The mandate of the League of Nations

The phenomenon of the mandate system appeared after the First World War. The victorious powers tried to use it to establish a temporary order in the territories that had been torn away from the losers (Germany and Turkey) of the parties.

Near East

The new mandate system came into force after the Versailles Treaty was signed in 1919 . Article 22 of the document stipulated the fate of the colonies of the defeated empires.

Turkey lost all its possessions in the Middle East. Here, the Arab ethnic majority still resided. The victorious countries agreed that mandated territories should be granted independence in the near future. Until this point, they were under the control of European powers.

Mesopotamia was given to Great Britain. In 1932, these territories became independent and formed the kingdom of Iraq. It was more complicated with Palestine. This mandated territory also became British. International jurisdiction existed here until World War II. After its completion in 1948, the lands were divided between Jewish Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Arab government. The features of the mandate system did not allow to resolve the conflict between the two warring parties. They were Jews and Arabs. Both of them believed that they had legal rights to Palestine. As a result, throughout the second half of the 20th century (and today also), this armed dispute took place.

The Syrian provinces were given to France. A mandatory system was also established here. In short, she repeated the principles of British governance in neighboring countries. The mandate ended in 1944. All the Middle Eastern territories that were part of Turkey were united into the "A" group. Some of the land of the former Ottoman Empire immediately after the war ended up in the hands of the Arabs. They formed modern Saudi Arabia. The British helped the Arab national movement during the First World War. Intelligence sent here the famous Lawrence of Arabia.

Africa

Germany was deprived of all its colonies, which it captured in the last few decades, after the Second Reich was formed . African Tanganyika became a mandated territory under British rule. Rwanda and Urundi crossed over to Belgium. Southeast Africa was transferred to Portugal. These colonies were assigned to group "B".

For a long time a decision was made on colonies in the west of the continent. As a result, the mandate system confirmed the fact that they were divided between Britain and France. South-West Africa or modern Namibia passed under the administration of South Africa (a precursor of South Africa).

The mandate system had a number of unique features for its time. The states, under whose jurisdiction the territories fell, guaranteed compliance with the charter of the League of Nations in relation to the indigenous inhabitants. The slave trade was forbidden. In addition, the state that received the mandate did not have the right to build military bases on the lands acquired, as well as to form an army from the local population.

Most of the African mandated territories became independent after the Second World War. Since in 1945 the League of Nations was dissolved, the jurisdiction on these lands was temporarily transferred to the UN. Especially many colonies gained independence within the British Empire. The mandate system ceased to exist - the Commonwealth of equal members was created instead. In all countries of this organization the English language and British culture left a serious imprint. The Commonwealth has been successful even today.

Pacific Ocean

Also before the war Germany belonged to the colony in the Pacific Ocean. They were divided along the equator. The northern part was given to Japan, and the southern part to Australia. These territories were transferred to new owners as full-fledged provinces. That is, in this case, states could dispose of the new land as their own. These were the so-called mandated territories of the "C" group.

Other sanctions

Other restrictions that affected Germany included the renunciation of any privileges and concessions in China. Even in this region, the Germans had rights to the Shandong province. They were handed over to Japan. All property in South-East Asia was confiscated. Also, the German government recognized the acquisition of allies in Africa. So Morocco became French, and Egypt - British.