Creation of League of Nations - Research Paper Example

Creation of League of Nations The need of an international organization to maintain world peace and settle disputes by arbitration was felt by several world leaders such as Woodrow Wilson and Jan Smuts during the World War I (The League of Nations, n. d., p.1). On 10th January 1920 League of the Nations came into existence on the same day when the treaty of Versailles came into effect. The plan of an international organization to preserve world peace was included in Wilson fourteen points in the Versailles treaty. The constitution of the League of the Nation was implemented by the Paris Peace Conference in April 1919.The league had 42 members but it became 55 by 1926. Though the league of the nation was based in Paris but later on it was shifted to Geneva, Switzerland in November 1920 (League of Nations, n. d., p.1). The main aim of the League of the Nation was to prevent war, encourage disarmament among nations, maintain peace, encourage international co-operation. The League of the Nation has mainly three organs: The Assembly, The Council and The Secretariat. All the members of the League of the Nation are the member of the Assembly. Each member nation can send maximum three representatives but had only one voting right. The responsibilities of the Assembly is to admit new members, selecting non-permanent members, finalizing the budget, discussing matters related to world peace, electing the Judges of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) and approval of nomination of Secretary General (League of Nations, n.d., p.1). The council consisted of four permanent members but this number was increased when Germany was not allowed to join as the permanent member. The members were Japan, France, Italy and Britain. The functions include protecting the member nations from external violence, Formulation of plan for decline of armaments, Study reports, recommending economic or military permit, drive out the member on violating the rules (League of Nations, n.d., p.1). Secretary General headed the office of The Secretariat being assisted by a number of other officials selected from among the member countries. The main functions of the Secretariat comprises of Coordination of various activities of the different organs of the League of the Nations, arranging meeting for the Assembly and Council, preparing the agenda and reports for the General assembly and registration of treaties signed by the member of the League (League of Nations, n.d., p.1). The paper deals with the role of USA in the formation of League of Nations. It also studies the reason for USA not joining the League of the nation and lastly it deals in whether the decision of not joining was correct or not. Role of United States in Formation of the League of Nations President of United States Woodrow Wilson’s main goal in World War I was to create an effective and long lasting peace. With this view in mind he enumerated his war aim in his famous Fourteen point speech, with the last point calling for an international organization to maintain peace all over the world that was “League of Nations”. In the Peace Conference at Paris in 1919 Wilson fought hard but could not include his Fourteen Points in the treaty. But he makes it sure that the League of Nations becomes a significant part of the final agreement. He with country wanted that once the league becomes the part of the treaty then it would rectify many shortcomings of the treaty. The first twenty six articles out of 440 articles of the treaty comprise the Covenant of the League of Nations. The covenant describes the operations of the League. The Article ten of the treaty guaranties the political independence and territorial integrity of all member countries against outside violence and to eradicate the violence all together if any. This became the ultimate point which did not allow the approval of the treaty by the Senate. The American Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge led the opposition. Henry and Wilson had a different view about the league and the tenth article of the treaty. According to Henry the Tenth article requires United States to provide economic and military forces for the protection of the member nations. But Wilson who has actually framed the tenth article had a separate interpretation in his mind. According to him as per the tenth article United States has the veto power in the League power due tp which it enjoys power to prevent League sanction but in case of undivided league voted sanction, the vote will only amount to advice. So by this United States would not be legally bound to the league’s dictate but its morally bound to the League’s resolutions. After this both Henry and Wilson could have found a middle ground by some sort of compromise. But after Wilson experienced a huge stroke in October 1919, the compromise was fruitless. No solution about the opposition was found and so the treaty was voted down (Wilson- A Portrait, n. d.). Hence the representatives of each member country signed the treaty in June 1919. However for United States to accept its condition had to be approved by the Congress. Since they did not approve it and United States never joined the League of the Nations. Finally on January 10, 1920 League of the Nation came into existence (Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles for Second and Final Time, 1920) . The Reasons behind United States Not Joining As a Member of The League Of Nations The study throws light on the reason why United States did not join the League of Nations. The following section discusses on this issue from different angles. Threat to Sovereignty The word Sovereignty means the supreme power or any state that not only has the power to regulate its own affairs but also the affair of the other states. The American Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge opposed the League of the Nation treaty stating that it was written in secret and has made the United States to use force and interfere in the affair of other nations that were of no national interest to America. Lodge interpreted the language of the treaty in such a way that it stated that the organization holds the power to interfere in the domestic affair of the United States. The senator believed that they may even question the issues of immigration and tariffs for they were the domestic question related to international relation. Lodge feared that the League of the Nation may question some issues that United States has the rights to regulate. The implication Lodge thought of was that League of Nations could give directions to United States on ways of handling the citizen process with respect to immigration. Moreover the League can also question the legality of American tariffs, an issue based on the American constitution, which is a great source of revenue for the Government of the United States. The U.S. constitution says that the bill regarding revenue should start within the House of Representatives and no outside treaties has the power to dictate how the revenue of the United States should be raised. However as per lodge the treaty provides the potential to interfere into the domestic matter of U.S. that are connected to the international relations. As per Lodge if U.S. would have been supporting the treaty, an international organization would have been given the right to interfere in the domestic as well as the international matters of the country. Lodge did not want this to happen since it was a threat to their Sovereignty. Moreover since Wilson was negotiating on this document so Lodge considered him to usurp the congressional authority. So this situation Lodge did not allow to occur (Edward, 2009, pp.273-274). Growth of Isolationism Isolationism is the policy where a country isolates its affair from the other countries. It declines its foreign trade, economic activities and other international activities etc. and devote itself wholly towards the development of of its own nation. They looks towards the development of their own nation instead of interfering into the matters of other nations. America tried to become less involved in the world affair after the end of World War I. Although President Wilson fought hard for making U.S. a member country in the League of the Nation but U.S. senate opposed this and refused to join League of the Nation. After learning about the destruction and cost of World War I Lodge did not want America to entangle itself into another European conflict which may lead to a devastating war. In the eyes of Americans, Europe was a conflict prone nation and more likely to involve in internal and external disputes which was of very little interest to America and could draw America into war. This step made America to make a growth in isolationism (US Isolationism in the 1920, n. d.). United States always considered itself to be a unique and exceptional nation. Isolationism defines America’s role as” Standing apart from the whole world and serving and looking towards its Social and political possibilities” (Edward, 2009, p. 269). America wanted to be a perfect nation, who can be followed by others, by working on its own environment and institution. If U.S. would have entered into the League of Nations then the organization would have interfered and questioned its policies and other domestic affairs. At the same time if any of the member nations would have been facing problem then also United States would have to interfere in between. They would have to support some nations that were facing threat from wars in terms of military and financial support. This was against the principle of isolationism which United States wanted to follow. If United States would have joined the league of the nations it would have not only suffered monetary looses but also loss in terms value, principle and ideas. Since USA wanted to be isolated from other nations, they decided not to join the League of Nations. This decision would have led to the advancement of U.S. not only in monetary terms but also in economic, political and social terms too. America just wanted to be “the master of her own fate” The Monroe Doctrine Lodge believed that the treaty was violating the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine is “the corollary of Washington’s foreign policy declared in the Farewell address” (Edward 2009, p. 272). It was thought to be like a “fence” (Edward, 2009, p. 272) which separates one nation from the other. This imaginary fence was believed to withdraw other nations from interfering into the affairs of America and at the same time separating America’s political matters from that of Europe. Lodge believed that the Monroe Doctrine was “a great law of self-preservation” for the foreign affair of United States. In the farewell address of Washington, the president advised America to confine itself to the affairs of its own country only. In 1823 president Monroe said “the politics of the Western hemisphere would be under the influence of American foreign policy” (Edward, 2009, p. 273). If there will be any European influence it will be considered as an infringement of U.S. domain. The non intervention order of Washington’s Foreign policy became “corollary” (Edward, 2009, p. 273) to the doctrine and was followed for over six generations, as considered by Lodge. As per Lodge the peace treaty would render both Washington’s advice and Monroe Doctrine obsolete. Consequently America would have involved itself in a permanent alliance where it might interfere into the internal matters of other countries. The main aim of America’s international relation was to maintain a nation which is codified by Jefferson, Monroe and Washington. Lodge did not want to destroy American’s traditional foreign policy. Lodge was drawing a similar relationship between a fence and the Monroe Doctrine. A fence is a property line between the two neighbors. A good neighbor always maintains the property line and never crosses its limit. But according to Lodge if America signed the treaty then the property line of America will break and any other country can trespass without any permission. So United States would be no longer an “exceptional” state neither it will be “master of his own fate” (Edward, 2009, pp. 272-273). Threat to integrity Lodge feared that of the treaty is pass the integrity of U.S. will be lost since America will be compelled to use its military forces to protect other states from possible threats of foreign aggression. This will make America legally and morally weak and would produce no national interest for America. America was only engaging its military forces to protect their own nation. The article ten of the treaty would now use the military forces of America for not only protecting the U.S. but also other nations. This would broaden the interest and security of the nation and also makes it committed towards other nations. This would have been a major drawback to the decisive power of America whether to go for a war or not. The treaty would compel the nation under the League treaty to protect the sovereignty of other nations. By this the constitutional rights of Congress was getting hampered and this right was given in the hands of an international organization. As per Lodge article ten was transferring a vital aspect of America’s sovereignty in terms of security, which being given to some other hand. In this way America was believed to be getting deviated from “master of her own fate” (Edward J.A, 2009, p. 274). If America fails to be the master of her own destiny then the country can’t be an exceptional nation and stand separately from other nations. Lodge believed that the League of the Nation part within the Treaty of Versailles would not only destroy America’s traditional foreign policy but also it will harm the image of America as an Exceptionalism (Edward, 2009, p. 274). Conclusion Henry Cabot Lodge initially did not have any dispute regarding League of the Nation. He supported the idea of creating an international organization that would eradicate the disputes and conflicts between nations. But later on he started pointing out problems regarding setting up such a body. The main view of Lodge was not to stop America from entering into such international body and keep her isolated but his interest was to make America “master of her fate”. By doing this Lodge was basically supporting the 125 years old U.S. foreign policy. He did not want America to mix its affairs with other nations; by doing this the country would deviate from her own objective. The Senator wanted United Sates to work with other countries but independently on her own time, term and circumstances (Edward, 2009, pp. 271-272). Considering the present scenario in the year 2008 during the presidential campaign, Republican representative Ron Paul highlighted upon the return of foreign policy tradition. Paul referred to Monroe Doctrine, Washington’s farewell speech and also gave stress upon the non-interventionism that is not involving into the problem of other nations. According to Paul in recent times America has lost her sovereignty and traditional foreign policy. He addresses America to go back to her same old form (Edward, 2009, p. 279).These facts suggests that people of America believes in Isolationism and they wanted a growth in their own nation, and set an example for the other. But on the other hand it is considered that by not joining the League of Nations America undercut its status as a global power. America could have continues to be “the master of her own fate” along with it could have used its new power to built a strong global architecture. But by not joining the League of Nations the country missed this opportunity. America though kept an isolated status from the whole world but did not even minimally influence the rest of the world, which was moving towards progression and interdependence. Thus it can be concluded that it was a miscalculation on the part of American Foreign policy by not joining the League of Nations. References Edward J.A., (2009), The Fight Over the League of Nations: Rhetorical Tension within America‘s Exceptionalist Narratives, Ohio Communication Journal, 47, pp. 265-282 League of Nations (n.d.), retrieved on December 10, 2012 from www.ischool.zm/plans/Grade10HistoryTheLeagueOfNations.pdf Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles for Second and Final Time, (1920) The New York Times retrieved on December 10, 2012 from http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/march-19-1920-senate-rejects-treaty-of-versailles-for-second-and-final-time/ The League of Nations (n.d.), retrieved on December 10, 2012 from www.traleetimes.com/files/HISTORY/The_League_of_Nations.pdf US Isolationism in the 1920, (n. d.) retrieved on December 11,2012 from http://www.andycrown.net/isolation.htm Wilson- A Portrait, (n. d.) retrieved on December 10,2012 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wilson/portrait/wp_league.html Read More