Nations Society

• The Nations Society was an international organization created after the end of World War I with the aim of guaranteeing the peace and security of member countries.
• It was originally integrated by 45 countries and came to understand 58 countries, although the United States never was part of it and this fact took effect to the organization.
• It worked between January 10, 1920 and April 19, 1946, when it was replaced by the UN (founded on October 24, 1945).

The history of the Nations Society

The Nations Society was Created during the Paz Conference in Paris that met after World War I. The Pact of the Nations Society was adopted on April 28, 1919 and was annexed to all peace treaties, especially the Versailles treaty signed on June 28, 1919.

The Nations Society It was originally composed of forty -five countries . Its main objective was to make possible collective security that guarantees the integrity of all states (strong and weak), the arbitration of international conflicts and disarmament.

It was a key element in the proposal of the president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, who had raised it in his speech of the fourteen points of January 1918.

The refusal of the American Senate to the entrance of the United States into the Society of Nations and the exclusion of Germany and the Soviet Union (which did not enter until 1926 and 1934, respectively), They limited their effectiveness from the beginning .

The Nations Society He was in charge of the administration of the city of Danzig, the region of Sarre and the colonial mandates and intervened successfully in some territorial disputes. His apogee era was the period 1924-1929, when agreements such as Locarno Treaties and the Briand-Kellogg pact were signed.

The thirties marked their definitive failure . The aggressions of the fascist and militaristic powers showed their inefficiency. Germany and Japan abandoned the Society of Nations in 1933 and Italy in 1937.

The Soviet Union was expelled in 1939. The beginning of World War II in September 1939 pointed out the death of the first universal organization of nations, which officially ceased to exist on April 19, 1946.

The mandates of the Nations Society

The mandates of the nations society were a legal solution designed to The cast of the German and Ottoman colonial empires After World War I. Through this system, The Society of Nations assigned mandates to certain countries that inherited the colonies taken from Germany and Türkiye.

Theoretically, these mandates limited the sovereignty of the new “owners” and forced them to inform the society of nations every year about the measures adopted with the aim of preparing the populations administered for independence. In practice, they were not very different from traditional colonies .

France and the British empire obtained the majority (Some mandates in Africa and Oceania were assigned to the South African Union already Australia). Belgium and Japan accessed small territories. Italy was totally excluded, which caused great discontent in the country.

The Pact of the Society of Nations (1919)

The pact of the Nations Society was The document created by the Nations Society . It was included in the Versailles Treaty Signed on June 28, 1919 and in the other peace treaties that formally end the First World War. Was made up of a preamble and twenty -six articles which detailed the main functions of the Nations Society.

The pact established that the objective of the Nations Society was to promote cooperation between nations and achieve international peace and security. He entered into force on January 10, 1920 and was without effect on April 19, 1946, when the Nations Society ceased to exist.

Next, some fragments of the Pact of the Nations Society are presented.

Pact of the Nations Society
The high contracting parts,

“In consideration that, to promote cooperation between nations and to guarantee international peace and security, it matters:

1) accept certain obligations not to resort to war,

2) maintain open international relations, based on justice and honor,

3) Rigorously observe the prescriptions of international law, recognized from now on as the rule of effective behavior of governments,

4) make justice reign and scrupulously respect all the obligations of treaties in the mutual relations of organized peoples.

They adopt the present pact that constitutes the Society of Nations.

Article 1. Those of the signatories who are appointed in the annex to this Covenant, and also those of the other states appointed in the annex that adhere without reservations to the present Covenant. (…)

Article 2. The functions of the company, as defined in this pact, will be exercised through an assembly and a council, with a permanent secretariat.

Article 3. The Assembly shall compose representatives of the members of the company.

The Assembly will meet at certain intervals, and at any other time when the circumstances require it, at the headquarters of the society or anywhere else that is designated.

The Assembly may deal with any matter in the field of action of society or that affects the peace of the world. In the meetings of the Assembly, each member of the Society will have a vote and will not be able to have more than three representatives.

Article 4. The Council shall compose representatives of the main allied and associated powers, together with representatives of four other members of the company. These four members of the company will be freely appointed by the Assembly and at the times it deems appropriate. Until the first designation of the Assembly, the representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Greece will be members. (…)

The Council may address in its meetings any matter that enters into the field of action of society or that affects the peace of the world. (…)

Article 5. Except express provision contrary to this Covenant or in the terms of this Treaty, the decisions of any meeting of the Assembly or the Council shall require the agreement of all members of the company represented at the meeting. (…)

Article 6. The Permanent Secretariat shall be established at the headquarters of the Company. The Secretariat will consist of a general secretary and the secretaries and personnel that are necessary. (…)

Article 7. The headquarters of the company is established in Geneva. (…)

Article 8. The members of the company recognize that the maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point compatible with national security and with the execution of international obligations through a common action. (…)

Article 10. The members of the Company undertake to respect the territorial integrity and present political independence of all members of society. In case of aggression, or any threat or danger of aggression, the Council will determine the means to ensure compliance with this obligation.

Article 11. It is declared by the present that every war or threat of war, or not immediately affects any of the members of society, is an issue that concerns the entire society, which will take all the measures that it considers wise and effective to safeguard the peace of nations. (…)

Article 16. If a member of the Society resorted to war, as opposed to the commitments contracted (…), it will be considered a facto that has committed an act of war against all other members of society (…).

Article 22. To the colonies and territories that, as a consequence of the last war, have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the states that previously governed them and that are inhabited by peoples that still cannot be valid for themselves in the harsh conditions of the modern world, the principle that the well -being and development of these peoples constitute a sacred duty of civilization and that the guarantees for the fulfillment of this duty must be incorporated in this covenant must be applied.

The best method to give practical effect to this principle is that the protection of such peoples is entrusted to the advanced nations (…), and that this guardianship is exercised by them as commanders in the name of society. (…)“

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References

• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). League of Nations. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). Treaty of Versailles. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
• United Nations (SF). The League of Nations. The United Nations Office at Geneva. https://www.ungeneva.org/
• Sevillano Calero, F. (2020). The Europe of award. The disrupted order. Synthesis.