. 22 September Japanese occupation of French Indo-China. 27 September The German, Italian and Japanese Governments sign a Three-Power Pact in Berlin. 8 October German occupation of Romania 10 October The Blitz begins on British cities. 28 October Italian invasion of Greece. 13 November An attack by British aircraft on the Italian fleet at Taranto significantly reduces the Italian threat in the Mediterranean.

20 November Hungarian accession to Three-Power Pact. 23 November Romanian accession to Three-Power Pact.

1941 20 January To bolster the Italian military effort, Mussolini allows German troops into Italy. 1 March The Bulgarian Government supports the Axis powers and German troops march into Sofia. 6 April German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece 10 April German forces occupy Belgrade and Yugoslav Partisan units take up a guerilla war against the Germans. 18 April Vichy France withdrawal from the League of Nations. 20 May German Invasion of Crete. 22 June German Invasion of the Soviet Union. 2 July The Nationalist Chinese Government severs diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy and the other Axis Powers. 31 July Beginning of the Battle of the Atlantic. 14 August At a meeting between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, the British and American Governments announce their post-war aims in the Atlantic Charter. 24 August British and Soviet forces invade Iran. The British occupied the southern part of the kingdom, while Red Army forces secured the northern half.

144

24 September Fifteen countries sign the Atlantic Charter including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, the Free French, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the USSR and Yugoslavia. December 7 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. December 8 The US Congress declares war against Japan. December 11 The German and Italian Governments, bound by their Axis treaties, declare war on the United States in support of Japan. December 20 The British Government declares war on Japan following Japanese attacks on Malaya and Hong Kong. December 22-28 With the US fully involved in the war, Churchill travels to Washington, DC, to confer with Roosevelt.

1942 1 January Twenty-six nations sign the United Nations Declaration in Washington, DC, including the US, UK, China and the USSR. The declaration affirms the principles of the Atlantic Charter, pledges the full employment of their military and economic resources against the Axis powers, and promises not to make a separate armistice or peace with their common enemies. 18-27 June Second Washington Conference. Churchill travels to Washington, DC, for a series of meetings with President Roosevelt in an effort to coordinate Anglo-American war strategy. 12-16 August First Moscow Conference. Churchill visits Moscow to meet with Stalin and US Ambassador Harriman, representing President Roosevelt, to discuss a common war strategy.

League of Nations

8 November Allied Invasion of North Africa.

1943 14 January Roosevelt and Churchill meet in Casablanca and announce plans designed to achieve the “unconditional surrender” of the Axis powers. 2 February Soviet victory at Stalingrad. 12 May Axis troops in Tunisia surrender at Cape Bon, ending the Italo-German threat to the Suez Canal and the Italian dream of an African empire. 18 May Delegates meet at Hot Springs, Virginia, USA, and establish the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. 10 July Allied invasion of Sicily. 26 July Premier Benito Mussolini of Italy resigns. He and his cabinet are immediately placed under arrest. 3 September Allied Invasion of Southern Italy. 9 September Italian Premier Badoglio and his cabinet formally accept the Allies’ terms of unconditional surrender. 15 September Restored to power by the Germans, Mussolini announces the establishment of a Republican Fascist Party in the northern part of Italy, still under Axis control. 13 October The Badoglio Government declares war against Germany. 9 November Representatives of forty-four countries meet in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, to define and organize the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) as a first step towards post-war reconstruction in Europe and the Far East.

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22 November Roosevelt, Churchill and Chang Kai-shek meet in Cairo to discuss war strategy in the Far East.

the meeting remain secret until well after the end of the war. In return for declaring war against Japan, the Soviets would be compensated in Asia.

28 November Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet for the first time in Teheran for a series of talks on wartime strategy and post-war planning.

12 April President Roosevelt dies suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, and is succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.

1944

13 April The Red Army launches the final offensive against Germany.

April At a meeting in London, Allied representatives propose the establishment of the United Nations Organization for Educational and Cultural Reconstruction. 4 June Rome is the first European capital to be liberated from Axis domination. 6 June Allied landing in Normandy. 1 July The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference meets in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA, to plan for the post-war international financial system. 21 August Representatives from the USA, the British Commonwealth, and the USSR meet at Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington, DC, to plan for the establishment of the United Nations. 23 August Allied forces enter Paris. 9 October Churchill travels to Moscow to meet with Stalin. The two leaders agree to divide the Balkan region into spheres of influence.

1 May Death of Hitler. 8 May Truman and Churchill proclaim Victory in Europe (V-E Day). 19 June American, British, Chinese, French, and Russian representatives, meeting in San Francisco, decide that nations that had sided with the Axis during the Second World War would not be admitted to the United Nations until the UN Council invited them to become members. 6 August The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, marking the advent of the Atomic Age. 15 August Truman announces the end of the Pacific War with Victory over Japan (V-J Day). 11 September The Council of Foreign Ministers meets for the first time. The conference revealed a growing rift between the Soviet and Western Allies.

1945

October The Permanent Court of International Justice held its final session in The Hague. During the San Francisco Conference in June, the United Nations delegates decided to establish a new Court of International Justice as a Principal Organ of the United Nations.

7-12 February Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet in Yalta to discuss post-war planning. Most of the terms of

24 October The United Nations is officially established after ratification of the United Nations Charter.

23 October Allied recognition of the new French and Italian Governments.

146

1946 10 January First session of the UN General Assembly. 12 January The membership of the United Nations Secretariat is completed with the election of six non-permanent members (Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, the Netherlands and Poland). They joined the five permanent members (China, France, the UK, the US and the USSR). 1 February The UN membership elects Trygve Lie of Norway as the first Secretary-General of the United Nations Organization.

League of Nations

8 April The League of Nations Assembly concludes the twentieth session and holds its twenty-first session in Geneva to terminate the Organization and allocate the Leagueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remaining resources. 18 April The members of the Assembly of the League of Nations vote to dissolve the Organization and transfer its property and assets to the United Nations. This marked the end of the post-First World War experiment for collective security and the advent of the new order under the United Nations.

147

Notes

NOTES 1.

Lange, C.L., Préparation de la Société des Nations pendant la guerre. In: Munch, P., ed. Les origines et l’oeuvre de la Société des Nations, p. 1. Copenhagen: Gyldendaleskae Boghandel Nordisk Forlag, 1923.

Bourgeois, L., L’oeuvre de la Société des Nations (1920-1925). Paris: Payot, 1923.

United States of America, Congressional Record, vol. 56, 8 January 1918, p. 680-681.

Le petit manuel de la Société des Nations, Geneva: SdN, 1939, p. 334.

League of Nations, Essential facts about the League of Nations, p. 334. Geneva: Office of the Secretariat, Information Section, 1939.

Ibid., p. 62-70.

Bourgeois, op. cit.

Ibid., p. 71-82.

Hymans, P., Rapport à l’Assemblée sur l’oeuvre du Conseil et sur les mesures prises pour exécuter les décisions de l’Assemblée, p. 502. Geneva: SdN, 1922.

10. Ibid., p. 546. 11. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 83-86. 12. Ibid., p. 90-97. 13. Ibid. 14. Ibid., p. 91-92. 15. Ibid. 16

Library of the United Nations at Geneva and Archives of the League of Nations, The League of Nations, 1920-1946. Geneva/ New York: United Nations, 1996, p. 130.

17. Pallas, J.-C., L’histoire du Palais des Nations. In: The League of Nations, 19201946, op. cit., p. 98-121. 18. Hymans, op. cit., p. 513. 19. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 108. 20. Azcarate, P. de., William Martin: un grand journaliste à Genève, Paris: Centre

européen de la Dotation Carnegie, 1970, p. 81. 21. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 108. 22. Hymans, op. cit., p. 513. 23. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 99. 24. Scelle, G., L’Organisation internationale du travail et le BIT, Paris, Marcel Rivière, 1930. (Préface par Albert Thomas.) 25. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 100. 26. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 105-106. 27. Hymans, op. cit., p. 537. 28. Ibid. 29. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 228. 30. Schultz, M., The League of Nations, the Great Powers and the International Economic System: From Reconstruction to the Great Depression, 1919-1933. In: The League of Nations, 1920-1946, op. cit., p. 39-44. 31. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 228. 32. Ibid., p. 229. 33. Ibid., p. 230. 34. League of Nations, op. cit. 35. See also: Rapport du Comité fiscal de la SDN du 16 octobre 1937 sur l’assistance mutuelle en matière fiscale, in: Revue de science et de législation financières (Paris), no. 4, 1937, p. 547. 36. League of Nations, op. cit. 37. Hymans, op. cit., p. 548. 38. Renoliet, J.-J., L’UNESCO oubliée: La Société des Nations et la coopération intellectuelle (1919-1946), Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1999, p. 26. 39. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 226. 40. Pham, T.T., La coopération intellectuelle sous la Société des Nations, Geneva: Droz, 1962, p. 98. See also: Taillibert, C., L’Institut

148

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international du cinématographe éducatif, Paris: L’Harmattan, 1999. 41. Renoliet, op. cit. 42. Hymans, op. cit., p. 539. 43. Ibid., p. 542. 44. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 256. 45. Lacaisse, R., L’Hygiène internationale et la Société des Nations, Paris: Mouvement sanitaire, 1926, p. 103.

grand journaliste à Genève, Paris: Centre européen de la Dotation Carnegie, 1970, p. 81. 64. Ibid. 65. Azcarate, P. de., William Martin: un grand journaliste à Genève, Paris: Centre européen de la Dotation Carnegie, 1970, p.134-154. 66. Letter in the Archives of the League of Nations.

46. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 258.

67. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 200-208.

47. Ibid., p. 260.

68. Hymans, op. cit., p. 508.

48. Hymans, op. cit., p. 535. 50. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 250.

69. Azcarate, P. de., William Martin: un grand journaliste à Genève, Paris: Centre européen de la Dotation Carnegie, 1970, p. 64-67.

51. Ibid., p. 254.

70. Ibid.

52. Hymans, op. cit., p. 505.

71. Laurens, H., La question de Palestine (17991922): I: L’invention de la Terre Sainte, Paris: Fayard, 1999. See also: Azcarate, P. de., William Martin: un grand journaliste à Genève, Paris: Centre européen de la Dotation Carnegie, 1970, p. 80-83.

49. Hymans, op. cit., p. 536.

53. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 216. 54. Ramonat, W., Der Völkerbund und die freie Stadt Danzig, 1920-1934. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag, 1979. 55. Hymans, op. cit., p. 528. 56. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 164. 57. Finland became a Member of the League of Nations on 16 December 1920, see: League of Nations, op. cit., p. 36. 58. League of Nations, op. cit. p.164 59. Barros, J., The League of Nations and the Great Powers: The Greek-Bulgarian Incident, 1925, Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1970. 60. Hymans, op. cit., p. 514. 61. Azcarate, P. de., La Société des Nations et la protection des minorities, Paris: Centre européen de la Dotation Carnegie, 1969, p. 11. 62. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 209. 63. Azcarate, P. de., William Martin: un

72. Lavergne, M., La Transjordanie, Paris, Éditions Karthala, 1996. 73. Le Fur, L., L’affaire Mossoul, Revue générale de droit international public (Paris), Janvier-avril 1926, p. 60-103; mai-août 1926, p. 209-245. See also: Bomli, P.E.J., L’Affaire de Mossoul, Amsterdam: H.J. Paris, 1929. 74. Tripp, C., A history of Iraq, London: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 75. Pinta, P., Le Liban, Paris: Éditions Karthala, 1995; Chaudouet, J., La Syrie, Paris: Editions Karthala, 1997. 76. Ibid. 77. Adu Boahen, A., ed., Histoire générale de l’Afrique, vol. 1: L’Afrique sous domination coloniale, 1880-1935. Paris: UNESCO, 1987.

149

Notes

78. Hymans, op. cit., p. 543. 79. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 66-68. 80. Bente Solheim, Katrine Holm, Sari Kaski, Torill Johme, Fridtjof Nansen, Hovedoppgave ved Høyskolen i Oslo, Avdeling for jounalistikk, bibliotek- og informasjonsfag, Universitet i Oslo, Norway 2000. 81. Cf Bauer (Walter), Fridtjof Nansen, Humanität als Abenteuer, Frankfurt-amMain: Fischer taschenbuch, 1981. 82. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 294-297. 83. League of Nations, Report of the Committee for International Assistance to Refugees, Geneva: 1936. 84. The Treaty of Saint-Germain, 10 September 1919, Article 11, in: Consolidated Treaty Series, vol. 225, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., Oceana Publications, 1969. 85. Among other sources, one can read what the French novelist André Gide wrote— Voyage au Congo, Paris: Gallimard, 1927— about the men who were requisitioned and transported for the construction of the Chemin de Fer Congo-Océan (CFCO) from Brazzaville to Pointe Noire. 86. Atchebro, D.D., La Société des Nations et la lutte contre l’ésclavage, 19221938, Geneva: Graduate Institute of International Studies, 1990.

93. Gerbet, P., Société des Nations et Organisation des Nations Unies, Paris: Éditions Richelieu, 1973, p. 77. 94. McLercher, B.J.C., The League of Nations and the problem of collective security, 1919-1939, in: The League of Nations, 19191939, Geneva & New York: United Nations, 1996, p. 69. 95. Azcarate, P. de., William Martin: un grand journaliste à Genève, Paris: Centre européen de la Dotation Carnegie, 1970, p.111-114 96. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 153. 97. Bariéty, op. cit., p. 61-65. 98. De Azcarate, William Martin, op. cit., p. 141. 99. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 156. 100. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 222-223. See also: Duroselle, J.-B., L’Europe: histoire de ses peuples, Paris: Hachette Literature, 1990, p. 530-535. 101. Gerbet, P.; Mouton, M.-R.; Ghebali, V.Y., Le rêve d’un ordre mondial, de la SDN à l’ONU, Paris: Éditions de l’Imprimerie Nationale, 1996, p. 81. 102. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 143. 103. Gerbet, P., Société des Nations et Organisation des Nations Unies, op. cit., p. 78. See also: Durocelle, op. cit., p. 535-555.

87. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 283-293.

104. Ibid.

88. Lacaisse, op. cit., p. 147-159.

105. Ibid.

89. Thibout, G., La question de l’opium à l’époque contemporaine, Paris: Steinheil, 1912.

106. McLercher, op. cit., p. 73.

90. Hymans, op. cit., p. 528. 91. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 274-282. 92. Ibid., p. 152. See also: Bariéty, J., Germany’s entry into the League of Nations, in: The League of Nations, 1920-1946, Geneva: The League of Nations Archives, 1996, p. 64.

107. Ibid., p. 261 and p. 300-302. 108. Gerbet, P., Société des Nations et Organisation des Nations Unies, op. cit., p. 102-107. 109. McLercher, op. cit., p. 71. 110. Gerbet, P., Société des Nations et l’Organisation des Nations Unies, op. cit., p. 102-107.

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111. Ibid.

128. Martin, op. cit., p. 93-103.

112. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 177.

129. Ibid.

113. Keylor, W., The Twentieth Century World: an International History, New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 233.

130. Plettenberg, I., Die Sowjetunion in Völkerbund, 1934-1939, Cologne PahlRugenstein Verlag, 1987.

114. McLercher, op. cit., p. 71. 115. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 143-151. 116. Martin, J., A la Société des Nations: scènes vécues, Paris: Éditions de la Baconnière, 1944, p. 62-66. 117. De Azcarate, William Martin, op. cit., p. 119130. See also the account written by Arthur Henderson’s assistant at the Conference: Noël-Baker, P., The first World Disarmament Conference, 1932-1933, and why it failed, Oxford and New York, Pergamon, 1979. The Socialist Philip Noël-Baker received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959. 118. Gerbet, P.; Mouton, M.-R.; Ghebali, V.Y., Le rêve d’un ordre mondial, de la SDN à l’ONU, Paris: Éditions de l’Imprimerie Nationale, 1996, p. 81. 119. Céré, R.; Rousseau, C., Chronologie du conflit mondial, 1935-1945, Paris: Société d’éditions internationales, 1945, p. 42. 120. Gerbet, P.; Mouton, M.-R.; Ghebali, V.Y., Le rêve d’un ordre mondial, de la SDN à l’ONU, Paris: Éditions de l’Imprimerie Nationale, 1996, p. 81. 121. Céré & Rousseau, op. cit., p. 22-27. 122. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 190. 123. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 183-184. 124. Céré & Rousseau, op. cit., p. 42. 125. Gerbet, P.; Mouton, M.-R.; Ghebali, V.Y., Le rêve d’un ordre mondial, de la SDN à l’ONU, Paris: Éditions de l’Imprimerie Nationale, 1996, p. 81. 126. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 184-189. 127. Caioli, A., Il conflitto italo-etiopico e la Società delle nazioni (1935-5 maggio 1936), Trieste: Università degli studi di Trieste, 1994.

131. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 183. See also: Farceau, B., The Chaco War: Bolivia and Paraguay, 1931-1935, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1996. 132. Walters, F.P., A History of the League of Nations, Vol. II, London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1952, p. 524-540. 133. Quoted in: Vivas Gallardo, F., Venezuela en la Sociedad de la Naciones, 1920-1939: descripción y análisis de una actuación Diplolomática, Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1981. 134. Duroselle, op. cit., p. 546. 135. Malefikias, E., ed., La Guerra de España, 1936-1939, Madrid: Taurus, 1996. 136. Journal officiel de la SdN, no. 1, 1937, p. 35. 137. Journal officiel de la SdN, 2 February 1937, p. 206-208. Errata to the report in the Archives of the League of Nations, box R 6229, dossier R 6229, 1/26970/17950. 138. Journal officiel de la SdN, no. 7-8, JulyAugust 1939, p. 344. 139. Catalogue des Chefs-d’oeuvre du Musée du Prado, Exposition du Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva: June-August 1939. 140. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 196-199. 141. Céré & Rousseau, op. cit., p. 91-93. 142. Ibid., p. 96. 143. Ibid., p. 96-104. 144. Ibid., p. 99. 145. Ibid., p. 105. 146. Ibid., p. 106-09. 147. Gerbet, P., Société des Nations et Organisation des Nations Unies, op. cit., p. 155

151

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148. Ibid. 149. League of Nations, op. cit., p. 56-57. 150. Ghebali, V.-Y., La Société des Nations et la Réforme Bruce, 1939-1940. Geneva: 1970. 151. Archives of the League of Nations, document A.23.1939. 152. Martin, J., A la Société des Nations: scènes vécues, op. cit., p. 125-130. See also: CostaBona, E., Helsinki-Ginevra: Diciembre 1939–Marzo 1940. La Guerra d’iverno e la Società delle Nazioni. Milan: 1987. 153. Céré & Rousseau, op. cit., p. 133. 154. Ibid. 155. Gerbet, op. cit., p. 147. 156. Barros, J., Betrayal from within: Joseph Avenol, Secretary-General of the League of Nations, 1933-1940. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1969. 157. Barcroft, S.A., The international civil servant: the League of Nations career of Sean Lester, 1929-1947. 1975. [Thesis Dublin University.]

158. Metzger, B., The League of Nations and refugees: the humanitarian legacy of Fridtjof Nansen. In: The League of Nations, 19201946, op. cit., p. 74-80. 159. Tosi, L., Alle origini della FAO: le relazioni tra l’Istituto internazionale di agricoltura e la Societa delle Nazioni. Milan: Franco Angeli, 1989. 160. Diez de Velasco Vallejo, M., Las organizaciones internacionales. Madrid: Tecnos, 1997. 161. Dupuy, J., San Francisco et la Charte des Nations Unies. Paris: 1945. 162. James, A., The United Nations’ debt to the League of Nations: the League of Nations, 1920-1946. Geneva: League of Nations Archives, 1996, p. 86-93. 163. Ibid. 164. Ibid. 165. Ibid., p. 153. 166. Gerbet, op. cit.

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The League of Nations From Collective Security to Global Rearmament This book offers rare historical and anecdotical insights into the League of Nations (1919-1947), the predecessor international organization to the United Nations. For the first time, conflicts between nations were a matter of global concern. Numerous key areas — social, economic and statistics, health and labour — were dealt with either directly by the League or indirectly by its specialized agencies. The efforts of the League of Nations did not however succeed in removing the major obstacles to peace which occurred in the early 1930s and it was powerless in the face of the Second World War. The concept of international organization was however firmly embedded in minds and on the 1st January 1942, the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, announced the term “United Nations”. On 26 June 1945, the representatives of fifty countries meeting in San Francisco adopted the Charter of the United Nations, founder of the new international organization. The United Nations was born officially on 24th October 1945. In spite of its political failure, the legacy of the League of Nations appears clearly in a number of principles stated by the Charter and in the competencies and experiences developed in the area of technical cooperation: many of the specialized institutions of the United Nations system can in fact be considered the legacy of the work initiated by the League of Nations.

USD 22 ISBN 978-92-1-101248-4