Permanent Mandates Commission
Quick Summary
The Permanent Mandates Commission was established by the League of Nations to oversee territories that were former German or Ottoman colonies after World War I. These territories, deemed not ready for self-governance, were distributed among the Allied powers as mandates.
The mandates were categorized into three classes:
* Class A: Territories like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, considered advanced enough for provisional independence under Allied administration.
* Class B: Former German African colonies such as Tanganyika and parts of Togoland and the Cameroons, administered with controls to protect native populations.
* Class C: Territories like South West Africa (Namibia) and New Guinea, administered as integral parts of the mandatory powers' territories.
While theoretically supervised by the Permanent Mandates Commission, the commission lacked enforcement power over the mandatory powers. The mandate system was eventually replaced by the UN trusteeship system in 1946.1
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mandate…was supervised by the League’s Permanent Mandates Commission, but the commission had no real way to enforce its will on any of the mandatory powers. The mandate system was replaced by the UN trusteeship system in 1946.
Read More…was supervised by the League’s Permanent Mandates Commission, but the commission had no real way to enforce its will on any of the mandatory powers. The mandate system was replaced by the UN trusteeship system in 1946.
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diplomacyThe League of Nations and the revival of conference diplomacy…included nongovernmental representatives, and the Mandates Commission exercised slight supervision over colonies of the defeated powers, which had been distributed to the victors technically as mandates of the League.
Read More…included nongovernmental representatives, and the Mandates Commission exercised slight supervision over colonies of the defeated powers, which had been distributed to the victors technically as mandates of the League.
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