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This book examines the League of Nations, state-supported terrorism, and British foreign policy after the rise of Hitler in the 1930s. It argues that with strong leadership from Britain and France, the League made it possible for states to preserve the peace of Europe after terrorists aided by Italy and Hungary killed the King of Yugoslavia in 1934. This achievement represents the League at its most effective and demonstrates that the organization could carry out its peacekeeping functions. The League also made it possible to draft two international conventions to suppress and punish acts of terrorism. While both conventions were examples of productive collaboration, in the end, few governments supported the League's anti-terrorism project in itself. Still, for Britain, Geneva served the cause of peace by helping states to settle their differences by mediation and concession while promoting international cooperation, a central conviction of British "appeasement" policy in the 1930s.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2."The Chief Danger in Europe at Present".- 3. "The Most Stupid of Political Crimes".- 4. "A War before the War".- 5. "Can We Do Something to Dissuade Yugoslavia?".- 6. "The Existence and Effective Use of the League of Nations".- 7. "Acts Specifically 'Terrorist' in Character".- 8. "If Eden Gives Way We Are Lost".- 9. "A Running-Away from a Sort of Gentleman's Understanding".- 10. Conclusion.
About the author
Michael D. Callahan is Professor of History and Frances Willson Thompson Professor of Leadership Studies at Kettering University, USA. He is author of
Mandates and Empire: The League of Nations and Africa, 1914-1931 (1999/2008) and
A Sacred Trust: The League of Nations and Africa, 1929-1946 (2004).
Summary
This book examines the League of Nations, state-supported terrorism, and British foreign policy after the rise of Hitler in the 1930s. It argues that with strong leadership from Britain and France, the League made it possible for states to preserve the peace of Europe after terrorists aided by Italy and Hungary killed the King of Yugoslavia in 1934. This achievement represents the League at its most effective and demonstrates that the organization could carry out its peacekeeping functions. The League also made it possible to draft two international conventions to suppress and punish acts of terrorism. While both conventions were examples of productive collaboration, in the end, few governments supported the League’s anti-terrorism project in itself. Still, for Britain, Geneva served the cause of peace by helping states to settle their differences by mediation and concession while promoting international cooperation, a central conviction of British “appeasement” policy in the 1930s.
