Covenant of the League of Nations

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The Covenant of the League of Nations brought that organization into being as an integral part of the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 and ending World War I. It was the first part of the treaty to appear in the completed document and was also the first part to be written, before the specific clauses determining the conditions of the peace were drafted. The charter was purposely broad in many aspects. While laying down basic rules for conduct, membership, scope, and operations, it left many decisions about procedure to be determined by the League's Assembly and Council once they finally met in 1920. Despite the vagueness concerning procedures, there is a fair degree of specificity in the Covenant about the types of issues it would treat, which evidenced a strong desire to avoid what were considered to be the actions that had begun the war just ended. Another significant element is that in both practical and symbolic ways, there were concessions to the United States in several areas. It was believed that the League would not function successfully without U.S. participation. Thus, statements about sovereignty, immigration law, and regional influence were shaped with the idea of making it easier for Woodrow Wilson to persuade the U.S. Senate to approve the treaty and join the League. These concessions ultimately failed to persuade the American public in general or the Senate in particular.

Preamble

The preamble to the Covenant identifies the League's objectives as an organization dedicated to maintaining peace and security in the world. The League would promote international law and the avoidance of war. It would ensure that all treaty obligations were honored. This last item was considered quite important. Before the start of World War I, Belgium's status as a neutral nation had been guaranteed by a treaty signed by several nations, including Germany. When, in August 1914, Germany invaded Belgium, it declared that the treaty safeguarding the smaller country had been only “a scrap of paper” (qtd. at firstworldwar.com). The preamble specifically included this mention of the inviolability of treaties as a direct response to Germany's actions.

Two proposals were raised but not accepted. France proposed that the preamble contain a specific condemnation of Germany as an aggressor in the last war, but this stipulation was rejected. The Japanese delegation attempted to add the phrase “by the endorsement of the principles of equality of nations and the just treatment of nationals,” to follow the phrase “relations between nations.” The proposal was voted down ostensibly because it would dictate domestic policy. The real reason was an objection from the United States based on its immigration policy. The proposal as written would have run counter to U.S. immigration quotas, which were being applied to significantly limit the numbers of Chinese and Japanese entering the country.

Articles 1–7

The first seven articles of the Covenant describe the organization, where it would meet, the functions of the Council and the Assembly, and the general rules about how the League would conduct business and function. Article 1 defines the qualifications for membership for both original and subsequent League members. Because the League was originally comprised of the victorious Allies and neutral nations, some provision for later membership had to be made for the defeated nations (Germany, Austria, and Hungary) as well as others that did not belong to the original body. The manner in which a member nation could withdraw was also defined, an action that would be taken in the 1920s principally by smaller nations, followed by the significant departures of Germany, Japan, Italy, and the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The second article states that the League would operate as an assembly of nations with a smaller council of members who would act as an executive body and a secretariat that would bear responsibility for daily operations.

Article 3 declares that each member nation was to have only one vote, thereby negating the influence that the larger nations would have gained on the basis of population, size, or wealth. Further, while a nation could have as large a staff as it wished, it would be restricted to only three official delegates. The League would meet regularly (though, like many provisions in the Covenant, the details were left to be worked out later), and the League's scope included anything that it considered relevant to maintaining the peace of the world.

The fourth article defined the composition and activities of the League Council, a subset of the total membership that would provide leadership and direction. It would contain five permanent members, consisting of the war's major winning powers (the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan). The United States never took its seat, but in the 1920s, when Germany was granted membership, that country became the fifth permanent member. The smaller powers were to be represented on the Council as well, with rotating memberships lasting three years. The number of temporary members was an issue from the beginning, and eventually their number would increase from four to eleven. The Council's scope of activities was purposely wide-ranging; the membership addressed any matter concerned with world peace or the operations of the League.

Article 5 declares that decisions adopted by the Council or the Assembly required unanimous approval. There were exceptions. Matters of procedure could be adopted by a simple majority, and amendments to the Covenant would be adopted by a majority vote. The first meeting of the Assembly would be called by the president of the United States, an honor recognizing Wilson's role in creating the League.

Article 6 concerns operations of the League and describes the role and responsibilities of the permanent secretary-general in conducting regular operations. As was the case in other portions of this document, detailed procedures were left to be settled by a future annex to the Covenant. The expenses of the secretariat were to be paid by the members in “accordance with the apportionment of the expenses of the Bureau of the Universal Postal Union.” This bureau is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations and thus the worldwide postal system. What is significant here is the adoption of standards already in use by an internationally recognized organization and the application of those rules to the League. Article 7 stipulates that the League headquarters were to be in Geneva, Switzerland, and that all positions would be open to both men or women. All League representatives and League buildings would have diplomatic privileges and immunity.

Articles 8–12

Articles 8 through 12 describe in general terms the League's scope of activities in its major mission, which was to prevent war. This set of articles, while they are not as detailed as those that follow in Articles 13 through 17, address responsibilities incumbent on members to avoid war among themselves, in addition to other League peace initiatives.

The arms race between nations to build up military and naval forces, particularly navies, in the years before World War I was seen by many as a major precipitating cause of the war. Article 8 addresses the issue of arms control, such that each nation would have enough military strength to protect itself but not enough to wage aggressive war. The Council would form plans for disarmament, which would be reviewed and revised at least once every ten years. Based on a French proposal, the article states that the review would take into consideration the circumstances specific to each region and country, which essentially meant that because France feared another invasion by Germany, German forces would be restricted while the French government would be allowed to arm itself as it saw necessary.

In addition to government armament programs, there was before the war a very strong private arms industry, which made a wide range of weapons available to the highest bidder. These commercial concerns were seen as another danger to peace. In response, the Council would study and advise the best course of action to counter the effects of the private armaments manufacturers and merchants. Wilson had proposed abolishing all private arms companies, an idea opposed by smaller nations, such as Portugal and Romania, which did not have their own national arms manufacturers. Member nations would freely exchange information on their own military and naval and air and munitions industries. One effect of this last provision was an annually published listing, issued throughout the 1920s and 1930s, of detailed descriptions of the armies of the members.

Because military matters required the advice of experts, Article 9 established a permanent commission to advise the Council on how to perform the activities covered by articles 1 and 8 as well as on any questions concerning naval, air, and military matters. This commission would not act independently but rather solely on the Council's instructions. France attempted to amend this article so that the League could use military force—that is, form an international army to intervene in crisis situations—but that idea was rejected.

As part of the general revulsion toward war that informed so many postwar projects and plans, the issue of aggression, such as Germany's at the beginning of the war, was considered key. Article 10 states that the League would protect the territorial integrity of all members against external aggression. If such a case occurred, the Council would advise on what had to be done. The article is of great interest, because the eventual failure of the League was strongly signaled in 1935, when one member, Italy, invaded another member, Ethiopia. While sanctions were implemented, they were ineffectively planned and indifferently enforced. Second, the use of the word external reflects the article's aim to exclude civil wars. That restriction was considered necessary to prevent a government from seeking League assistance in the event of a civil war (such as would occur in Spain from 1936 to 1939).

Article 11 declares that the League's scope of interest was anything that threatened world peace, specifically war or the threat of war. The League would take any action considered appropriate. Upon the request of any member nation, the secretary-general could summon a meeting of the Council. Further, any nation could bring to the attention of the Council or the Assembly anything that had the potential of disturbing international peace.

Article 12 stipulates that in the event of any disagreements between members, they would submit the issue for arbitration or inquiry by the Council. Further, they would not engage in any military activity for three months after the award by arbitration or report from the inquiry if they disagreed with the result. Decisions would be made in a reasonable time, and a report would be issued within six months. This particular insistence on time limits before a declaration of war could be made was proposed by France, based on the extraordinarily short time from the assassination of the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, to the escalation to national mobilizations through July, followed almost immediately by ultimatums and invasions.

Articles 13–17

While the previous five articles described general obligations, especially among members of the League, the following five articles provided detailed procedures for handling disputes that could not be resolved satisfactorily by the involved parties. According to Article 13, members having disputes that could not be resolved diplomatically would submit them for arbitration. These disputes could include, but were not restricted to, issues of international law or possible breaches of international obligations. The body to adjudicate these disputes would be a court mutually agreed upon by the parties involved in a dispute or whatever tribunal might be stipulated by a convention that existed between the parties. Article 14 established the authority and the responsibility of the League Council to bring to the Assembly plans to create and implement a Permanent Court of International Justice. The court would hear and adjudicate international disputes and would also provide legal opinions on any question raised by either the Council or the Assembly.

Article 15 expanded the possible number of parties that could be involved in bringing about peaceful solutions. If two members of the League engaged in a dispute that could lead to a breaking off of relations and they did not submit the dispute to arbitration as described in Article 13, the matter could be submitted to the Council by any concerned party. The secretary-general would publish the details and make arrangements for the case to be brought to the Council, which would provide a settlement. The Council would report on its findings and recommendations. If members of the Council unanimously agreed, excluding any nations involved in the dispute, League members would not go to war with any party complying with the recommendations. The article also stipulates that in any dispute stemming from domestic policies and not international law for both parties, the Council would not become involved. The Council could refer the dispute to the Assembly.

Article 16 states that any League member declaring war on another member would be declaring war on all members. The League would impose sanctions against offending members. The Council would recommend whatever military or naval activity it deemed necessary. League members would mutually support one another to mitigate economic hardships resulting from the conflict. Finally, the offending member would be expelled from the League. Article 17 made the process for conflict resolution an option open to any nation. The article specifically states that nations engaged in disputes and not belonging to the League would be invited to join. After accepting, they would abide by the League's rules, starting with conflict resolution, and articles 12 though 16 of the Covenant would apply.

Articles 18–22

Treaties and alliances, whether open or secret, were seen, along with the arms race, to have been a major cause of the war. While building alliances might have been a means of guaranteeing security, the obligations imposed on members to join their allies automatically in mobilizing and deploying their armies had led to a rapid and uncontrollable escalation that had brought about the recently ended war. Among Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, one of which had specifically called for the formation of a League of Nations, was a point calling for treaties and covenants to be arrived at in a public fashion. The regulation and publicity of treaties and where previous treaties might or might not bind participants were addressed in these five articles.

Article 18 provided for a means of ensuring that treaties were made public. It states that no treaties entered into by any League member would be valid and binding until registered with the League's secretariat and formally published by the League. This stipulation affected only new treaties and did not apply to treaties formed before the existence of the League. In Article 19 the League declares its role to caution and advise members when they contemplate treaties that could present a danger to world peace. The League would request that members reconsider if a treaty seemed to pose that danger. The issue of the degree of power of the League over the rights and sovereignty of nations came up as a subject of debate. It was finally decided that the issue of sovereignty would not be a serious problem, as condemnation of a treaty by the League would require a unanimous vote. Further, it was declared that this article did not mean that the League had the right to refuse to register any treaties under the rules of Article 18.

While Article 19 discusses future treaties, Article 20 is concerned with past treaties in addition to future treaties that might create problems in maintaining world peace. By this article, the members of the League would cancel any past treaty obligations that would run counter to the Covenant and they would refrain from making any such agreements in the future. A nation wishing to join the League would have to repudiate any such treaties to which it had earlier agreed. While the League sought to provide advice and influence in the matter of treaties in the future, Article 21 states that nothing in the Covenant would negate any regional understandings that were not inconsistent with the Covenant. This article was inserted at the insistence of the United States, which had concerns that the Monroe Doctrine (the policy that opposed European interference in the Western Hemisphere) not be undermined in any fashion.

A direct effect of losing the war was that Germany and Turkey were to forfeit their colonies and other imperial possessions. The victorious nations were determined that these territories not be given back, but there had to be a mechanism to administer these territories until they were ready for independence. The winning powers (principally Britain, France, and Japan) would administer these territories as League mandates, report annually to the Council, and prepare the territories for eventual freedom. One of these mandates, the former Ottoman provinces combined to form Iraq, was administered by the British until 1932, when it became a fully independent nation. Most of the others, including Syria, Palestine (later to become Israel), and nations in Africa such as Tanganyika did not reach independence until after World War II.

Articles 23–25

The League of Nations is commonly associated with grand failures, such as its ineffective methods to stop Italian aggression in Africa or to halt Japanese and German territorial advances. It is not so well understood, however, that the League was actually quite successful in implementing several initiatives beyond the prevention of war. Some of these initiatives made progress toward improving the lives of people in many countries, especially on health issues. These articles specify the League's interests in “social activities” as well as in supporting already existing organizations.

Article 23 defines the League's actions to resolve international problems that did not result from individual governmental actions but that adversely affected the well-being of all people. Specifically, the League would work on such issues as safe working conditions, fair treatment of native populations, international trafficking of women and children, and drug trafficking. These efforts attracted a great deal of support; even the United States, which never joined the League, participated in such endeavors as the antidrug-trafficking programs. Further, the League would monitor arms traffic and work to prevent and control disease.

Article 24 stipulates that the League would pay for the activities described in Article 23. If members agreed, it would take over existing international organizations and assume their expenses. The League would share any relevant information it had with organizations not affiliated with it. Under Article 25, League members would encourage and promote organizations to improve world health, prevent disease, or mitigate any form of suffering. The League pledged to support existing humanitarian organizations, such as the Red Cross.

Article 26

The final article lays out the rules concerning amendments to the Covenant. Members would not have to abide by amendments, but if they chose not to do so, they forfeited their membership. Discussions centered on whether a simple majority or a three-fourths majority would be required. Those who favored a simple majority argued that a three-fourths majority might not be attainable and would give the impression that no changes could ever be made. The requirement of a simple majority carried the day.