The
League of Nations Union (LNU) was an organisation
formed in the United
Kingdom
to promote international justice, collective security and a permanent
peace between nations based upon the ideals of the League of Nations. The League of
Nations was established by the
Great
Powers as part of the
Paris Peace Treaties, the
international settlement which followed the First World War. The
creation of a general association of nations was the final one of
President
Woodrow Wilson’s
Fourteen Points. The LNU became the largest
and most influential organisation in the British
peace movement. By the mid-1920s it had over
a quarter of a million registered subscribers and its membership
eventually peaked at around 407,000 in 1931. By the 1940s, after
the disappointments of the international crises of the 1930s and
the descent into World War Two, membership fell to about
100,000.
Formation
The LNU was formed on 13 October 1918 by the merger of the League
of Free Nations Association and the League of Nations Society, two
older organisations already working for the establishment of a new
and transparent system of
international relations,
human rights (as then understood) and for world
peace through
disarmament and universal
collective security rather than traditional approaches such as the
balance of
power or the creation of power blocs through secret
treaties.
Internal structure
The
headquarters of the LNU were located variously at Buckingham Gate
and Grosvenor Crescent, Westminster
. In the 1940s they moved to smaller premises
in St Martins Lane, WC2 for reasons of economy. The top organ of
administration in the LNU was its General Council. The Council met
twice a year and was responsible for LNU policy under its 1925
Royal Charter of
Incorporation. Beneath the General Council sat the Executive
Committee, which met every two weeks and co-ordinated all activity
such as the LNU’s campaigns and educational programmes, received
reports from branches, monitored the output of specialist
sub-groups and had responsibility for the LNU’s staff. LNU branches
had their own independent management structures.
Activities
The LNU played an important role in inter-war politics. According
to one source it had been successful in converting the mainstream
of British society, including labour, the churches and the
principal newspapers to the cause of the League of Nations. It also
carried great influence in traditional political circles and
particularly in the
Liberal
Party. One historian has gone so far as to describe the LNU as
“a key Liberal pressure group on foreign policy” and to call
Liberal Party members the “true believers” of the LNU. Its first
President was
Edward Grey the
Liberal
foreign secretary during
the First World War. Other leading Liberal lights in the LNU
included
Geoffrey Mander Liberal MP for
Wolverhampton
East from 1929-1945 and Professor
Gilbert Murray, who was Vice-President of the
League of Nations Society from 1916 and Chairman of the LNU after
1923. The recruitment of
Conservative politicians to support
the LNU and the League of Nations itself was more problematic for
the LNU but they pursued it to demonstrate the cross-party nature
of the Union, which was important for the credibility of an
organisation which was active politically in pursuit of
international goals. High profile Conservatives did then come into
the LNU, notably
Lord Robert
Cecil and
Austen Chamberlain
who were both members of the LNU Executive Committee. However, most
Conservatives were deeply suspicious of the LNU’s support for
pacifism and disarmament – an analogous position to the opinions
held by Conservatives in the 1980s in respect of the
Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament. Even Austen Chamberlain remarked that the
Executive Committee contained ‘....some of the worst cranks I have
ever known.’
Peace Ballot
One example of the significance of the political impact the LNU
could have was its organisation of the
Peace Ballot of 1935, when voters were asked to
decide on questions relating to international disarmament and
collective security. The Peace Ballot was not an official
referendum but more than eleven million people
participated in it, representing strong support for the aims and
objectives of the League of Nations, influencing policy makers and
politicians. The results of the Peace Ballot were publicized
worldwide. It has been suggested that one outcome was the
interpretation of the result by the
Axis
powers as an indication of Britain’s unwillingness to go to war
on behalf of other nations , although those voting in favour of
military action against international aggressors as a matter of
last resort was almost three-to-one.
Educational programmes
The LNU other main activity was education and awareness raising. It
provided publications, speakers and organised courses. Some of its
programmes had a lasting impact on British schools.
The end of the LNU and the establishment of the United Nations
Association
The failure of the League of Nations to ensure collective security
during the international crises of the 1920s and 1930s in prominent
conflicts such as
Manchuria, the
Italian invasion of
Abyssinia, the
Spanish Civil
War and the
Russian invasion of
Finland diminished public faith in the League and its
principles. In addition the withdrawal, exclusion or expulsion of
key nations from its counsels -the USA refused to join, Germany and
Japan left in 1933, Italy went in 1937 and the Soviet Union was
expelled in 1939 -made clear the limitations of collective security
without full and active participation of all the powers.
It was plain a new international settlement would be needed after
the Second World War and in 1948 the United Nations Association
(UNA) was founded to promote the work of the
United Nations Organisation,
which was established in 1945 following the
Dumbarton Oaks Conference of the
previous year. As a result the LNU arranged for the transfer of its
complete organisation and membership to the UNA. However, under the
provisions of its Royal Charter, the LNU was able to continue until
the mid-1970s in a limited capacity, to handle bequests, and
administer the payment of pensions to former employees.
Papers and records
The
papers, records, minute books, pamphlets, reports and leaflets of
the LNU are deposited at the British Library of Political and Economic
Science
at the London School of Economics
in Westminster.
References
Further reading
- Donald S Birn, The League of Nations Union – Oxford,
Clarendon Press, 1981
See also
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