Chapter 2 League of Nations In the beginning of the twentieth century, outstanding conferences that took place were the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907. They were mainly related to the development of International Law. However, they were also of significance in the evolution of international organisations.’ Experiences and experiments of these conferences along with the conferences of preceding century on the one hand and the devastating effects of the First World War on the other hand, led some individuals in England and in America to propose the scheme of a League for the avoidance of war in future. In June 1915, ‘The League to Enforce Peace’ was founded under the. leadership of former President Taft in 1915. After a long and bitter deliberations, the League of Nations ion of the Peace Conference accepted the joint draft presented by aft was given the final shape by the Commission, ns was adopted by the Conference on f 26 Articles was a part of the Treaty ablished on January 10, Com: America and England. The Dr: and the Covenant of the League of Natio April 28, 1919, The Covenant consisting 0! of Versailles of 1919.7 The League of Nations was ests 1920. Preamble of the Covenant The Preamble of the Covenant laid down the objectives for the creation of the League which were to promote international cooperation and to achieve intemational peace and security. These objectives shall be obtained 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 obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one another. Preamble also stated that the High Contracting Parties agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations’. 1. Palmer and Perkins lays down that the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 may be said to have represented a transitional step from ad hoc conferences and specialized international organisations towards the League of Nations, the first great experiment of an organisation open to all States without a special purpose and character (International Relations p. 320.) 2. The Treaty of Versailles was signed at the end of World Ward I by the Allied and Associated Powers and by Germany in the Hall of Mirros in the Palace of Versailles (France) on June 28, 1919 which came into force on January 10, 1920. Earlier, the Treaty was negotiated and drafted during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 which was dominated by the national leaders known as the ‘Big Four’—Woodrow Wilson of the United States, Clemenceau of France, Lloyd George of Britain and Vittorio Orlands of Italy. Germany was not included in the consultations.League of Nations Membership of the League vere two kinds of members of the League of Nations. 24 A Staats it shall consist of original members any an ly the Cov Sie.tnich Herdbers whe Were to be admitted Iter. Orgs st ender, tie were those States whose names were enumerated in the Annes a Cees ‘Signatories of the Treaty of Peace’ or as ‘States ing? to accede to the Covenant’, which did in fact accede without Teservation to te Covenant on or before March 20, 1920. The Annex rentioned the na, . . thirty two States. Out of them, three failed to ratify the Covenant, ey Ecaudor, the Hedjaz and the USA. Thirteen States were inwited to acd, ce the Covenant and they acceded to it, Thus, forty-two States became the oF; gina members of the Leagute. Provisions for the Subsequent members were laid do under para 2 of Article 1 which Provided that : Any fully self-governing State, Dominion or colony not named in the Annex may become a Member of League if its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of the Assembly Provided thay trcntll give effective guarantees of ite Sincere intention to. obser jitemational obligations, and shall ac ity cept such regulations as may be prescri by the League in Tegard to its military, naval, and air force and armament, ‘Rventy-one States were admitted in the League as. subsequent members, Applications for admission made by Armenia, Azerbaidjan, Georgia, Liechtenstein and Ukraine were tefused in 1920, Membership of the League could be terminated in three wa: voluntary withdrawal from the League after having given two year’s its i SQ Provided all its intemati i obligations under the Covengt have been fulfilled at the tines of its (Article 1 para 3), Secondly, by expulsion ie had, member of the League may be Srened fom the League if it hee violated the Coy : inb : members of by expressing its Peesions regarding the Withdrawal of 'ague proved detrimental to the interests Of the League, ember Sague, but in due course ced to thinty ty, Even some Powerful States Which joined the Sue in 1926 left it in he re, cordemned for its intervention in aBUe in 1937 it Ethiopia. USSR. was expelled from the me ship of ae ie ee ABEtession on, Finland in eo the in December Organs of the League The League had two principal organs ; the Asser assisted by the permanent Secretariat MbIY and the Council, (a) The Assembly The Assembly was represented by all the member - According to Article 3 cach member of the beagie coulg i the League end nol League > ow ‘ore thanyr 7 International Organisations three representatives to the Assembly, but they all had one vote. The Bee) met at least once 2 year, and more frequently, if required. In practice, el Assembly used to meet annually in September in Geneva. The ‘Assembly coul also meet in special sessions. It held many special sessions; important among them was that of March 19, 1926, when Germany applied for membership. The Assembly had six regular standing committees-constitutional and legal, technical organisations, reduction of armaments, budgetary, social and humanitarian and political. ‘The functions of the Assembly were not adequately laid down in the Covenant, It was provided under Article 3 para 3 that 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. Of the many functions performed by the Assembly and the Council : (a) some were exclusively reserved for the Assembly, and (b) others were reserved for the Council of the League; () others, again, required the cooperation of these two organsi while (a) with regard to others the Assembly's competence was either concurrent with or alternative to that of the Council. Exclusively reserved functions included the “immission of new members (Article 1) by a two-thirds majority; election of non-permanent members of the Council (Article 4), apportioning the expenses of the League among the members, appointment of committees by simple majority, supervising the work of the Council and setting of its own procedure. Prevention of war and to find a peaceful solution of international disputes was the matter which could be dealt with either by the Assembly or the Council. Decision in the Assembly was taken by at least four kinds of votes. ,.. depending upon the nature of the matter. These were : (a) unanimous vote of all the members of the League represented at the meeting (Article 5); (b) the vote of a simple majority of the members of the League represented at the meeting, which applied to all matters of procedure... including the appointment of committees of investigation (Article 5); (¢) a vote of a two-thirds majority, and (d) a majority vote, but including the votes of all the members represented in the Council. (b) The Council The Council was the executive organ of the League. Its size depended, in the first instance, upon the provisions of Article 4. The Council consisted of (a) permanent members namely, those Great Powers who were members of the League ie. the United States of America, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan. The Council could with the approval of the majority of the Assembly, name other permanent members; (b) leven non-permanent members of whom three were elected each year and for three years. This group could be sub-divided into (a) non-permanent and not re-eligible until the expiry of three years from the conclusion of their terms of office, and (b) non-permanent declared by a majority of two-thirds of the members of the Assembly voting to be immediately re-eligible. (ii) Ad loc representatives. Permanent members of the Council were the Great Powers ie., the Principal Allied and Associated Powers—the United States of America fg Britich Empire, France, Italy and Japan together with four other members of theON % League of Natlons Loagute selected by the Assembly from time to time. United States of 4, fe did not join the League as the US. Senate refused to give its assent and theresa? the number was four in 1920 which increased to 5 in 1926 (with the admis” of Germany) to six in 1934-35 (with the admission of the USSR) an, ther declared to 2 at the end of 1999.' They were : France and Great Britain, 7" number of non-permanent members was increased from four to six in 192 nine in 1926, to ten in 1933 and finally to eleven in 1936, to The Council was expected to meet atleast once a year at the seat of League or at such other places as may be decided upon, The Council coulg alse meet in any emergency arising out of war or threat of a war. Like the Assembly, the Council could deal with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the World peace (Article 4 para The functions of the Council may be classified as being (a) within the exclusive competence; (b) requiring cooperation with the Assembly; and (c) Within the concurrent or alternative competence of the Assembly and the Council, The Council could take a decision by means of the following kinds of votes : (a) the unanimous vote of all members of the League represented at the meeting (Article 5); (b) the vote of a simple majority of the members of ine League represented at the meeting; (c) the vote of all the members of the League excluding the representatives of the parties to a dispute and (d) the vote of a simple majority of all the members of the Council. Exclusive functions of the Council included the (1) nomination of additional permanent members of the Council; (2) formulating plans for the reduction of armaments; (3) to advise how the evil effects of manufacture of munitions and implements of war by private enterprise can be prevented 4 advising upon the means by which the members of the League were to preserve a8 against external aggression, the territorial integrity and existing political independence of other members; (5) supervision’ of the mandate system; minorities treaties and other agreements; (6) to direct the work to the Secretariat, arrange for international conferences, receive reports from the subsidiary organs of the League, determine which reports should be submitted to the Assembly and to deal with disputes among League members, Safeguarding the peace of the World was the primary responsibility of the Council. Voting in the Assembly and the Council—Decisions at any meeting of the Assembly or of the Council required the agreement of all the members of the League represented at the meeting except where otherwise expressly provided in the Covenant or by the terms of the Treaty (Article 5 Para 1). Ail matters of procedure at meetings of the Assembly ot 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 (Article 5 Para 2). Article 5 Para 3 provided that the first meeting of the Council shall be summoned by the President of the United States of America, 1. Japan and Germany withdrew from the League in 1935 and Italy in 1939, USSR was expelled from the League for its attack on Finland. -International Organisation: 8 # gett sted of t (9 See gycrtatt cone the Secretar jhe ‘autired (Article 'y General may bere es i Pata I), Pata 2 of Anes keynes eoneral shall be the person whose (Arte 6 ltd down fiarae ame was mentioned in the in the rolaty aan after the Secrelary-General shall be TS (1c the Council | of the majority of the ! ie Assembh ¢ Drum ly. Accordingl i aS Dan mod of the Gre Bait Pe hae mc by Joseph Arenol of ance a fe staff of the Secretariat were ay Cc wih approval of the Cound’ two Deputy ani wo underSectetaries were appointed faye assist the Gene Jectaty seat General ect jenera stariat. Was established i the 5 -retaria in Geneva—th 5 of the Secretariat was to assist all organs of fire ve League sat kinds, viz,, clerical, research, drafting, Tatas esi nati } evi registration of treaties, keeping of goorinations Te ‘ ping of records, arrangements meeting © i had a staff of seven hundred persons, working ee ‘sections! and tes of the Lea, of mandi i numerous: services and offices. gue of Nations ates established by Article 22 of the Covenant of the form of international guardianship to those colonies and h "as a consequence of the war have ceased to be under the ates which formerly governed them and which are able to stand by themselves under the strenuous " Thus, the mandate was created in the interest of the inhabitants 0 d of humanity in general as an international institution with an international object—4 sacred trust of civilisation..." the intemational rules regulating the mandate constituted an international status of the territory. 2 The above implies that amongst others, the principal obligations of the mandatory, including those relating to international supervision, were held not to have been abrogated by the dissolution of the Leagite: ‘The mandate system was thus limited to the territories of Germany and Turke} id 1 extend to colonies and territories of Allied and ‘Associated Powers: The principle tipon which the system was bases { development of such d was “the well being a8 peoples from a sacred trust of civilization and that securil performance of this trust should be embodied in the Covenant of the ue, The tutelage of these peoples was to be entrusted to advanced nations, which by ase" of Li resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake ! i responsibility and who are wiling (0 Mecept i, and that 1s ratelage should be exercised as mandatories on behalf of the League. poem ers Prova lander Article 22 Para 7 that in latory shall render to the Council an annual report 9 Manda The syste™ League was. 4 territories which covereignty of the St inhabited by peoples not yet conditions of the modern World: f the territory, an ate, the of mand to the ery case in reference c ie principle of the pase) the IC} held I , rc ol tumanitarian conceP™ 1 Inthe S n the South West Africa case (Second “ily a moral OF_ 1 Loague of Natlons its charg ee of authority itted {0 its charge. The degree o ity, eae a 5 exercised by the mandatory shall, if not rev) administra bra ously ot by n the members of the League be explicitly defined in each, case wea a (Article 22 Para 8). A permanent Commission WS conatitgy the See are "ports of mandatory and toa then on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates, Mine om Under the mandate system, three distinct SroUupS Of territorigg Were py ey Class A, Class B and Class C. Class A consicte ‘ ee which had reached a stage of development at which UIeit existeml independent nations could be Provisionally Tecognized, subject to regime of administrative assistance from a mandatory State, Palestine, Iraq and Trans-Jordan were Placed under this clay, independent by the end of 1946 or were expected to become ing that time. Class B of mandates included certain former colonic which were administered by the mandatory State under a government, They included the British Cameroons, Brit h and Tanganiya under British, mandate, the French Camerons and French Togolang under French mandate, and Randy Urundi under Belgian mandate, Chay ¢ mandates were administered as integral portions of the territori State and had of mand; NO international status whatever. Such territories South-West Africa assigned to South Africa, Samoa to New Zealan Great Britain, Asutralia and New Zealand jointly; other Pacific Isla the equator to Australia: and Pacific Islands north of the equator the territories belonging to class B and C came under the truste, under the United Nations,’ yi wiley ee ay 4 tempor, Syria, 1hy S: The ecame “Pendent 5, of Ger id, Naury to nds South of to Japan. Aly ship system Settlement of Disputes In order to achieve the main objective of maintaining peace and secur the Covenant made elaborate Provisions for the settlement of disputes between States. The Covenant under Article 12 Para 1 laid down that in the event of a dispute arising between the Members of the League they will submit the matter either to arbitration or judicial Settlement or to inquiry by the Council. Article that matters suitable for submission to arbitration or judicial settlement should be in accordance with Article 13 Para 2 which enumerated that such disputes as involving the interpretation of @ treaty, questions of international law, questi i breach of an international obligation or the 1 * made for such breach. Members of the League poreed that they will carry out in full 800d faith any award or decision that may be rendered, and they will not Tesort to war against a member of the League which complies therewith, In the event of any failure to carry out such an averd oF decision, the Council shall Propose what steps should be taken to give effect thereto, . embers of the League and which is not submitted’ to arbitration or judicial settlement, members agreed that they will Wee Se ii fe de (Article 15 Para 1), Any Party to the dispute may effect such Submission by giving notice of the existence of the dispute to 1. See Chapter, Trusteeship Council’.1 International Organisations General, who will make we Son and consideration thereof The Counch sh eements for a ful investiga yy disputes, and if such efforts are successful, ¢ ann eet cellement giving such facts and explanations regarding thee al be made Prettlement thereof as the Council may deem ae apie and the teem tied, the Council cither unanimously or by a maj ite the dispute not SUN report containing a statement of the facts "ot ee spake and publ gations which aze deemed just and proper in regard hereto recontas stated in the Covenant that members shall in no case reset t espa arti award ty he abit he dco or ; ich resorted in di fe reve provisions chal ipso facto be deemed to have commited et seer against all members ie the League. They also agreed to immediately take action 1Bi, as severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibition of all such gue between their nationals and the nation of the Covenant-breakin intretand the prevention of all financial, commercial or personal intereourse between the nationals of the Covenant breaking State and the nationals of an} other State (Article 16 Para 1). y In the event of a dispute arising between a member of the League and a siate which is not a member of the League or between non-members of the League, non-members shall be invited to accept the obligation of membership in the League for the purposes of such disputes upon such conditions as the Council may deem just (Article 17 Para 1). If such invitation is accepted, the provisions of Article 12 to 16 shall be applied with such notifications as may be deemed necessary by the Council. The Council, after the invitation being given, shall immediately institue an inquiry into the circumstances of the disputes and recommend such action as may deem best and most effectual in the circumstances (Article 17 Para 2). If a State so invited refuses to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute and resorts to war against a member of the League, sanctions laid down under Article 16 shall be applied against a State taking such action. If both the disputant parties are not members, they both shall be invited and if they refuse to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the pupose of such dispute, the Council may take such measures and make such recommendations 0 as to prevent hostilities and which may result in the settlement of the dispute. War and Neutrality The Covenant of the League made notable regulations for resorting War Members of the League agreed that if a dispute arises between them, they shall submit the matter either to arbitration or judicial settlement or to the inquiry by the Council and they also agreed that in no case war shall be resorted until three months after the award by the arbitrators or by the judicial decision OF the "port by the Council? The three months time, ie, ‘cooling, period’ ON Provided as it was believed that it will be able to prevent the accidental Outbreak of hostilities, ‘However, war resorted affer following the ab\® Atlicle 12 (1 2 Article 12 ptLoague of Nations 1 ate resorted to war without follows procedure was not for bade ao to have committed ‘an act of ya" *s above procedure it paul ‘ague,! which is tantamount to aggression a f Na all other members of the A aggression is a violation of Intematignay te community of States. ea 7 ni against the supreme interes of rel lan aL OT a en atrate Thus, the Covenany th Sar aIee ica inpesed atau eT members fog 84 De TA i He aa Rear only fo members ofthe La thy iar power of Nations considerably affected the notion of neutral es two kinds of war, Firstly, those yee neS Tesorted to nats disregard of the provisions of , the Covenant, fey a which w, i forbidden, and secondly, war in disregard of the provisions of the Covenant iy forbidden war. As to the first kind of war, it is to be noted that they were Vega wars, and in such cases members of the Covenant were left free to Maint, their neutrality in the traditional sense of the term. No testriction or Prohibig was made by the provisions of the Covenant as to the attitude of Reutrality in such war. However, the Concept of neutrality was largely affected in that y° which was resorted in disregard of the obligations of the Covenant, . t ‘gal and if it was resorted, it was ‘ipso facto deemed to have for the whole World, and all victims of aggression, no State could ado analysis of the provisions of the Covenant reveals that even in any (which is resorted in disregard of the Covenant) neutrality may be adopted by the States. For instance, non-members of the League such as the United States, and later on, Japan, Gen Y could remain neutral in any such way many and Ital Further, there was no authority to determine as to whether a State of War exists oF not. And soa member State may remain neutral if it decides in a particular war that no Covenant breaking resort to war had ta rightly said that the rul ken place. Stone has very cs of neutrality ‘remained operative’ ox establishment of the League of Nations in the followin, en after the 1B ways : (1) as to later Japan, Germany, and Italy; (2) as to Wars not forbidden, i, aps in the Covenant; (3) ie, within the g, even in a forbidden ‘War, as to particular members who decided in the particular case that no Covenant-breaking Tesort to war had taken place? Practice of the States also Suggests that the States adopted the attitude of neutrality in those wars which took place after the establishment of the League. Thus, during the Russia-Polish war in 1929 Germany declared its neutrality In Greco-Turkish war of 1921, the Allied Governments isstied a collective neutrality. In Chaco war between Bolivia and Paraguay, I, Chile and Peru declared Reutrality in 1933 in spite of the fact m™ Were members of the League, declaration ofInternation 2 ‘al Organisations ntervention in the Domestic Jurisdicti Nor psncile of nonnterventon in the domegee Ste. under Att ne of them and Prout aif the dispate pce” W38 sated is caimet P ematioal law is solely within mpccul 10 arise out of Pats whi M ’rall so report and shall make no scr _feisdiction of a 8 matter Gourmet the Coun was compte whe the matter Sater the dispute had atisen a the question as to estic inisiction of the Party Which made the claim ang go, within the Coun implied the decision of the dispute, and this act of the Registration of Treaties. . ticle 18 of the Covenant provided nga sent entered into hereafter by any ‘mene ety 1 Sstemationa weith registered with the Secretariat and shall as groqeSZBU® shall be published by it No such treaty or international engagement s! etl male be Fra so registered. binding The Secretariat of the League performs the functions of publica f ication o sates in the League of Nations Treaty Series (LNTS), Disarmament under the League of Nations. The Covenant stressed the need to reduce national armaments and armed forces by stating under Article 18 Para 1 that the maintenance of Peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with nati safety and the enforcement by common action of International oBigatens ne Covenant further provided under Article 18 Para 2 that at least in every ten years the Council of the League after taking into 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. Article 18 Para 3 provided that plans shall be subject to reconsideration and revision at least every ten years. It was also laid down under Para 4 of Article 18 that after these plans have been adopted by the several governments, the limits of armaments therein fixed shall not be receded without the concurrence of the Council. It is to be noted that the above provisions of the Covenant as to disarmament were too ambiguous to serve any useful purpose. Its provisions were further weakened by the fact that the Covenant neither refrained the members from the use of force in their international relations nor it prohibited iL altogether. The result was that there was no basis for implementing 'sarmament measures, © Coditieat “editcation under the League of Nations proben® Covenant of the League was the first instrumen ramet difcation properly. The Council of the League ft Coifain of Steen jurists to report on those questions which The Comma © report as to how their codification COWES eg report in ee, after examining the reports of sub-comm! which handled the in 1924, appointed ch were ripe for omLoague of Nations 5 seven topics wory 7 the following ting wherein it sated a ‘Territorial Waters; (ii) Responsitit ionality; ‘ ¢ Pers Yy exdifietion ¢ (1) Nation eo ny aa the ile vn Peony States for Damage clone vie, Privileges ancl Inui Hess 0) Proce? Fowigners) (iv) Diplo rand Procedluue for the co ualca tty a International coe (vii) Exploitation of the | rendu \ iil Mea. ty Wy he Report of the Ce fone tere tho te Council's abservaions thereon, and decided that a Conference i be held at the Hague for the purpose aforesaid under (i, (ii) and (ii). of codifying the subj 1930 and adopted conventions on the ang ce at i Come “oncerning Certain Quah of Nationally Sy flict of Nationality Laws; (b) Protocol relating to Milita nating to the Conflie cases of Double Nationality; (0) a Protocol relatiny t os SNGR Ries and (d) a Special Protocol concetnin, Statelessi ignificant to note that these ee did pol ae Wid, support is clear from the fact that they were rati ae eke OY States 0 the topics of Territorial Waters and Responsibility o! , " Coane " BE done in their Territories to the Property and Person of Foreigner, n ag NtiON couly be formulated because of the lack of general agreement. It Ee} (0 Be noted thy the Conference fell short of the expectations that had precede, its convening js View ofits limited success. No further attempts of codification were made unde the League. Pethaps its enthusiasm for codification wilted after the failure of j, 1930 Conference, April 192 Certain Collective Security and the League of Nations Collective security system received legal status for the first time under the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Covenant under Article 10 Provided that the members of the League undertake to respect and Preserve as agains, external aggression, the territorial integrity and political independence of al ‘members of the League. In case of any such aggression, the Cox,eil shall advise “pon the means by which the obligation shall be fulfilled, Further, Article 1! Provided that any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting any of the members of the League is not hereby declared a matter of concern for the whole League and the League shall take any action that may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations. The Covenant further provide! Remar 12 oe aul of the League agreed to settle disputes between They shall ‘oe La Uration or judicial settlement or inquiry by the Council woe flees ie eal three months after the award by the arbitrators meer agreed tere report by the Council, Article 13 laid down thal considered suitable for submission}, ePue between members which ihe some SM to arbittation or jue atON OF juicial settlement sh submitted to arbitration or ilica Setter tlements I the disputes are mel Council. The Council was equi to make efi (rout Be submitted tot ® make efforts to settle the dispute, Artide 16 provided that if see aty member of the League ne in di the above proven cont « League resorted to war in distegaet f committed an ac Facto be deemed to haveInternational Organisations all members of the League | inst all me In such ca ion the several govemmnenis concerned that mite ‘ouncll was to a the members of the League shall sever fective military, ree fo sed 10 protect the Covenant, The aly contribute to the now that the principle of collective security mien of the stem evolved nt CO ie of collective responsibility emerged to thwart. th itt the act of sion OF of the collective security a ction OF re security system und tnd inthe history of international ations Covenant was xd a landg take action against a State which Tedotted to wa pea ns ate! Howe the mW: lating pets 6g the Covenant. However, the system was not effective oa and it pe Pm nn actual working mainly because members failed to abi oo Nes which hey undertook under the Covent Renee Sean Hot take any action aginst aly when i conquered the by Leste (Greek in 1923 and against Japan when it occupied central Mar pou ot Ge uit system agin fled hen Japan attacked Bhi ia These ective ove that collective security system was totally ineffective. Mi Erntes, especially Great Powers were intrested in sa ee be marines than the intrest of he intraoral canuancrity ale Although collective security system was inadequate under the Covenant of the League of Nations a number of efforts were made to strengthen the system in the inter-war period. The Draft Treaty of Mutual Assistance of 1923, Geneva Featoco! of 1924, Locarno Pact of 1925 and the Kellogg Briand Pact of 1928 (Pact of Paris) and the ‘Anti War Treaty of Non-Aggression and Conciliation (1933) tied to strengthen the collective security system as envisaged in the Covenant. Weaknesses of the League of Nations ‘an evaluation of the twenty-years (1920 to 1940) record of the League of Nations leads one to classify the first decade (1920-1930) as the successful years rad the second decade (1930-1940) as the unsuccessful years ‘The League of Nations proved its value by settling the Swedish-Finish dispute over the Aaland tdunds (192021), guaranteeing the security of Albania (1921), rescuing Austria fom politcal and economic disaster (1922), setting the division of Upper-Silesia (122) and preventing the outbreak of war in the Balkans between Greece and e first decade, the League's Bulgaria (1925). The above shows that during th functioning was quite successful. However in the second decade the League failed miserably in maintaining peace. Some of the instances where the League filed were the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Italian occupation © (tion, the Chaco war (conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay), the Spanish nh mr and the Soviet attack on Finland, hos becom the end of 1939, it became evident that the Leash pas become Watcles to prevent the outbreak of var. te least effective ding WORE § te, final League Assembly (Iwenty-first) was held a Gene es which was attended by 34 delegates, OF April 19, a 4 te! & motion wherein it was eetgned that with effec (OM One Sha he close ofthe present session of the Assembly, the League Ors “8¢ to exist except for the sole purpose of the liquidationLeague Tr — vv ange filed Because it suffered from a number of defects whip % follows : , oe . a (1) The League failed to attain universality of membership, It mostly of European nation-States. Thus it did not represent ry World community. Only sixtythree States were admittest in League and therefore it was not an effective organisation to," ie World peace. mang 2) League did not forbid the war completely. War could be reso, fa State after the completion of the formalities as provide’! Covenant. The Covenant laid down that if any dispute arog. will be settled either through arbitration or by judicial Settleme, hay the dispute was not resolved through these means, partis «I resort to war after the lapse of three months from the date of! decision of the arbitration or of judicial settlement. he (3) One of the great powers—U.S.A. did not become the member of th League because of non-ratification of the Treaty by the Senate, 7 absence of US.A. from the League made even England |e. enthusiastic. ‘ (4) Powers for the enforcement of the decision was.not centralized, Thy enforcement depended upon the decision of the bulk of the member, of the League. Thus, the consent of all members was essential whic, could not be attained. China in 1932, Abyssinia in 1935 appealed fo, collective action, but no action could be taken to fulfil the obligation (5) Functions of the Council and the Assembly were not dearly a demarcated. (6) Members were not bound by the decisions of the Council. (7) There was no provision which could prevent the States from the withdrawal from the League of Nations. The result was that the number of members which was initially 62 reduced to 32. Even the powerful States like Japan and Germany which joined the League in 1926 left it in 1933. Italy also withdrew from the League. The League became weak and totally ineffective due to the withdrawal of these States. (8) There was no provision in the League to deal with the act of aggression effectively. Moreover, forces were also not available to the Council to take action against the culprit State. (9) The League maintained,a distinction between ‘Great Powers’ and other States. The so-called Great Powers were given permanent seals in the Council whereas the other members could only be its members for a fixed term. ‘The selfish interests of the nations, especially of he Great Powers was supreme. They failed to maintain internation! peace and security because they failed to support with sufficient vigour especially in Manchurian and Ethiopian cases. As a result of the attitude of major Powers the small. nations lost faith in th effectiveness of the League to save them from any aggression. TH principle of the collective security enshrined in the Covenant was no37 Intemational Organisations applied in actual practice. It is true that the League failed to fulfil its primary object of maintaining international peace and security because of the dominance of national interests of the members; its achievement in social and economic fields reveal that it was the first organisation which spread the idea of international cooperation. It provided for the first time a principle of collective security against the culprit State in an international conflict.