International Society Up to the League of Nations

8/8/2019 International Society Up to the League of Nations

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N A T I O N A L V S . I N T E R N A T I O N A L .F R O M T H E P E A C E O F W E S T P H A L I A T O T H E

F R E N C H R E V O L U T I O N .

WWI.

L E A G U E O F N A T I O N S A N D T H E I L L U S I O N O FP E A C E

International Society up to theLeague of Nations


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What is theInternational Society?

y 1900s Mondialization* (both technical-economical and political)

y Economic perspective: mondialization is opposed to

statalizationy Political perspective: mondialization goes hand in

hand with statalization (the United Nations 190Member States, a state-world)

y Our international society is now a mondializedsociety,but also a society of states


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Premises for a definition ofInternational Society

y Domestic institutions/domestic society vs.international institutions/international relations

y Birth of international society(Peace ofWestphalia to

French Revolution)y International society up toWWI

y League of Nations and the illusion of peace

y CurrentInternational Society

y Society vs. Communityy Current characteristics of theInternational Society

y The logics of power in a globalInternational Society


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Domestic institutions/domestic societyversusinternational institutions/relations

y Domestic institutions serve international relations,like the internal institutions serve national societies,but with less efficacy

Domestic institutions / Domestic societyy Domestic society is a highly organized collectivity, to

a considerable extent centralized andinstitutionalized

y It embodies cultural attributes and a value systemthat make it distinct from other collectivities


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Domestic society

y Distinctionbetween those who are governed andthose who govern

a. Those who are governed

y Individuals + groups, subject to the rule of law

b. Those who govern

y Have functions and positions for the general interest

y

Do not have personal interestsy The power is shared according to an international

order and hierarchy.


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Domestic society Rule of law

y Applicable and compulsory to all

y Laws and norms expression of domesticsovereignty, carried onby the act of governing

y How is a law carried into effect?: Issued by legislator

Established byjudge

Carried on under thejudge supervision and if needed, enforced

by the public force


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International Institutions/International Relations

1. International Relations

a. Objectives, 2 main + derivates: Peace (one states security respectedby other states)

Prosperity(quantitative increasing standard of living; qualitative

environment protection) Hegemony

Ideological crusades

b. Practices withinInternational Relations : Negotiation (between sovereign states, with free consenting

agreements) Constrain (not necessarily military; it maybe economic, or political;

powerful states make use of constraint to force weaker states or to gainrespect in international order/hierarchy)

Instigation (usedby power states to force a set of rules to be appliedby other states, against certain advantages)


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2. International Institutions

y They are bodies and rules of law, simultaneously

y Bodies = components of international society, i.e.

states and international organizations

y Rules of law= come and govern their reports

a. International institutions:

y

Result of and frameworks for IR, simultaneously Balance the ratio of forces

Consolidates thebalancebetween divergent interests (notablythe role of treaties)

Establish principles and determine mechanisms


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b. Imperfection of International Institutions

The governed: states, international organizations, evenindividuals part of a state.

It is difficult to apply even rules and regulations

The governors: states and international organizationsworking together to achieve order within the internationalsociety

Certain functions (e.g. treaties) for their personal interest

Relations arejuxtaposed , there is no hierarchy(anybody canclaim to partake in any position and function of the internationalsociety)


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c. Rule of international law

y Compulsory,but difficult enforcement

y Useful and necessary,but rules usedby ALL states

are rare

y There is no international legislator, therefore the lawcanbe:

Customary law(spontaneous and difficult to knowby other

countries)

Treaties (conventional, impossible tobe imposed to all parts)


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y The enforcement techniques are primitive:

There is no legislator to issue laws; the law is replaced bycustoms and treaties

T

here is nojudge to establish thebreaking of the law unlessthe author accepts to comebefore ajudge

Carried on under thejudge supervision? NO, we talk aboutstates (unless countries are at war). Rules of law are appliedonly if states choose so.


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Formation of modern state

y Christianity vs. Islamism

y Christianity = communitybased on language and faith =>separation of power (during feudalism)

=> unity of Christian world (against Islam, under the Roman Empire

and foremost, the Pope)

The modern state appeared by means of:

1. Centralization of power Feudal tiesbroke; new social contractbetween the monarch and his

subjects

The subjects ties to the monarch changed into ties to the state

Revolutions dissociated the monarchs interests from the statesinterests and returned the sovereignty to the state


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Modern State

y Conquering the states independence

A. the Popes supremacy ends in front of the monarch

B. End ofEmperors trusteeship (Peace ofWestphalia, 1648)

y After the Peace ofWestphalia, 1648, politicalrelations diversify, leading to diplomatic techniquesand to a process to theorize IR.

y Europeanbalance => alliances and war, sea treaties

y Better relationsbetween Christian and non-Christianmonarchs

y Colonization => occupation of free land => slavery


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Modern State - Evolution

y Emergence and evolution of diplomacy

Embassies and consulates (persona grata, immunity)

Treaties

Groups of states: personal unions (heads of state), bilateralunions, multilateral confederations

Natural law and positive law


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International Society up to WWI

y French Revolution and Napoleonic campaigns =>new model of society() and changes on the map

y French Revolution: abolishment of tyranny => third

social layer gentry- against aristocracy-conservatory monarchies

y 19 cent., (Mancini, 1851) nations were groupedaround states

y Congress of Vienna, Holy Alliance (also called theGrand Alliance) was a coalition of Russia, Austriaand Prussia created in 1815: European Concert


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y Divergencesbetween great European powers led tothe division ofEurope into:

Triple Alliance (military alliancebetween Germany, AustriaHungary, and Italy; lasted from 1882 until the start ofWorldWar I in 1914) and

Triple Entente (Russia, who feared the growth in the GermanArmy,joined Britain and France)


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League of Nations - Background

y Economic expansion, international means ofcommunications, international cooperation, colonialexpansion (direct and indirect)

y Allowed practices in IR: Peace (treaties)

War (attempts to keep it under control)

y International organizations emerge (Holly Alliance,

Pan-American Confederation, International RiverCommissions, International Unions)

y International law new doctrines


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League of Nations

y Why? The traumabroughtbyWWI

y What? The setting of an international body, aiming todeal with the aftermath of theWWI and to prevent

such carnage from ever happening againy How? By means ofprinciples and mechanisms of the

law

y 3 organisms:Assembly(representatives of Member

States), Council (permanent members,representatives of great powers + non-permanentmembers, appointedby the Assembly), Secretariat(administrative function)


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League of Nations

y Universal organization

y All states had access to the League, all states had theright to withdraw(16 did)

y

The peace couldbe preservedby means of law,exclusively Briand Kellogg Pact, 1928: war no longer a political

instrument

General Act of Conciliation, Arbitration and Judicial

Settlement, Sept. 1928(settling of disagreements by legalmeans exclusively)

y International cooperation


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League of Nations

y Means to guarantee peace:

Disarmament

Arbitration

Security(by economic sanctions)y Unresolved conflicts: Japan against China (1931),

Italy against Ethiopia (1935), Germanys invasion ofRhine


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Why did the League fail?

y Treaty of Versailles (divided states and minorities)

y Fascism and Nazism (authoritarian nationalism)

y Lack of universalism (withdrawal of Japan, Germany

and Italy)y Democratic states turned their face away from the

League and towards their nationalist policies.

Documents

International Society Up to the League of Nations