League of Nations mandate

A League of Nations mandate represented a legal status under international law for specific territories following World War I, involving the transfer of control from one nation to another. These mandates served as legal documents establishing the internationally agreed terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League of Nations. Combining elements of both a treaty and a constitution, these mandates contained minority rights clauses that provided for the rights of petition and adjudication by the Permanent Court of International Justice.

The mandate system was established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, signed on 28 June 1919 and entered into force on 10 January 1920. Two governing principles formed the core of the Mandate System: non-annexation of the territory and its administration as a "sacred trust of civilisation" to develop the territory for the benefit of its native people.

According to historian Susan Pedersen, colonial administration in the mandates did not differ substantially from colonial administration elsewhere. Even though the Covenant of the League committed the great powers to govern the mandates differently, the main difference seemed to be that the colonial powers spoke differently about the mandates than about their other colonial possessions.

Following the dissolution of the League of Nations after World War II, delegates at the Yalta Conference stipulated that the remaining mandates should be placed under United Nations trusteeship, subject to future discussions and formal agreements. Most of the League of Nations' remaining mandates (except South West Africa) thus eventually became United Nations trust territories.

Basis

The mandate system was established by Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, drafted by the victors of World War I. The article referred to territories that, after the war, were no longer ruled by their former sovereigns, but whose peoples were not considered "able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world". The article called for such people's tutelage to be "entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility". The mandates system reflected a compromise between Smuts (who wanted colonial powers to annex the territories) and Wilson (who wanted trusteeship over the territories).

The mandate system intended to incorporate an open-door economic policy, allowing countries other than the mandatory power to invest in the mandates. However, apart from an open trade policy, this did not happen in practice.

Moreover, the Permanent Mandates Commission was officially tasked with guiding their mandates toward independence, following a rebuilding of civil society and economic investment. However, more often than not, mandates were treated similarly to other colonial projects, with the Permanent Mandates Commission having too little executive power to intervene. A United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine for peacefully dividing the remainder of the Mandate failed. The Mandate terminated at midnight between 14 May and 15 May 1948. On the evening of 14 May, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine had declared the establishment of the State of Israel. Following the war, 75% of the area was controlled by the new State of Israel. Other parts, until 1967, formed the West Bank of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the All-Palestine Government under the Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip.||Israel Palestine

|Emirate of Transjordan|| Ottoman Empire (Sanjaks of Hauran, Ma'an)|| In April 1921, the Emirate of Transjordan was provisionally added as an autonomous area under the United Kingdom, and it became the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan (later Jordan) on 17 June 1946 upon joint ratification of the Treaty of London of 1946. || Jordan

| Indirect ||Mandatory Iraq|| Ottoman Empire (various sanjaks)|| The draft British Mandate for Mesopotamia was not enacted and was replaced by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of October 1922. Britain committed to acting as a Mandatory Power in 1924. Iraq attained independence from the United Kingdom on 3 October 1932. || Iraq

| rowspan=6 | B || Belgian Mandate for East Africa ||Ruanda-Urundi||Belgium|| rowspan="2" |Germany (German East Africa)|| From 20 July 1922 to 13 December 1946. Formerly two separate German protectorates, they were joined as a single mandate on 20 July 1922. From 1 March 1926 to 30 June 1960, Ruanda-Urundi was in administrative union with the neighbouring colony of the Belgian Congo. After 13 December 1946, it became a United Nations trust territory, remaining under Belgian administration until the separate nations of Rwanda and Burundi gained independence on 1 July 1962.

| British Mandate for East Africa ||Tanganyika Territory||United Kingdom|| From 20 July 1922 to 11 December 1946. It became a United Nations trust territory on 11 December 1946, and was granted internal self-rule on 1 May 1961. On 9 December 1961, it became independent while retaining the British monarch as its nominal head of state, and on the same day the next year, it transformed into a republic. On 26 April 1964, Tanganyika merged with the neighbouring island of Zanzibar to become the modern nation of Tanzania. || Tanzania

| British Mandate for the Cameroons ||British Cameroon||United Kingdom|| rowspan="2" |Germany (Kamerun)|| Became part of the United Nations trust territories after World War II on 13 December 1946 || Part of Cameroon and Nigeria.

| French Mandate for the Cameroons ||French Cameroon||France|| Under a Resident and a Commissioner until 27 August 1940, then under a governor. Became part of the United Nations trust territories after World War II on 13 December 1946 || Cameroon

| British Mandate for Togoland ||British Togoland||United Kingdom|| rowspan="2" |Germany (Togoland)|| British Administrator post filled by the colonial Governor of the British Gold Coast (present day Ghana) except 30 September 1920 – 11 October 1923 Francis Walter Fillon Jackson). Transformed on 13 December 1946 into a United Nations trust territory; on 13 December 1956, it ceased to exist as it became part of Ghana. || Volta Region, Ghana

| French Mandate for Togoland ||French Togoland||France|| French Togoland under a Commissioner till 30 August 1956, then under a High Commissioner as the Autonomous Republic of Togo || Togo

| rowspan=5 | C || Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean situated South of the Equator other than German Samoa and Nauru ||Territory of New Guinea||Australia|| rowspan="3" |Germany (German New Guinea)|| Included German New Guinea and "the group of islands in the Pacific Ocean lying south of the equator other than German Samoa and Nauru". From 17 December 1920 under an (at first Military) Administrator; after (wartime) Japanese/U.S. military commands from 8 December 1946 under UN mandate as North East New Guinea (under Australia, as administrative unit), until it became part of present Papua New Guinea at independence in 1975. || Part of Papua New Guinea

| Mandate for Nauru ||Nauru||United Kingdom|| British mandate, administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Became part of the United Nations trust territories after liberation from Japanese occupation in World War II. || Nauru

| Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean lying North of the Equator ||South Seas Mandate||Japan|| Known as the South Seas Mandate. Became part of the United Nations trust territories and administered by the United States after World War II.|| Palau Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Northern Mariana Islands

| Mandate for German Samoa ||Western Samoa||New Zealand||Germany (German Samoa)|| From 17 December 1920 a League of Nations mandate, renamed Western Samoa (as opposed to American Samoa), from 25 January 1947 a United Nations trust territory until its independence on 1 January 1962.|| Samoa

| Mandate for German South West Africa ||South West Africa||South Africa||Germany (German South West Africa)|| From 1 October 1922, Walvis Bay's administration (still merely having a Magistrate until its 16 March 1931 Municipal status, hence a Mayor) was also assigned to the mandate. || Namibia

Rules of establishment

thumb|Map of the League of Nations mandates

According to the Council of the League of Nations, meeting of August 1920: "draft mandates adopted by the Allied and Associated Powers would not be definitive until they had been considered and approved by the League... the legal title held by the mandatory Power must be a double one: one conferred by the Principal Powers and the other conferred by the League of Nations."

Three steps were required to establish a Mandate under international law: (1) The Principal Allied and Associated Powers confer a mandate on one of their number or on a third power; (2) the principal powers officially notify the council of the League of Nations that a certain power has been appointed mandatory for such a certain defined territory; and (3) the council of the League of Nations takes official cognisance of the appointment of the mandatory power and informs the latter that it [the council] considers it as invested with the mandate, and at the same time notifies it of the terms of the mandate, after ascertaining whether they are in conformance with the provisions of the covenant."

The U.S. State Department's Digest of International Law says that the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne provided for the application of the principles of state succession to the "A" Mandates. The Treaty of Versailles provisionally recognised the former Ottoman communities as independent nations. It also required Germany to recognise the disposition of the former Ottoman territories and to recognise the new states laid down within their boundaries. The terms of the Treaty of Lausanne required the newly created states that acquired the territory detached from the Ottoman Empire to pay annuities on the Ottoman public debt and to assume responsibility for the administration of concessions that the Ottomans had granted. The treaty also let the States acquire, without payment, all the property and possessions of the Ottoman Empire situated within their territory. The treaty provided that the League of Nations was responsible for establishing an arbitral court to resolve disputes that might arise and stipulated that its decisions were final.</blockquote>

Later history

After the United Nations was founded in 1945, the League of Nations was disbanded; all but one of the mandated territories became United Nations trust territories, a roughly equivalent status.