A League of Nations mandate was a sui generis 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.Matz, 2005, pp 70-71, "Primarily, two elements formed the core of the Mandate System, the principle of non-annexation of the territory on the one hand and its administration as a 'sacred trust of civilisation' on the other... The principle of administration as a 'sacred trust of civilisation' was designed to prevent a practice of imperial exploitation of the mandated territory in contrast to former colonial habits. Instead, the Mandatory's administration should assist in developing the territory for the well-being 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".
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and South African General Jan Smuts played influential roles in pushing for the establishment of a mandates system. 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. Furthermore, no deadlines were established for independence of the mandates.
Generalities All of the territories subject to League of Nations mandates were previously controlled by states defeated in World War I, principally Imperial Germany and the Ottoman Empire. The mandates differed fundamentally from protectorates because the mandatory power undertook obligations to the inhabitants and to the League of Nations.
The process of establishing the mandates consisted of two phases: The formal removal of sovereignty of the state previously controlling the territory. The transfer of mandatory powers to individual states among the Allied Powers.
Treaties The divestiture of Germany's overseas colonies, along with three territories separated from its European homeland (the Free City of Danzig, the Memel Territory, and the Saar Basin), was accomplished in the Treaty of Versailles (1919); the territories were allotted among the Allies on 7 May of that year. Ottoman territorial claims were first addressed in the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) concluded in the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). The Ottoman territories were allotted among the Allied Powers at the San Remo conference in 1920.
Types of mandates
The League of Nations decided the exact level of control by the mandatory power over each mandate on an individual basis. However, in every case, the mandatory power was forbidden to construct fortifications or raise an army within the territory of the mandate. It was required to present an annual report on the territory to the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations.
The mandates were divided into three distinct groups based on the level of development each population had achieved.
Class A mandates
The first group, Class A mandates, were territories formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire that were deemed to "... have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory." The Class A mandates were created in 1920 by the League of Nations and confirmed in 1922. The former Ottoman-ruled Iraq, Palestine and Transjordan were assigned to the British Empire; former Ottoman-ruled Lebanon and Syria were assigned to France. The British granted more power to local authorities than the French.
Class B mandates
The second group of mandates, Class B mandates, were all former German colonies in West and Central Africa, referred to by Germany as (protectorates), which were deemed to require a greater level of control by the mandatory power: "...the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience and religion." The mandatory power was forbidden to construct military or naval bases within the mandates.
Class C mandates Class C mandates, including South West Africa and the South Pacific Islands, were considered by Article 22 of the Treaty of Versailles to be "best administered under the laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory". This was attributed to the "sparseness of their population, or their small size, or their remoteness from the centres of civilisation, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the Mandatory".
The C mandates were established largely at the urging of the Dominion governments of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, which sought to annex the nearby German colonies they had occupied in the early stages of the war. Their respective prime ministers Billy Hughes, William Massey and Jan Smuts strongly lobbied for that position at the Imperial War Conferences and meetings of the Imperial War Cabinet in 1917 and 1918. Smuts believed that full annexation was appropriate as "the German colonies in the Pacific and Africa are inhabited by barbarians, who not only cannot possibly govern themselves, but to whom it would be impracticable to apply any ideas of political self-determination in the European sense".
The Dominion continued to push for full annexation at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, but met with some opposition from delegates who believed they should be internationalised or that annexation would not allow for consent of the governed. The final form of Article 22 was a compromise that allowed for de facto annexation while still providing a degree of oversight by the League. In practice, "the difference between a C Mandate and territorial annexation was real; but it was slight, and remained unclear".
The C mandates were conferred personally on Emperor Yoshihito and King George V (designated as "His Britannic Majesty"). For New Guinea, Samoa and South-West Africa, a particular Dominion government was specified to exercise the mandatory powers of the king. However, for Nauru, no administering government was specified and the mandate remained personally vested in the king. This was due to the Nauru Island Agreement of 1919, whereby the governments of Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom agreed to co-operate in the administration of Nauru and create the British Phosphate Commission to oversee phosphate mining on the island. Australia served as the de facto mandatory power and the administrator of Nauru was appointed by the Australian government.
List of mandates