Editing League of Nations (section)

====Geneva Protocol of 1924====
{{Main|Geneva Protocol (1924)}}

A draft treaty was assembled in 1923 that made aggressive war illegal and bound the member states to defend victims of aggression by force. Since the onus of responsibility would, in practice, be on the great powers of the League, it was vetoed by Great Britain, who feared that this pledge would strain its own commitment to police its British Empire.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8497.2008.00512.x|title="Absolutely Irresponsible Amateurs": The Temporary Mixed Commission on Armaments, 1921-1924 |year=2008 |last1=Webster |first1=Andrew |journal=Australian Journal of Politics & History |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=373–388 }}</ref>

The "Geneva Protocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes" was a proposal by British Prime Minister [[Ramsay MacDonald]] and his French counterpart [[Édouard Herriot]]. It set up compulsory arbitration of disputes and created a method to determine the aggressor in international conflicts. All legal disputes between nations would be submitted to the World Court. It called for a disarmament conference in 1925. Any government that refused to comply in a dispute would be named an aggressor. Any victim of aggression was to receive immediate assistance from League members.

British Conservatives condemned the proposal for fear that it would lead to conflict with the United States, which also opposed the proposal. The British Dominions strongly opposed it. The Conservatives came to power in Britain and in March 1925 the proposal was shelved and never reintroduced.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/3014555 | journal=Journal of the British Institute of International Affairs | jstor=3014555 | title=The Geneva Protocol of 1924 for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes | last1=Williams | first1=John F. | year=1924 | volume=3 | issue=6 | pages=288–304 }}</ref>