Editing League of Nations (section)

==Mandates==
{{Main|League of Nations mandate}}
At the end of the First World War, the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] were confronted with the question of the disposal of the former German colonies in Africa and the Pacific, and the several Arabic-speaking provinces of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Many British and French leaders wanted to [[annexation|annex]] colonies of the defeated Central Powers, but U.S. President Woodrow Wilson strongly insisted that instead of annexation, these territories should be assisted under League of Nations supervision in achieving [[self-governance]] and eventual independence depending on the inhabitants' choices.<ref name="HFES">{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/03/woodrow-wilson-was-not-a-racist-in-foreign-policy/|title=Woodrow Wilson Was More Racist Than Wilsonianism|author=David Milne|date=December 3, 2015|publisher=[[Foreign Policy]]}}</ref> This proposal conflicted with [[British foreign policy in the Middle East|Britain's interests]] at the time, as it sought to maintain dominance in the Middle East, protect its oil and trade routes, and limit French influence in the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erakat |first=Noura |title=Justice for some: law and the question of Palestine |date=2020 |publisher=Stanford University Press |edition=1st |page=30}}</ref>

The [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]] compromised with Wilson by adopting the principle that these territories should be administered by different governments on behalf of the League – a system of national responsibility subject to international supervision.<ref name="HFES"/>{{sfn|Northedge|1986|pp=192–193}} This plan, defined as the [[League of Nations mandate|mandate system]], was adopted by the "Council of Ten" (the heads of government and foreign ministers of the main Allied Powers: Britain, France, the United States, Italy, and Japan) on 30 January 1919 and transmitted to the League of Nations.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume=96|date=July 1921|title=The Mandate System of the League of Nations|pages=74–77|author=Myers, Denys P|doi=10.1177/000271622109600116|s2cid=144465753|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1448676}}</ref>

League of Nations mandates were established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations.{{sfn|Northedge|1986|p=193}} The [[Permanent Mandates Commission]] supervised League of Nations mandates,{{sfn|Northedge|1986|p=198}} and also organised [[plebiscite]]s in disputed territories so that residents could decide which country they would join. There were three mandate classifications: A, B and C.{{sfn|Northedge|1986|p=195}}

The A mandates (applied to parts of the old Ottoman Empire) were "certain communities" that had {{Blockquote|...reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised 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.<ref name="Mandate">{{cite web | last =League of Nations | year =1924 | title =The Covenant of the League of Nations: Article 22 | publisher =The Avalon Project at Yale Law School | url =http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/leagcov.asp | access-date =20 April 2009 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110726080156/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/leagcov.asp | archive-date =26 July 2011 | url-status=live | df =dmy-all }}</ref> |Article 22|The Covenant of the League of Nations}}

The B mandates were applied to the former [[German colonial empire|German colonies]] that the League took responsibility for after the First World War. These were described as "peoples" that the League said were {{Blockquote|...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 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.<ref name="Mandate" />|Article 22|The Covenant of the League of Nations}}

South West Africa and certain South Pacific Islands were administered by League members under C mandates. These were classified as "territories" {{Blockquote|...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."<ref name="Mandate" />|Article 22|The Covenant of the League of Nations}}

===Mandatory powers===
The territories were governed by mandatory powers, such as the United Kingdom in the case of the [[Mandatory Palestine|Mandate of Palestine]], and the [[Union of South Africa]] in the case of South-West Africa, until the territories were deemed capable of self-government. Fourteen mandate territories were divided up among seven mandatory powers: the United Kingdom, the Union of South Africa, France, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.{{sfn|Northedge|1986|pp=194–195}} With the exception of the [[Kingdom of Iraq]], which joined the League on 3 October 1932,{{sfn|Northedge|1986|p=216}} most of these territories did not begin to gain their independence until after the Second World War, in a process that did not end until 1990. Following the demise of the League, most of the remaining mandates became [[United Nations Trust Territories]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/decolonization/history.shtml|access-date=15 September 2011|publisher=United Nations|title=The United Nations and Decolonization|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903215926/http://www.un.org/en/decolonization/history.shtml|archive-date=3 September 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition to the mandates, the League itself governed the [[Saar (League of Nations)|Territory of the Saar Basin]] for 15 years, before it was returned to Germany following a plebiscite, and the [[Free City of Danzig]] (now [[Gdańsk]], Poland) from 15 November 1920 to 1 September 1939.{{sfn|Northedge|1986|pp=73–75}}