League of Nations Union
The League of Nations Union (LNU) was an organization formed in October 1918 in Great Britain to promote international justice,
Formation
The LNU was formed on 13 October 1918
Chapters of the LNU were set up in the dominions and in allied nations, including in the capital cities of all of the states of Australia.[6]
Internal structure
The headquarters of the LNU were located variously at
Its top organ of administration was the General Council, which met twice a year and was responsible for LNU policy under its 1925
LNU branches had their own independent management structures.[5]
Activities
The LNU played an important role in inter-war politics. According to one source it had been successful in converting the mainstream of British society, including labour, the churches and the principal newspapers, to the cause of the League of Nations.
Peace Ballot
One example of the significance of the political impact the LNU could have was its organisation of the Peace Ballot of 1935, when voters were asked to decide on questions relating to international disarmament and collective security. The Peace Ballot was not an official referendum, but more than eleven million people participated in it, representing strong support for the aims and objectives of the League of Nations, influencing policy makers and politicians. The results of the Peace Ballot were publicised worldwide. It has been suggested that one outcome was the interpretation of the result by the Axis powers as an indication of Britain's unwillingness to go to war on behalf of other nations[16] although the vote for military action against international aggressors, as a matter of last resort, was almost three-to-one.
Educational programmes
The LNU's other main activities were education and awareness raising. It provided publications, speakers and organised courses.[17] Some of its programmes had a lasting impact on British schools.[18]
Replacement by United Nations Association
It was plain a new international settlement would be needed after the Second World War and in 1948, the
Papers and records
The papers, records, minute books, pamphlets, reports and leaflets of the LNU are deposited at the British Library of Political and Economic Science at the London School of Economics in Westminster.[5] Some digitised content from the LNU is available in the LSE's Digital Library.[19]
See also
- Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood
- James Clerk Maxwell Garnett
- Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson
- Henry Wilson Harris
- Charles Herbert Levermore
- Gilbert Murray
- Almeric Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough
- Dora West
References
- ISBN 9780203505786.
- ^ a b "League of Nations Union Collected Records, 1915-1945". Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Archived from the original on 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
- ISBN 9781134540150.
- ISBN 9780275980689.
- ^ a b c "LNU - League of Nations Union Collection". LSE Library Services.
- ^ Summy, Hilary (2007). From hope ... to hope : story of the Australian League of Nations union, featuring the Victorian Branch, 1921-1945 (PhD thesis). The University of Queensland.
- ^ Phelps, Edith M. (1919). Selected Articles on a League of Nations. New York: H. W. Wilson & Company. pp. xxvi & xxxvii.
- ^ a b Archives of League Of Nations Union, 1918-1971. Archived 2012-07-15 at archive.today
- ISBN 9781349119196.
- ISBN 9780719048326.
- ^ Peter Wilson, "Gilbert Murray and International Relations: Hellenism, liberalism, and international intellectual cooperation as a path to peace." Review of International Studies 37.2 (2011): 881-909. online
- ^ Dutton, David (1985). Austen Chamberlain: Gentleman in Politics. New Brunswick: Transaction. p. 307.
- S2CID 154899222.
- ISBN 9780198214878.
- ^ HC Deb 23 November 1932 vol 272 cc73-211
- ISBN 9780304347940.
- ISBN 978-0-333-15036-8.
- ^ British Library of Political and Economic Science, League of Nations Union, 1918-1971. Archived 2012-07-14 at archive.today
- ^ "Peace and Internationalism Digitised Collection". LSE Digital Library. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
Further reading
- Birn, Donald S. The League of Nations Union (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981).
- Birn, Donald S. "The League of Nations Union and Collective Security." Journal of Contemporary History 9.3 (1974): 131-159.
- Egerton, George W. "Collective Security as political myth: liberal internationalism and the League of Nations in politics and history." International History Review 5.4 (1983): 496-524.
- Elliott, Brian J. "The League of Nations Union and history teaching in England: a study in benevolent bias." History of Education 6.2 (1977): 131-141.
- McCarthy, Helen. "Leading from the Centre: The League of Nations Union, Foreign Policy and ‘Political Agreement’ in the 1930s." Contemporary British History 23.4 (2009): 527-542.
- McCarthy, Helen. The British people and the League of Nations: Democracy, citizenship and internationalism, c. 1918–45 (Manchester UP, 2013).
- Thompson, J. A. "Lord Cecil and the pacifists in the League of Nations Union." Historical Journal 20.4 (1977): 949-959. online
- Thompson, J. A. "The 'Peace Ballot' and the 'Rainbow' Controversy." Journal of British Studies 20.2 (1981): 150-170.
- Wilson, Peter. "Gilbert Murray and International Relations: Hellenism, liberalism, and international intellectual cooperation as a path to peace." Review of International Studies 37.2 (2011): 881-909. online
- Winkler, Henry R. "The Development of the League of Nations Idea in Great Britain, 1914-1919." Journal of Modern History 20.2 (1948): 95-112 online
- Winkler, Henry R. The League of Nations Movement in Great Britain, 1914-1919 (Rutgers University Press, 1952).