View source for United States and the League of Nations

Despite the [[United States]] never becoming an official member of the [[League of Nations]], American individuals and organizations interacted with the League throughout its existence.
[[File:Woodrow_Wilson_(1912).jpg|thumb|28th US President Woodrow Wilson was the leading architect of the League of Nations.]]
== Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles ==
The American President, [[Woodrow Wilson]], was involved in the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] of 1919 at the conclusion of [[World War I]]. At this conference, Wilson played a key role along with other powers in fashioning the terms of the [[Treaty of Versailles]]. His ideas surrounding a postwar world order were earlier expressed in his [[Fourteen Points]], and these were discussed in the series of discussions held. One of the key features of the agreement that Wilson campaigned for was the establishment of an international body which would work to maintain the political freedom and independence of nations all around the world.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jacobsen|first=Harold|date=1976|title=Structuring the Global System: American Contributions to International Organization|journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume=428|issue=1|pages=77–90|doi=10.1177/000271627642800108|s2cid=145194312 }}</ref> This organization developed into the [[League of Nations]], however, the American nation ultimately decided against becoming a formal member.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Japan and the League of Nations: Empire and World Order, 1914-1938|url=https://archive.org/details/japanleaguenatio00burk|url-access=limited|last=Burkman|first=Thomas W.|year=2008|location=Honolulu|pages=[https://archive.org/details/japanleaguenatio00burk/page/n117 101]|isbn=9780824829827 }}</ref>
== Non-membership of the League of Nations ==
Despite [[Woodrow Wilson]] chairing the committee which drafted the [[Treaty of Versailles|Treaty of Versailles Covenant]], America voted against becoming official members of the [[League of Nations]] in 1919.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jacobsen|first=Harold|date=1976|title=Structuring the Global System: American Contributions to International Organization|journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume=482|issue=1|pages=82}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Hudson|first=Manley O.|date=1929|title=America's Rôle in the League of Nations|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003055400112080/type/journal_article|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=23|issue=1|pages=17–31|doi=10.2307/1945577|jstor=1945577 |s2cid=145589567 |issn=0003-0554}}</ref> Historians have explored a variety of reasons as to why exactly [[Senate|the Senate]] refused to approve the Treaty of Versailles, naming the hostility between President Wilson and Republican senator, [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], and Wilson's declining health as key explanations.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=A Sense of Power: The Roots of America's Global Role|url=https://archive.org/details/senseofpowerroot00thom_0|url-access=limited|last=Thompson|first=John A.|year=2015|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/senseofpowerroot00thom_0/page/98 98]|isbn=9780801447891 }}</ref> Jacobsen states that "the rejection also should be seen in the context of the long-standing American ambivalence about involvement in international politics."<ref name=":0" /> Furthermore, the United States would never become a member of the League of Nations, as a two-thirds majority was never granted in the Senate.<ref name=":1" /> As a result, the dynamic between members of the League, and between the US and these nations was influenced. Henig explains this by suggesting that the absence of the United States as an official member of the League "widened the gulf between Britain and France."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The League of Nations|last=Henig|first=Ruth|year=2010|location=London|pages=76}}</ref>
== League of Nations organization and non-state actors ==
Despite the United States' lack of formal membership, the United States was involved in various [[League of Nations|League]] related projects and organizations.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Berdahl|first=Clarence A.|date=1932|title=Relations of the United States with the Assembly of the League of Nations|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003055400020359/type/journal_article|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=26|issue=1|pages=99–112|doi=10.2307/1946445|jstor=1946445 |s2cid=146977005 |issn=0003-0554}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Berdahl|first=Clarence A.|date=1932|title=Relations of the United States with the Council of the League of Nations|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003055400022152/type/journal_article|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=26|issue=3|pages=497–526|doi=10.2307/1946469|jstor=1946469 |s2cid=147261268 |issn=0003-0554}}</ref> They were involved in various sectors: <blockquote>American citizens were employed at the secretariat; American academics contributed to League-sponsored research projects; American philanthropies financially supported these same economic projects, and American representatives from the banking and financial communities sat on its economic and financial committees.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lavelle|first=Kathryn|date=2007|title=Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in International Organizations: US Involvement in the League of Nations|journal=The Review of International Organizations|volume=2|issue=4|pages=372|doi=10.1007/s11558-007-9015-0 |s2cid=154510367 }}</ref></blockquote>A notable American organization involved with the League of Nations was the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], as many of its goals and aspirations were similar to those of the League. It was involved in the international economic section of the League and made considerable contributions to it during the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lavelle|first=Kathryn|date=2007|title=Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in International Organizations: US Involvement in the League of Nations|journal=The Review of International Organizations|volume=2|issue=4|pages=377–380|doi=10.1007/s11558-007-9015-0 |s2cid=154510367 }}</ref>
== Involvement in the Manchurian Crisis ==
The United States was involved with the League of Nations in resolving the [[Manchurian Crisis]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wallace|first=Benjamin B.|date=1945|title=International Affairs: How the United States "Led the League" in 1931|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1948836|journal=The American Political Science Review|volume=39|issue=1|pages=101–116|doi=10.2307/1948836|jstor=1948836 |s2cid=147572216 |issn=0003-0554}}</ref>
Debates surrounding the United States' policy of isolationism in international affairs during the 1920s and 1930s have been held since contemporary politicians were making these decisions. However, according to Thompson, it was the Manchurian Crisis of 1931-1932 that made Secretary of State, [[Henry L. Stimson]] support the position that isolationism was no longer an option for the United States.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Sense of Power: The Roots of America's Global Role|url=https://archive.org/details/senseofpowerroot00thom_0|url-access=limited|last=Thompson|first=John A.|year=2015|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/senseofpowerroot00thom_0/page/137 137]|isbn=9780801447891 }}</ref> Despite the American emphasize on their individuality from the [[League of Nations]], a commission of inquiry sent to Japan in February 1932 was representative of the great powers, including the United States.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Japan and the League of Nations: Empire and World Order, 1914-1938|url=https://archive.org/details/japanleaguenatio00burk|url-access=limited|last=Burkman|first=Thomas W.|year=2008|location=Honolulu|pages=[https://archive.org/details/japanleaguenatio00burk/page/n184 168]|isbn=9780824829827 }}</ref> They had agreed to work collaboratively with the League to bring an end to the situation, however, they would "only operate under the Washington agreements of 1922 and the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact|Kellogg-Briand Pact]]."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The League of Nations|last=Henig|first=Ruth|year=2010|location=London|pages=141}}</ref>
== Transition into the United Nations ==
The American absence in the [[League of Nations]] did not prevent the nation from becoming an official member of the [[United Nations]], formed at the conclusion of the [[World War II|Second World War]]. The United States was one of five permanent members of the Security Council, with the other four countries the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], [[France]], Nationalist China, and Britain.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The League of Nations|last=Henig|first=Ruth|year=2010|location=London|pages=183}}</ref> The proposed task of this body was "to work together to secure the maintenance of international peace and security."<ref name=":2" />
The membership of the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] in the United Nations is a key difference between the post-World War II international organization and the League of Nations. According to Henig, the official involvement of the United States "gave the United Nations a global reach which the League lacked, symbolised by the fact that its headquarters was established in [[New York City|New York]]."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The League of Nations|last=Henig|first=Ruth|year=2010|location=London|pages=185}}</ref>
== References ==
<references />
== See also ==
* [[United States and the United Nations]]
[[Category:League of Nations]]
[[Category:Presidency of Woodrow Wilson|League of Nations]]
[[Category:History of the foreign relations of the United States|League of Nations]]