Britain and the Intellectual Origins of the League of Nations, 1914-1919

✍ Scribed by Sakiko Kaiga

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 234
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In this innovative account of the origins of the idea of the League of Nations, Sakiko Kaiga casts new light on the pro-League of Nations movement in Britain in the era of the First World War, revealing its unexpected consequences for the development of the first international organisation for peace. Combining international, social, intellectual history and international relations, she challenges two misunderstandings about the role of the movement: that their ideas about a league were utopian and that its peaceful ideal appealed to the war-weary public. Kaiga demonstrates how the original post-war plan consisted of both realistic and idealistic views of international relations, and shows how it evolved and changed in tandem with the war. She provides a comprehensive analysis of the unknown origins of the League of Nations and highlights the transformation of international society and of ideas about war prevention in the twentieth century to the present.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Precursors: Thinking about War and Peace before 1914
Introduction
Networks As the Basis of the Movement
From the Just War to Morality in the Renaissance Period
Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello: International Lawyers after the Peace of Westphalia
A Decision-Making Structure As a Cause of War
Developments in the Nineteenth Century
Thinking about War on the Eve of the Great War
Conclusion
2 The Use of Force to Prevent War?: The Bryce Group's Proposals for the Avoidance of War, 1914-1915
Introduction
War-Prevention Measures in the League of Nations Plan
'Realistic' Opinions about Forcible Action: Force As Necessity
'Idealistic' Views about Forcible Action: The Criticism of the Use of Force
Mutual Understanding between 'Realistic' and 'Idealistic' Views
A 'Realistic' Plan for a Peace Organisation
'Idealistic' Expectations: Peaceful Public Opinion As a War-Prevention Measure
Conclusion
3 Strategies for Winning Public Opinion: The Success and the Loss of the League of Nations Society, 1915-1917
Introduction
The Foundation and the Aims of the League of Nations Society
The League of Nations Society's Strategies to Win Public Opinion
Speeches for Popular Support: The First Public Meeting in May 1917
Conclusion
4 A Transnational Movement?: The British and American Pro-League of Nations Groups, 1914-1918
Introduction
The Same Goal and the Different Strands of Liberal Internationalism, 1914-1916
Disagreements Based on Different Contexts and Ideas
The Changing Situation and the Same Problem, 1917
The Common Scheme, Cooperation and Distrust, 1918
Conclusion
5 No Peace without Victory: The League of Victorious Allies, 1917-1918
Introduction
The Split in the League of Nations Society
Amalgamation for the League without Germany
The League As a Result of Victory and Abolishing Militarism
Christian Blessings upon a League without Germany
The League of Democratic States
The End of the War and of the Original Ideas about the League of Nations
Conclusion
Conclusion
Appendix
Key Figures
James Bryce
Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson
Willoughby Dickinson
Aneurin Williams
David Davies
Gilbert Murray
H. G. Wells
Arthur Ponsonby
The Bryce Group's Proposals for the Avoidance of War (Transcript)
Proposals for the Avoidance of War
Bibliography
Unpublished Primary Sources
United Kingdom
United States
Italy
Switzerland
Published Primary Sources
Newspapers and Magazines
Pamphlets, Diaries and Memoirs
Web Sources
Secondary Sources
Books
Web Sources
Theses
Journal Articles
Index