The Emergence of International Society in the 1920s

Describes how the shock of the First World War gave rise to a broad array of overlapping initiatives in international cooperation.

Daniel Gorman (Author)

9781107640948, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 March 2014

390 pages, 3 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.57 kg

'Apart from encouraging historians to concentrate more upon the nature and historical significance of the 1920s rather than to rush on from the 1919 Peace Treaties to the breakdown of international order in the 1930s, Gorman's book should prompt serious thought also about both the extent and the manner of imperialism's interaction with the 'transition' affecting internationalism.' Diplomacy and Statecraft

Chronicling the emergence of an international society in the 1920s, Daniel Gorman describes how the shock of the First World War gave rise to a broad array of overlapping initiatives in international cooperation. Though national rivalries continued to plague world politics, ordinary citizens and state officials found common causes in politics, religion, culture and sport with peers beyond their borders. The League of Nations, the turn to a less centralized British Empire, the beginning of an international ecumenical movement, international sporting events and audacious plans for the abolition of war all signaled internationalism's growth. State actors played an important role in these developments and were aided by international voluntary organizations, church groups and international networks of academics, athletes, women, pacifists and humanitarian activists. These international networks became the forerunners of international NGOs and global governance.

Part I. Imperial Internationalism: 1. The dominions and Britain in the 1920s
2. Servants of the world: Rachel Crowdy at the League of Nations
3. Moral politics at the League of Nations and its imperial ramifications
4. Conflict and travail, bitterness and tears: overseas Indians' failed campaign for imperial citizenship
5. The empire at play, the empire on display: the 1911 Festival of Empire and the 1930 British Empire Games
Part II. Transatlantic Internationalism: 6. Anglo-American conceptions of 'international society' in the 1920s
7. Little more than a hope? The world alliance for promoting international friendship through the churches
8. Internationalism by decree: outlawry of war and the Kellogg–Briand Pact
9. British and American responses to the Kellogg–Briand Pact.

Subject Areas: Diplomacy [JPSD], International relations [JPS], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], General & world history [HBG], History [HB]