An International Anomaly
Colonial Accession to the League of Nations

A timely study about sovereignty and international norms through the admission of British colonies to the League of Nations.

Thomas Gidney (Author)

9781009584449, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 April 2025

316 pages
23.7 x 16.1 x 2.6 cm, 0.628 kg

'Gidney takes us beyond the Mandates question at the League of Nations to the thornier question of (post)colonial territories. Rich and fascinating studies of India, Ireland, and Egypt show liberal and imperial internationalism intersecting to court and discipline anticolonial desires to use the League as an exit route from Empire.' Stephen Legg, University of Nottingham

It is often assumed that only sovereign states can join the United Nations. But this was not always the case. At the founding of the United Nations, a loophole drafted by British statesmen in its predecessor organisation, the League of Nations, was carried forward, allowing colonies to accede as member-states. Colonies such as India, Ireland, Egypt, and many more were afforded a tokenistic representation at the League in Geneva during the interwar years, decades before their independence. Thomas Gidney unites three geographically distinct case studies to demonstrate the evolution of Britain's policy from a range of different viewpoints, exploring how this policy came into being, and why it was only exploited by the British Empire. He argues that this membership shaped colonial norms around sovereignty and international recognition in the interwar period and to the present day. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Introduction
1. India's accession to the Imperial Conference
2. The formation of the League of Nations and Indian membership 'The anomaly among anomalies'
3. Inter Se and the League of Nations
4. Ireland's accession to the League of Nations
5. A membership obstructed: Egypt's delayed accession to the League of Nations
6. The demise of the League of Nations and the reemergence of colonial membership at the United Nations.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]