Editing League of Nations (section)

===Plans and proposals===
{{ multiple image | align = right | direction = horizontal | total_width = 300
| image1 = 1st Viscount Bryce 1902b.jpg | caption1 = [[James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce|Lord Bryce]], one of the earliest advocates for a League of Nations
| image2 = Jan Smuts 1947.jpg | caption2 = [[Jan Smuts]] helped to draft the [[Covenant of the League of Nations]].
}}
At the start of the First World War, the first schemes for an international organisation to prevent future wars began to gain considerable public support, particularly in Great Britain and the United States. [[Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson]], a British political scientist, coined the term "League of Nations" in 1914 and drafted a scheme for its organisation. Together with [[James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce|Lord Bryce]], he played a leading role in the founding of the group of internationalist pacifists known as the [[Bryce Group]], later the [[League of Nations Union]].<ref name="northedge">{{cite book|last = Northedge|first = F. S.|title = The League of Nations: Its life and times, 1920–1946| publisher = [[Leicester University]] Press|year = 1986|isbn=978-0-7185-1194-4|ref=none}}</ref> The group became steadily more influential among the public and as a pressure group within the then-governing [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]. In Dickinson's 1915 pamphlet ''After the War'' he wrote of his "League of Peace" as being essentially an organisation for arbitration and conciliation. He felt that the secret diplomacy of the early twentieth century had brought about war, and thus, could write that, "the impossibility of war, I believe, would be increased in proportion as the issues of foreign policy should be known to and controlled by public opinion." The 'Proposals' of the Bryce Group were circulated widely, both in England and the US, where they had a profound influence on the nascent international movement.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbFznQEACAAJ|title=The League of Nations and the Rule of Law, 1918–1935|author=Sir Alfred Eckhard Zimmern|year=1969|publisher=Russell & Russell|pages=13–22}}</ref>
In January 1915, a peace conference directed by [[Jane Addams]] was held in the neutral United States. The delegates adopted a platform calling for creation of international bodies with administrative and legislative powers to develop a "permanent league of neutral nations" to work for peace and disarmament.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Woman's Peace Party Full Fledged for Action|journal=The Survey|date=23 January 1915|volume=XXXIII|issue=17|pages=433–434|url=https://archive.org/stream/surveycharityorg33survrich#page/433/mode/1up|access-date=31 August 2017}}</ref> Within months, a call was made for an international women's conference to be held in [[The Hague]]. Coordinated by [[Mia Boissevain]], [[Aletta Jacobs]] and [[Rosa Manus]], the congress, which opened on 28 April 1915{{sfn|Everard|de Haan|2016|pp=64–65}} was attended by 1,136 participants from neutral nations,<ref>{{cite web|last1=van der Veen|first1=Sietske|title=Hirschmann, Susanna Theodora Cornelia (1871–1957)|url=http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bwn1780-1830/DVN/lemmata/data/Hirschmann|website=Huygens ING|publisher=Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands|access-date=30 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830163944/http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bwn1780-1830/DVN/lemmata/data/Hirschmann|archive-date=30 August 2017|language=nl|date=22 June 2017}}</ref> and resulted in the establishment of an organisation which would become the [[Women's International League for Peace and Freedom]] (WILPF).{{sfn|Jacobs|1996|p=94}} At the close of the conference, two delegations of women were dispatched to meet European heads of state over the next several months. They secured agreement from reluctant foreign ministers, who overall felt that such a body would be ineffective, but agreed to participate in or not impede creation of a neutral mediating body, if other nations agreed and if President [[Woodrow Wilson]] would initiate a body. In the midst of the War, Wilson refused.{{sfn|Caravantes|2004|pp=101–103}}{{sfn|Wiltsher|1985|pp=110–125}}

[[File:19181225 League of Nations - promotion - The New York Times.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5| The [[League to Enforce Peace]] published this full-page promotion in ''The New York Times'' on Christmas Day 1918.<ref name=NYTimes_19181225/> It resolved that the League "should ensure peace by eliminating causes of dissension, by deciding controversies by peaceable means, and by uniting the potential force of all the members as a standing menace against any nation that seeks to upset the peace of the world".<ref name=NYTimes_19181225>{{cite news |title=Victory / Democracy / Peace / Make them secure by a League of Nations |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-dec-25-1918-p-11/ |work=The New York Times |date=25 December 1918 |page=11}}</ref>]]
In 1915, a body similar to the Bryce Group was set up in the United States, led by former president [[William Howard Taft]]. It was called the [[League to Enforce Peace]].<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor= 2705943 |title=Toward the Concept of Collective Security: The Bryce Group's "Proposals for the Avoidance of War," 1914–1917|journal= International Organization |volume= 24 |issue= 2 |pages= 288–318 |last1= Dubin |first1= Martin David |year= 1970 |doi= 10.1017/S0020818300025911|s2cid=144909907 }}</ref> It advocated the use of arbitration in conflict resolution and the imposition of sanctions on aggressive countries. None of these early organisations envisioned a continuously functioning body; with the exception of the [[Fabian Society]] in England, they maintained a legalistic approach that would limit the international body to a court of justice. The Fabians were the first to argue for a "council" of states, necessarily the [[Great Power]]s, who would adjudicate world affairs, and for the creation of a permanent secretariat to enhance international co-operation across a range of activities.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjVlcgAACAAJ|title=International Government|author=Leonard Woolf|year=2010|publisher=BiblioBazaar|isbn=978-1-177-95293-4}}</ref>

In the course of the [[Diplomatic history of World War I|diplomatic efforts surrounding World War I]], both sides had to clarify their long-term war aims. By 1916 in Britain, fighting on the side of the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], and in the neutral United States, long-range thinkers had begun to design a unified international organisation to prevent future wars. Historian Peter Yearwood argues that when the new coalition government of [[Lloyd George ministry|David Lloyd George]] took power in December 1916, there was widespread discussion among intellectuals and diplomats of the desirability of establishing such an organisation. When Lloyd George was challenged by Wilson to state his position with an eye on the postwar situation, he endorsed such an organisation. Wilson himself included in his [[Fourteen Points]] in January 1918 a "league of nations to ensure peace and justice." British foreign secretary, [[Arthur Balfour]], argued that, as a condition of durable peace, "behind international law, and behind all treaty arrangements for preventing or limiting hostilities, some form of international sanction should be devised which would give pause to the hardiest aggressor."<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1017/s0018246x00015338|title='On the Safe and Right Lines': The Lloyd George Government and the Origins of the League of Nations, 1916–1918 |year=1989 |last1=Yearwood |first1=Peter |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=32 |pages=131–155 |s2cid=159466156 }}</ref>

The war had had a profound impact, affecting the social, political and economic systems of Europe and inflicting psychological and physical damage.{{sfn|Bell|2007|p=16}} Several empires collapsed: first the [[Russian Empire]] in February 1917, followed by the [[German Empire]], [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] and [[Ottoman Empire]]. Anti-war sentiment rose across the world; the First World War was described as "[[The war to end war|the war to end all wars]]",{{sfn|Archer|2001|p=14}} and its possible causes were vigorously investigated. The causes identified included arms races, alliances, militaristic nationalism, secret diplomacy, and the freedom of sovereign states to enter into war for their own benefit. One proposed remedy was the creation of an international organisation whose aim was to prevent future war through disarmament, open diplomacy, international co-operation, restrictions on the right to wage war, and penalties that made war unattractive.{{sfn|Bell|2007|p=8}}

In London Balfour commissioned the first official report into the matter in early 1918, under the initiative of Lord [[Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood|Robert Cecil]]. The British committee was finally appointed in February 1918. It was led by [[Walter Phillimore]] (and became known as the Phillimore Committee), but also included [[Eyre Crowe]], [[William Tyrrell, 1st Baron Tyrrell|William Tyrrell]], and [[Cecil Hurst]].<ref name="northedge"/> The recommendations of the so-called [[Walter Phillimore|Phillimore Commission]] included the establishment of a "Conference of Allied States" that would arbitrate disputes and impose sanctions on offending states. The proposals were approved by the British government, and much of the commission's results were later incorporated into the [[Covenant of the League of Nations]].<ref name="jclare">{{cite web|publisher=American History|access-date=10 December 2013|url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/1901-/the-league-of-nations-karl-j-schmidt.php|title=The League of Nations – Karl J. Schmidt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219081141/http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/1901-/the-league-of-nations-karl-j-schmidt.php|archive-date=19 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

The French authorities also drafted a much more far-reaching proposal in June 1918; they advocated annual meetings of a council to settle all disputes, as well as an "international army" to enforce its decisions.<ref name="jclare"/>

[[File:19181215 Woodrow Wilson Sees Enduring Peace Only In A League of Nations - The New York Times.jpg|thumb|upright=2.0| On his December 1918 trip to Europe, Woodrow Wilson gave speeches that "reaffirmed that the making of peace and the creation of a League of Nations must be accomplished as one single objective".<ref name=NYTimes_19181215>{{cite news |title=Text of the President's Two Speeches in Paris, Stating His Views of the Bases of a Lasting Peace |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-dec-15-1918-p-1/ |work=The New York Times |date=15 December 1918 |page=1 }}</ref>]]

American President Woodrow Wilson instructed [[Edward M. House]] to draft a US plan which reflected Wilson's own idealistic views (first articulated in the [[Fourteen Points]] of January 1918), as well as the work of the Phillimore Commission. The outcome of House's work and Wilson's own first draft proposed the termination of "unethical" state behaviour, including forms of espionage and dishonesty. Methods of compulsion against recalcitrant states would include severe measures, such as "blockading and closing the frontiers of that power to commerce or intercourse with any part of the world and to use any force that may be necessary..."<ref name="jclare"/>

The two principal drafters and architects of the [[covenant of the League of Nations]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~saw2156/TheLeagueAsARetreat.pdf|title=The League of Nations: a retreat from international law?|publisher=Journal of Global History|access-date=10 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214064233/http://www.columbia.edu/~saw2156/TheLeagueAsARetreat.pdf|archive-date=14 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> were the British politician Lord [[Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood|Robert Cecil]] and the South African statesman [[Jan Smuts]]. Smuts's proposals included the creation of a council of the great powers as permanent members and a non-permanent selection of the minor states. He also proposed the creation of a [[League of Nations Mandate|mandate]] system for captured colonies of the [[Central Powers]] during the war. Cecil focused on the administrative side and proposed annual council meetings and quadrennial meetings for the Assembly of all members. He also argued for a large and permanent secretariat to carry out the League's administrative duties.<ref name="jclare"/><ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1017/s0018246x00011481|title=Lord Cecil and the Pacifists in the League of Nations Union |year=1977 |last1=Thompson |first1=J. A. |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=949–959 |s2cid=154899222 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |first1= Christof |last1=Heyns |year=1995 |title=The Preamble of the United Nations Charter: The Contribution of Jan Smuts |journal=African Journal of International and Comparative Law |url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/afjincol7&div=23&id=&page= |volume=7 |pages=329+ }}</ref>

According to historian Patricia Clavin, Cecil and the British continued their leadership of the development of a rules-based global order into the 1920s and 1930s, with a primary focus on the League of Nations. The British goal was to systematise and normalise the economic and social relations between states, markets, and civil society. They gave priority to business and banking issues,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clavin |first=Patricia |year=2020 |title=Britain and the Making of Global Order after 1919 |journal=Twentieth Century British History |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=340–359 |doi=10.1093/tcbh/hwaa007 |pmid=39478266 }}</ref> but also considered the needs of ordinary women, children and the family as well.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/01916599.2020.1746085|title='Families of mankind': British liberty, League internationalism, and the traffic in women and children |year=2020 |last1=Morefield |first1=Jeanne |journal=History of European Ideas |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=681–696 |s2cid=216501883 |url=https://birmingham.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/b1c7cfdf-dd62-49bc-9c43-adbb835287bd }}</ref> They moved beyond high-level intellectual discussions, and set up local organisations to support the League. The British were particularly active in setting up junior branches for secondary students.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/00309230.2018.1538252|title=Creating liberal-internationalist world citizens: League of Nations Union junior branches in English secondary schools, 1919–1939 |year=2020 |last1=Wright |first1=Susannah |journal=Paedagogica Historica |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=321–340 |s2cid=149886714 |url=https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/a0b8cedf-1be1-4030-9789-dcb3c6aa8063/1/ }}</ref>

The League of Nations was relatively more universal and inclusive in its membership and structure than previous international organisations, but the organisation enshrined racial hierarchy by curtailing the right to self-determination and prevented decolonisation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Getachew|first=Adom|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv3znwvg|title=Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination|date=2019|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-17915-5|pages=37–52|doi=10.2307/j.ctv3znwvg |jstor=j.ctv3znwvg|s2cid=242525007 }}</ref>