Petitions, protests and the Mandate System 1919-21

About this episode

This episode explores the mandate system from the perspective of those affected by it, contrasting imperial intentions with the experiences of colonised peoples.

It's all too easy, when reading history, to see the world through the eyes of the coloniser rather than the colonised. The mandate system—the League of Nations framework through which Britain and France claimed legitimacy for their post-war territorial grabs—is often presented as a progressive innovation: a move from old-fashioned colonialism to enlightened trusteeship. But what did it look like from the perspective of those who suddenly found themselves under new rulers? Drawing on Susan Pedersen's extraordinary book *The Guardians*, we explore how the mandate system was intended to serve multiple, often contradictory purposes. For the victorious imperial powers, it was a tool to legitimate the territorial settlement agreed at Paris in 1919. For internationalists and League officials, it was a mechanism for spreading norms about trusteeship and the open door. For the people of Cameroon, Togo, Samoa, South West Africa, and the Arab provinces of the former Ottoman Empire, it was something simpler: a shameless betrayal of the promises of self-determination made when the Allies had their backs to the wall. We examine the petition process that emerged despite the explicit intentions…

People in this episode

Host: Nick Shepley

Topics covered

• mandate system
• colonialism
• self-determination
• League of Nations
• territorial claims
• historical perspective

Keywords

• mandate system
• colonialism
• self-determination
• League of Nations
• territorial settlement
• Cameroon
• Togo
• Samoa
• Milner Commission

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: League of Nations

Books & works: The Guardians

Places: Cameroon, Togo, Samoa, South West Africa, Arab provinces, Ottoman Empire

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