League of Nations and the UN. League of Nations and its role in the development of international relations

Introduction

Throughout the history of human civilizations, various societies have sought to achieve a better future and prosperity. At the same time, the desire to prosper intersected with the need to coexist with other groups of people with different traditions and speaking different languages.

The presence within a limited geographic space with limited resources of different cultures with identical ambitions made the peaceful coexistence of all emerging nationalities extremely difficult. As these factors intensified, conflicts between different communities of people became inevitable.

The League of nations? an international organization of states that existed from 1919 to 1939. According to the Charter, the League of Nations aimed at developing cooperation between peoples and guaranteeing their peace and security. The preamble to the Charter, which entered into force on January 10, 1920, stated: “The High Contracting Parties, considering that in order to develop cooperation between peoples and to guarantee their peace and security, it is important to accept certain obligations not to resort to war, to support in full transparency of international relations based on justice and honor, strictly comply with the regulations international law recognized from now on as the valid rule of conduct for governments, to establish the reign of justice and to observe in good faith all the obligations imposed by treaties in the mutual relations of organized peoples accepting the present Charter, which establishes the League of Nations.

The League of Nations found its practical expression in the ideas and projects proposed since the 17th century. up to the First World War. Of the 65 major states that existed on the planet in 1920, all except the United States and Saudi Arabia (formed in 1932) were members of the League at one time or another. Formally, the organization was liquidated on April 18, 1946 (in connection with the formation of the UN) by the decision of a specially convened Assembly.

This work is devoted to the modern regulation of international security issues and what structures and mechanisms play a key role in this matter. It is generally recognized that the UN has been the main factor in the regulation of interstate relations over the last fifty years. There are also great hopes associated with this organization for the coming century. The goals and principles laid down in the Charter of the organization serve as the basis for any type of international relations of our time. None of the subjects of international law can go beyond the set framework even in the presence of a multilateral agreement. Today, the UN is the most weighty guarantee of peace and stability. Many other international organizations exist and operate within the same guidelines established by the UN. Organizations like the OSCE, the EU, NATO, and others, together with specialized UN organizations, form a consolidated structure designed to put into practice the principles and tasks set by the latter.

The UN and other international organizations also perform law-making functions. The conventions and other universal normative acts adopted within the framework of these organizations form a full-fledged system of international "legislation" and cover a wide range of issues of general importance, including issues of international security.

The central role in the development and implementation of international legal regulatory mechanisms undoubtedly belongs to the states. It is the states, being the primary subjects of international relations, that create, amend and implement international legal norms, and regulate the legal personality of international organizations. In this regard, the degree of development and effectiveness of international law directly depends on the desire of states.

Studying the question of the history of the League of Nations makes it possible to understand a deeper problem, namely, how can the undeveloped legal foundations of a major international organization lead to the impossibility of its opposition in practice, again, to major international conflicts.

The purpose of the study is to study the principles of the existence of the League of Nations and the UN, to conduct comparative characteristic. Achieving this goal involves solving the following tasks:

Analyze the history of the creation of an international organization for peace;

To study the organizational characteristics of the creation of the League of Nations and the UN;

Consider legal regime creation of the League of Nations and the UN;

Draw a comparative analogy between the existence of the League of Nations and the UN.

The historiography of the issue on this topic cannot be considered extensive, at least at the present time. In the years between the two world wars, the League of Nations was, of course, in the spotlight. At the same time, the Charter of the League was published in Russian. A number of works specifically about the League of Nations were published. Subsequently, the issues of the League received attention in major publications on international issues. foreign policy.

1. Formation of the League of Nations - organizational and legal aspect

.1 Background and reasons for the creation of the League of Nations

legal league nation international

The idea of ​​the League of Nations is based on the doctrine of pacifism. The term pacifist and pacifism appeared only at the beginning of the 20th century. By that time, however, the pacifist movement had a long history. He has already had a number of international meetings to his credit.

In Paris, one hundred years after the French Revolution and the abolition of slavery, during the World Industrial Exhibition, two very important events for the pacifist movement took place: the first Inter-Parliamentary Conference and the first General Peace Congress. After that, parliamentarians and pacifists began to hold periodic meetings.

It was in 1901 at the Tenth General Peace Congress in Glasgow that several participants, first informally and then openly, advocated the introduction of the concepts of pacifist and pacifism. The discussion showed that, despite the apparent unity, the movement included various ideological tendencies that did not always pursue the same goals. However, these tendencies were already noticeable from the very beginning of the pacifist movement.

First of all, it should be noted that in England and the United States already at that time there were opportunities for association and freedom of expression, while on the European continent there was nothing of the kind. Individual initiatives played a particularly important role in the life of local communities. Quakers were pioneers in the preservation of peace. Inspired by moral and religious ideas, they founded the first societies of the world. In 1815, merchant David L. Lodge formed the New York Peace Society. At the same time, other similar societies sprang up in the United States. In 1816, Quaker William Allen founded the London Peace Society, which during the first half of the 19th century. remained a beacon of the pacifist movement in Europe. His propaganda outside of England soon reached the North of Europe and other continents.

At the same time, ties between American and English Quakers grew considerably. Thus, the American blacksmith Elihu Burritt decided to cross the Atlantic in order to make a tour of England in May 1846 and found the Brotherhood League, which very soon had up to 6,000 members. The League had a strong influence on many leaders of the English pacifist movement and in 1857 merged with the London Peace Society. As Richard Cobden acknowledged, without the zeal and perseverance of Quakers, there would never have been societies and conferences of peace.

If the mentality, religious and economic factors, political structures were among the main reasons that prompted the Anglo-Saxons to become the defenders of peace and the initiators of the pacifist doctrine, then on the European continent this doctrine acquired a different orientation, reflecting local conditions and political realities.

Several more years passed before the pacifist movement gained a foothold on the European continent. The forerunners of this movement, Richard Cobden, John Bright, and Henry Richard, were more attracted to the idea of ​​free economic communities. At the Paris Peace Congress of 1849, Bastiat spoke about the foundations of his pacifist idea in the following way: "Religion and morality do not find out whether the interests of people are harmonious or antagonistic." They urge people: "Live in the world, whether it benefits you or not, because it is your duty." Then political economy added: "Live in peace, for your interests are harmonious, and external antagonism, which often puts weapons in your hands, is a gross mistake." Bastiat formulated the prerequisites for the creation of everything common peace which should be based on good natural laws and God-given harmony. Bastiat's idea of ​​a mandatory world order contained faith in God.

Passy founded the international and permanent peace league on May 21, 1867, with the industrialist Jean Dollfus as its president. The League created by Passy aimed to find practical means to prevent wars, to reduce standing armies, to reduce national and religious enmity, to transfer international conflicts to arbitrator states. The League was characterized by moderate positions and religious tolerance. Therefore, it is not surprising that it attracted the attention of a large number of religious figures. It included Grand Rabbi Isidore, Protestant pastor Martin Pashu, Father Hyacinthe Lawison and Father Gratry. Despite private disagreements, a fruitful dialogue was going on at the meetings of the league. The League avoided discussing topics that might offend its members or dealt with social and political issues.

Passy did not break off relations with the English pacifist circles, which from the very beginning supported all his initiatives morally and financially. There were many contacts between the league and the London Peace Society. Passy invited the Peace Society to send representatives to the league's first general assembly. Pastor Henry Richard and Edward Pisa, who accompanied him, took part in the assembly.

The initiative of the Geneva Congress of 1867 was probably supported by the Masonic circles, who sought to establish universal peace by international legal means. This congress ended on September 12, 1867, with the creation of the League of Peace and Freedom. The results of the congress cause much controversy, primarily because of the composition of the participants, representing various political and social circles, and especially because of the participation of Garibaldi, who delivered an anti-clerical speech, which was met with hostility by the Genevan Calvinists.

Founded in the same year as the League of Passy, ​​the League of Peace and Freedom brought together figures representing several ideological currents? from liberal conservatism to Bakunin's nihilist and anarchist ideas. The Socialist International had some ideological influence on the league's initial activities. The utopian socialism of Fourier, Proudhon and Owen, as well as English utilitarianism, were reflected in the political and social aspirations of the league's program, which set itself the task of creating a "United States of Europe" (as the magazine published by the league was called). To this end, it aspired to become a "School of Civic Duty" whose program would serve as a model for European democracy. By working for peace, an era of republic and democracy could be ushered in.

The first leader of the League of Peace and Freedom was the philosopher and ardent republican Charles Lemonnier, a longtime supporter of the ideas of Saint-Simon. Due to the political situation, the League chose Geneva as its seat.

The role of Quaker circles and British free-traders on the European continent was to some extent decisive. The national societies of the world would not have developed so widely without the active participation of the Englishman Hodson Pratt. Although this man did not receive public recognition (he was undoubtedly worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize), he had the honor of giving a new impetus to the European peace movement. Pratt's colleagues considered him a real model of the man of the future, or simply a man of the world, a patriot of humanity. From the early 1830s, he traveled around Europe in search of personal contacts with people who would help him fulfill the main task of his life? free humanity from the scourge of war.

Pratt personally funded peace propaganda. He could be considered the forerunner of the American philanthropist, pacifist and industrialist Carnegie, although his funds were immeasurably more modest than those of the steel magnate. Pratt embodied both the theorist and the practice of peacemaking. He was a tireless orator, he happened to give several lectures a day. Although he was sometimes disappointed by the lack of interest in his ideas, in particular in Germany and Austria-Hungary, he continued his mission with unfailing zeal. In 1887 the journalist Ernesto Moneta ( Nobel Prize 1907), influenced by Pratt's ideas, founded the Lombard Peace Union. For more than 50 years, this union remained the main pacifist organization on the Italian peninsula.

century was, no doubt, extremely generous in congresses and international conferences. The world is organized. Every effort had to lead to concrete incarnations. The international pacifist movement has existed for several decades. However, he lacked overall leadership and organization. At the Paris Peace Congress of 1878, which met during the World Exhibition, the participants wavered between the idea of ​​creating a world federation and a bureau. These doubts reflected the clash of two trends: a federal one and a more moderate trend, whose representatives believed that the moment for federation had not yet come.

After an attempt to create a federation, the pacifists at the Second General Congress, held in London in 1890, again returned to the idea of ​​founding a bureau. Frederic Baier presented there a draft provisional charter for a permanent international peace bureau (PIM) modeled after the International Postal Union. The project was approved and the MBM was opened in Bern on December 1, 1891, having received the status of an international legal entity in Switzerland, and as such received subsidies from the Swiss government.

Under the direction and supervision of an administrative commission of 15 people representing the societies of the world in various countries, the MBM performed numerous functions. It has kept interested associations and individuals informed on matters relating to the promotion of peace; developed the agenda of congresses and conferences; carried out the decisions made, kept the archives and created a specialized library. The MBM also collected arbitration awards and constantly added to the bibliography on peace issues.

The first honorary president of the MBM was Elie Ducom-myun, who agreed to serve the cause of peace on the condition that he would not receive any remuneration. Ducombe-mun devoted himself entirely to this cause, especially after 1896, when he resigned from his position as secretary of the Juras-Simplon Railway Company.

Ducommun was in constant contact with his colleague Albert Goba, Secretary of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The Goba family lived in Bern near the home of the Dukom-myun family. Unfortunately, the collaboration that both of these organizations sought to establish proved difficult to achieve. Some parliamentarians believed that their activities should not be confused with the activities of pacifists. The fact is that the first years of the existence of the Inter-Parliamentary Union were overshadowed by a number of contradictions. Many parliamentarians disputed the honor of the initiative to create this organization. In fact, the merit belongs to the Englishman Richard Kremer and Frederick Passy, ​​who in 1889 convened representatives of parliaments in Paris.

The propaganda activity developed by the International Peace Bureau and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (one public and the other parliamentary) testified to the desire to unite efforts with the help of a rational organization of pacifist forces. However, let's not be mistaken about the fact that both of these organizations wielded a lot of power. They served as a link between the various National Societies of the world and organized world and annual conferences. Nevertheless, in this way the pacifist movement sought to create a statute for itself, to prove its right to exist and to convince governments of its viability.

With the exception of some favorable moments, mainly in the early years of their existence, both of these organizations faced numerous difficulties, mainly of a financial nature. The International Peace Bureau, which was funded by the National Societies and received voluntary donations and a small subsidy from the Federal Council of Switzerland, continued its activities until the 1950s, and then fell into oblivion. The Inter-Parliamentary Union recently solemnly celebrated the centenary of its founding: it skillfully adapts to the circumstances, expanding its activities in the direction of various economic, social and humanitarian issues.

The history of the terms pacifism and pacifist had a continuation, the French Academy only on November 12, 1930, at a meeting of the editorial board of its dictionary, spoke in favor of both words. Pacifism has been defined as "the theory of those who believe in the reign of a common peace".

Several tendencies hid under the banner of pacifism. The pacifist movement was not united. In 1910 the movement was heading towards a serious crisis. On the one hand, there were "sentimental" pacifists who interpreted the world in an abstract and metaphysical sense, mixing it with love for one's neighbor; with another? there were "realists" who sought to politically organize the human race.

Thus, pacifism became a dual doctrine, since there were two words for the same reality (pacifism and patriotism), which made it difficult to identify the contradiction. This duality manifested itself in September 1911 during the Italo-Turkish war, when part of the pacifists turned into "militant pacifists" who approved of Italy's intervention in Tripolitania. The defense of national interests, the notion of a "just war" and the benefits to Italy from the occupation of these lands were presented in the eyes of the pacifists as rational arguments, while in fact they made it possible for nationalist public opinion to influence the population.

These are the first stages in the history of European pacifism. Inspired by religious ideas and being Anglo-Saxon in origin, this movement quickly developed with its political and social overtones. Since 1889, the organized formation of the pacifist movement began, which in 1901 received a name and a doctrine. As we have seen, this doctrine was far from a harmonious and isolated doctrine, but nevertheless its merit consisted in the fact that it became the object of periodic discussions, during which proposals were developed on the preservation of peace, the rapprochement of peoples, the relevance of a permanent court and the League of Nations. .

The pacifists, whom contemporaries considered idealists and utopians, nevertheless laid the foundations for a new international world order governed by justice and arbitration practice. Their ideas were carried out after the First World War in the process of creating the League of Nations

1.2 Legal basis for the creation of the League of Nations

The history of the main idea of ​​the League of Nations about the peaceful resolution of international conflicts was formed directly at the so-called peace conferences. The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1906-1907 made a significant contribution to the law of armed conflicts. The first of these adopted, in particular, the “Declaration on the non-use of projectiles having the sole purpose of spreading asphyxiating and harmful gases”, and the “Declaration on the prohibition of throwing projectiles and explosives from balloons or by other similar new methods”, as well as the “Convention on the peaceful resolution of international conflicts. At the second Hague Conference, ten new conventions were adopted and three acts of the 1899 conference were revised.

The period from the Hague Peace Conferences to the creation of the UN and the formation of modern international law is associated with a number of events and factors that influenced the development and content of international law. Among them? World War I, which resulted in the winners? Entente countries? a series of treaties with Germany and its allies created a legal regime called the Versailles-Washington system. These treaties provided for the creation of new states in Central and South-Eastern Europe; the issue of compensation for the damage caused by Germany was resolved, its borders were revised; for a number of Western countries, the principle of "open doors" was established in China.

The League of Nations was called upon to become an important link in the Versailles system and its guarantor, the status of which contained the obligations of its members not to resort to war until the dispute between them was subjected to arbitration, judicial resolution or consideration by the Council of the League.

The idea of ​​creating the League of Nations belonged to US President Democrat Woodrow Wilson. However, the United States did not join the League of Nations, and Wilson never succeeded in convincing Congress of the need for the United States to join the League. The absence of the United States in the League later served as one of the reasons for the collapse of this organization.

The signing of the League's charter took place at the Paris Peace Conference, organized to sum up the results of the First World War. The charter included the principles that formed the core of the Treaty of Versailles and the Washington system.

The legal activity of the League was regulated by the adopted Charter or Statute of January 10, 1920. The Charter consisted of a Preamble, 26 Articles and an Appendix. The first articles talked about the structure of the organization being created, the conditions for joining and leaving the league.

The main goals of the League were the preservation of peace and the improvement of the conditions of human life, and the problem of disarmament was stated first of all: which was immediately stated in Article 8 (after the articles on the organizational principles of the League): "The members of the League recognize that the preservation of peace requires the limitation of national armaments to the minimum compatible with national security and with the fulfillment of international obligations imposed by the general action. The Council, taking into account the geographical location and special conditions of each State, shall prepare plans for this restriction for the purpose of consideration; decision by various Governments. These plans should be the subject of a new review, and, if necessary, revision, at least every ten years.

Among the measures used to preserve peace were the reduction and limitation of armaments; State obligations? members of the League to oppose any aggression; mutual agreements to arbitrate, legally settle or conduct special investigations by the Board; agreements of the members of the League on mutual actions in the application of economic and military sanctions. In addition to these basic conditions, a number of various provisions such as the registration of treaties and the protection of minorities.

Thus, for example, Article 10 stated: “The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve, against any external intrusion, the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In the event of an attack, threat or threat of attack, the Council shall indicate the measures to ensure the fulfillment of this obligation.

The mandates of the League of Nations were established by Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Mandatory Territories were the former colonies of the German and Ottoman Empires that were brought under League supervision after the First World War. The Permanent Mandates Commission supervised the Mandates of the League of Nations, and also organized plebiscites in the disputed territories so that the inhabitants could decide which country they wished to join.

The last articles stipulated the activities of the various commissions. How effective the Charter of the League was in practice was shown by subsequent years.

2. The evolution of UN peacekeeping

.1 History of the United Nations Peacekeeping Institute

The UN was created to unite all states in order to counter threats to international peace and stability. But the achievement of this goal is unrealistic until all members of the international community realize the fact that the realization of their individual interests is impossible without the embodiment of the collective interests of the entire world community. The UN, in accordance with its status, has the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and conflict prevention. At the same time, peacekeeping activities to resolve crises (for example, such as the Balkan wars, the Iraqi crisis) showed how different the approaches of states are? members to the problem to the problem of conflict resolution and in relation to the use of force.

The Second World War determined the need to create a coalition of states to maintain and prevent a new war.

The problem of the post-war world order was the main one at that time and was one of the main topics of discussion at the Potsdam, Tehran and Yalta conferences. The question arose of creating a system of collective security, of uniting the efforts of the allied powers to create the United Nations.

The emergence of the UN was due to a number of objective factors of the military-strategic, political, economic development of human society at the end of the second millennium. The creation of the UN was the embodiment of the eternal dream of mankind for such a device and organization of international community that would save mankind from the endless series of wars and ensure peaceful living conditions for peoples, their progressive advancement along the path of socio-economic progress, prosperity and development, free from fear for the future. .

The organization, formally existing to ensure collective security and maintain peace, did not achieve any significant results and powerlessly watched the course of World War II.

But the promotion of international security was by no means the only function of the League of Nations. It was the first organization created to regulate relations between states. Its main standard-setting achievement was the active promotion of the adoption of the Briand-Kellogg Pact in 1928. The parties that signed this pact (first France and the United States, and then 48 more states) undertook to settle any international disputes by peaceful means and to abandon war as means of achieving national interests. It was the first international document of its kind, where countries voluntarily assumed certain obligations in order to avoid further armed conflicts. The League of Nations suffered from the fact that it did not have sufficient means of influencing states that violated accepted international norms (the UN corrected the mistake of its predecessor with the help of the organization of the Security Council).

In fact, the League of Nations fell apart due to its uselessness back in 1939, but on paper its activities were terminated in April 1946 by the decision of a specially convened Assembly.

But the world powers continued to look for ways to implement the ideas of collective security, as the horrors of World War II further convinced them of the need to create a new international organization that could respond to those challenges that the League of Nations could not resist. The project for the creation and the Charter of this organization were proposed at the Conference of the 4 powers (USA, USSR, Great Britain and China) in Dumbarton Oaks, and from April to June 1945 a Conference was specially convened in San Francisco, called the United Nations Conference , where the 50 founding states signed the UN Charter.

From the day the UN Charter came into force on October 24, 1945, when the last 29th instrument of ratification of the USSR was deposited with the US Government, the beginning of the existence of the UN is officially counted. By decision General Assembly, adopted in 1947. The day the UN Charter came into force was officially declared "United Nations Day", which is solemnly celebrated annually in the UN member countries.

The UN Charter embodies democratic ideals, which finds expression, in particular, in the fact that it affirms faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equality of men and women, and enshrines the equality of large and small peoples.

The UN Charter establishes as its main objectives the maintenance of international peace and security, the settlement by peaceful means, in accordance with the principles of justice and international law, of international disputes and situations. It determines that the UN is founded on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members, that all members fulfill in good faith their obligations under the Charter in order to provide them all in the aggregate with the rights and benefits arising from membership in the Organization, that all members must resolve by and refrain from the threat of force or its application, and that the UN has the right to intervene in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state (art. 2). The UN Charter emphasizes that the main organ of the UN is the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council, the Secretariat and the International Court of Justice.

The figure clearly shows that the secretariat is dependent on the General Assembly and no longer reports to anyone. In turn, the General Assembly performs many functions, since the functioning of all committees depends on its work. In my work, I do not consider it appropriate to describe the tasks of these committees. Let me just say that their activities are directly dependent on the secretariat, headed by the Secretary General.

The basic principles of the activities of this organization were developed even before the end of the war and were agreed upon at a conference of representatives of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain from August 21 to October 7, 1944 in Dumbarton? Oksa.

The efforts of the conference participants were aimed at creating an organization that would be a true instrument of peace and international security and would proceed from the principles of equality and justice, the main task of which? collective search for ways to achieve stability based on peace and mutual understanding.

Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill discussed the question of a new form of international organization. It was clear that it was necessary to combine efforts. Churchill developed a scheme in which power was concentrated in three regions: European, American and Pacific. Defending the interests of the USSR, Stalin opposed this scheme, as he was afraid, firstly, of the strengthening of the influence of the USA and Great Britain; secondly, the loss of the positions of the USSR on the world stage. But at the same time, he was aware that there was a possibility of losing contact with the allies. At the same time, were influential Western politicians opposed to this scheme? Cordall Hull and Martin Eden, ? who had their own reasons. They believed that the concentration of power in three regions would inevitably lead to the emergence of autarkic blocs, and this would cause "American isolationism", since each of them would be dominated by one major power.

In 1943, the principles of an international organization based on the sovereign equality of all states were developed in Moscow. In his book Peace and Politics, Peter Calvocoressi argues that the UN is a revised version of the League of Nations. But, the main difference between the United Nations and the League of Nations is that the Charter of the League of Nations did not prohibit war. The UN Charter authorizes the use of international and national forces in self-defence. The UN Security Council1 also determined that a conflict situation involving the use of force poses a threat to the world community and is an act of aggression. If such a fact is discovered, then all members of the UN must take action against the offender. For the use of force, a majority vote of the members of the UN Security Council and the consent of all five permanent members are sufficient. Thus, the United Nations has become the center of confluence of interests of countries to prevent new wars and conflicts.

In 1945, at the Yalta Conference of the Heads of Government of the three allied powers of the anti-Hitler coalition (USA, USSR, Great Britain), the basic principles of the post-war world order were adopted. At this conference of the leaders of the three allied powers, it was said: “... We have decided in the near future to establish, together with our allies, a universal international organization for the maintenance of peace and security. We believe that this is essential both for the prevention of aggression and for the elimination of the political, economic and social causes of war, through the close and constant cooperation of all peace-loving peoples ... ".

At the Potsdam Conference, which took place from July 17 to August 2, 1945, decisions were made that became the basis of the post-war peace order.

The UN Charter was signed on June 26 by 50 member states of the San Francisco Conference and entered into force on October 24, since then this day has been celebrated annually as UN Day.

Ideals and common goals peoples, governments that united to create the UN, are expressed in the UN Preamble: “... We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save future generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lives brought unspeakable grief to humanity, and reaffirm faith in the fundamental rights of mankind, to the dignity and worth of the human person, to the equal rights of men and women and to the equal rights of nations large and small, to create conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be observed, and to promote social progress and the improvement of conditions life in greater freedom, and to this end, exercise tolerance and live together, in peace with each other, as good neighbors, and combine our forces to maintain international peace and security, and ensure the adoption of principles and the establishment of methods that armed forces are not used otherwise as in the common interest, and use the international apparatus to promote the economic and social progress of all peoples, have decided to unite our efforts to achieve these goals.

Accordingly, our respective governments, through the representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, presenting their full powers found in due form, have agreed to accept the present Charter of the United Nations and hereby establish an international organization under the name? United Nations".

During the activity of the organization there were many victories and achievements, but there were also difficulties. Despite victories and defeats, it is indisputable that thanks to the UN, dozens of conflicts have been resolved and new conflict situations have been prevented. In many ways, the successes and achievements of the organization are due to the fact that the activities of the UN are impartial and collective, which inspires confidence among the parties involved in the conflict, and allows it to play the role of a mediator in resolving conflict situations.

The unconditional legitimacy of the UN is connected with the universality of its composition, as well as with the fact that it is an organization with universal competence, since states have the opportunity to include on its agenda almost any issues related to the military-political, social? economic, humanitarian and other areas. The main advantage of the UN over other international organizations is the ability, on behalf of the international community, to authorize the use of force in order to eliminate a threat to international security.

The UN was created to meet and protect the interests of all peoples. In accordance with these interests, at a conference in San Francisco, the basic principles and goals of the organization's activities were developed:

2.2 Legal framework, tasks and principles of the UN peacekeeping practice

The UN Charter is the only international document whose provisions are binding on all states. On the basis of the UN Charter, an extensive system of multilateral treaties and agreements concluded within the UN has emerged.

The most important tasks of the United Nations are to stop the proliferation of weapons, as well as to reduce and eventually eliminate all stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

The United Nations serves as a permanent forum for disarmament negotiations, making recommendations and initiating research in this area.

It supports multilateral negotiations within the framework of the Conference on Disarmament and other international bodies. As a result of these negotiations, such international agreements were concluded as:

non-proliferation treaty nuclear weapons(1968);

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996);

Treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones. .

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, acting through a system of safeguards agreements, is responsible for ensuring that nuclear materials and equipment intended for peaceful use were not used for military purposes.

Based in The Hague, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons collects information on chemical installations around the world and conducts regular inspections to ensure compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. As part of its peacekeeping activities, the United Nations, using diplomatic mechanisms, helps the warring parties reach an agreement.

The Security Council, as part of its efforts to maintain international peace and security, may recommend ways of preventing conflict and restoring or securing peace, for example through negotiations or recourse to the International Court of Justice.

The Secretary General also plays an important role in peacekeeping activities. He may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which, in his opinion, poses a threat to international peace and security.

The Secretary-General may use "good offices", mediate or engage in "quiet diplomacy", acting behind the scenes on his own or through special envoys. The Secretary General can also use the mechanism of "preventive diplomacy" to resolve disputes before the situation escalates.

Peacekeeping operations can last from several months to several years.

For example, the United Nations operation along the India-Pakistan ceasefire line in Jammu and Kashmir has existed since 1949, and United Nations peacekeepers have been in Cyprus since 1964.

On the other hand, the 1994 operation in the Aozu Strip between Libya and Chad took the United Nations just over a month.

Since the deployment of the very first United Nations peacekeeping mission in 1948, 118 countries have voluntarily contributed more than 750,000 military and civilian police personnel to the Organization. Together with thousands of civilian specialists, they took part in 49 peacekeeping operations. About 14,500 military and civilian personnel are currently involved in 16 such operations. The principle of "Sovereign Equality of States" is that UN member states must refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against other states. The principle of "peaceful settlement of international disputes" implies the use of force, only in exceptional cases. Member countries of the UN, in accordance with the following principle, should render the UN every possible assistance in all actions taken by it in accordance with the Charter, and refrain from providing assistance to any state against which the UN takes preventive or enforcement action. The next two principles are:

First, the UN provides a process for non-member states to act in accordance with these principles as necessary to maintain international peace and security;

Secondly, the Charter in no way gives the UN the right to intervene in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.

In carrying out its activities, it pursues the following goals:

Maintain international peace and security;

To develop friendly relations among nations on the basis of respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.

To cooperate in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian nature and in promoting and developing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

To be the center for coordinating the actions of nations in achieving these common goals.

It should be noted the voting procedure in the UN Security Council. She initially caused controversy. This issue was resolved at the Yalta Conference. Each member of the UN Security Council has one vote, and the decisions of the Security Council are considered adopted when the votes of nine members of the Council are cast for them (clause 2, article 27). An agreement on the "principle of veto" was also adopted.

"Principle of the veto"? represents the unanimity of the great powers in deciding in the UN Security Council issues relating to the adoption of coercive measures. In accordance with the UN Charter, in the absence of such unanimity, no decision can be taken. This principle is the basis of the work of the UN Security Council.6 It follows from the above that a decision cannot be taken if nine states out of 15 have not voted for it, provided that all permanent members of the Security Council, namely: China, France, Russian Federation, USA, UK will vote yes. Decisions of the UN Security Council are binding on the member states of the UN. In the early years of the existence of the UN, major disagreements arose between the permanent members of the UN, which later could lead to the termination of the activities of this organization. Due to the fact that the USSR often used the right of veto. In 1950, the resolution "Unity for Peace" was adopted.

Thus, the UN carries out complex operations related to the establishment and maintenance of peace and the provision of humanitarian assistance. She also had to prevent brewing conflicts. In post-conflict situations, it is increasingly making concerted efforts to address the root causes of violence and lay the foundations for lasting peace.

3. The League of Nations and the UN - a comparative aspect

.1 The League of Nations and its role in establishing world order at the beginning of the 20th century

The horrors and hardships of the First World War, which lasted almost four years and claimed more than 10 million lives and caused enormous damage to the infrastructure of many countries, caused a corresponding reaction. On the one hand, in 1917, the Bolshevik October Revolution took place in Russia, which radically changed the political system of the state. The success of the revolution led to the widespread development of similar movements in all other countries of Europe and in the USA. On the other hand, there was a need to form a qualitatively new system of regulation of international relations that could effectively maintain international security in the postwar period. In many countries of the world, broad social movements have arisen that demand fundamental changes in the mechanism for managing international relations. International political thinking began to realize a new state of affairs, in which the normal functioning of the international and national systems can only be ensured by the joint efforts of states. The task of organizing a sufficiently effective management of the system of international relations arose to its full potential. All these factors played an important role in the fact that in 1919 the victorious powers decided to create the League of Nations and adopted its statutory document - the Statute. Thus, the first universal political organization was established to ensure peace and cooperation between states.

The Statute of the League of Nations had the following characteristic features:

The document paid attention to the role of international legal regulation of international relations. International law was recognized as important for the development of cooperation and for the maintenance of peace. The Statute stated that the prescriptions of international law were recognized "henceforth as the valid rule of conduct for government";

The task was set "to establish the rule of justice and conscientiously comply with all obligations imposed by treaties in the mutual relations of organized peoples." Thus, the Statute of the League of Nations assigned a key role to treaties in ensuring international security and declared it necessary to comply with treaty obligations;

The status of the League of Nations for the first time included international legal disputes among the issues subject to arbitration or judicial resolution. In accordance with the Statute, the Permanent Court was established in 1922 international justice- the first permanent international court.

? "Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes: Originally, the Statute of the League of Nations contained no provisions concerning the inadmissibility of the settlement of international disputes by military action." “In 1924, under pressure from pacifists, the organization adopted a Protocol for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, in which a war of aggression was declared an international crime and aggression was defined. Unfortunately, the protocol never entered into force. Instead, in 1928, a multilateral Treaty was concluded on the renunciation of war as a weapon national policy. Article II of this treaty stated: "The parties recognize that the settlement or resolution of all disputes or conflicts that may arise between them ... must always be sought only in peaceful means."

Along with their importance in terms of the development of international law, the League of Nations and the Versailles system as a whole had a number of shortcomings that paved the way for the subsequent unleashing of World War II:

The Statute of the League of Nations never outlawed the use of armed force in international relations;

The colonial system was further strengthened and practically legalized, under which none of the countries dependent on the mother countries had the opportunity to participate in international relations. Under the new system, the League of Nations issued temporary powers to administer the colonies, which was aimed only at mitigating contradictions in this area;

Two strong countries, the USSR and Germany, were not included in the League of Nations, which had a negative impact on the effectiveness and overall viability of the organization. This factor aggravated the situation in the international political arena even more.

Thus, “... the organization of the League of Nations was an undoubted step forward towards the formation of modern international law, but at the same time, the formed international organization did not do enough to fully ensure international peace and justice. As on the eve of the First World War, the League of Nations and other international legal treaties were used by the leading countries of the world as a front and the practice often contradicted the declared intentions.

3.2 United Nations - a new attempt to establish international stability, peace and order

In contrast to the pre-war period, during the Second World War, intensive cooperation was established between the powers of the anti-Hitler coalition. It was at the meetings between the heads and other representatives of the USSR, Britain and the USA that strategic directions of action were developed during the war and after the end of hostilities. It was at these meetings that a decision was made to create a strong international organization designed to ensure peace and stability in the post-war world.

There is disagreement in the scientific literature about which of the allies and in what document was the first to propose the creation of the United Nations. Western scholars called the Atlantic Charter of Roosevelt and Churchill dated August 14, 1941, such a document. Soviet researchers quite reasonably referred to the Soviet-Polish Declaration of December 04, 1941.

An important stage on the way to the creation of the UN was the conference of the allied powers in Moscow in 1943.

In a declaration dated October 30, 1943, signed by representatives of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and China, these powers declared that “they recognize the need to establish in the shortest possible time a universal international organization for the maintenance of international peace and security, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving states, of which all such states, large and small, may be members.

A feature of this organization should be called a pronounced political character, manifested in an orientation towards issues of peace, security, and an extremely broad competence in all areas of interstate cooperation. These characteristics were not characteristic of the former intergovernmental organizations.

The further course of the preparation of a new international intergovernmental structure is well known and described in detail in many historical and legal studies. “The Dumbarton Oaks Conference (1944) is reasonably called the most important stage in the creation of the UN, at which the basic principles and parameters of the mechanism for the activity of the future organization were agreed. Crimean conference in Yalta in February 1945, with the participation of the heads of three governments? Soviet, British and American? discussed the package of documents proposed by the Dumbarton Oaks conference, supplementing it in a number of points, and decided to convene a United Nations conference in the United States in April 1945.

This decision was implemented at the San Francisco Conference, which took place from April 25 to June 26, 1945 and ended with the adoption of the founding documents of the United Nations. On October 24, 1945, after the deposit of the instruments of ratification by the five permanent members of the Security Council and the majority of other states, the UN Charter entered into force.

The emergence of a new international organization, with the creation of which the expectations of a lasting peace were associated, gave hope for the development of cooperation between all states in matters of economic and social development.

It should be noted that initially the allied states did not largely agree on the scope of the competence of the new intergovernmental organization. The Soviet government considered the UN primarily as an organization for the maintenance of international peace and security, designed to save humanity from a new world war. And the allied states regarded this orientation as one of the most important, which made it possible to agree fairly without conflict on the creation of a Security Council, a body with broad competence in matters of peace and security. At the same time, the Soviet draft of the UN Charter, proposed in Dumbarton Oaks, provided that “the organization should be precisely a security organization and economic, social and humanitarian issues in general should not be included in its competence, special, special organizations should be created for these issues. ".

Representatives of other allies did not agree with this position of the USSR, who from the very beginning considered the UN as an organization with broad competence, which was supposed to combine control over the integration of member states in both political and socio-economic issues. At the same time, it was envisaged that the competence of the Organization in both areas should be equal.

Thus, there was no unity among the founding states on the issue of UN competence in the socio-economic sphere. Two diametrically opposed approaches were expressed - about the wide competence of the Organization in this matter and about the illegality of its powers in the sphere of interstate socio-economic development. Ultimately, after using diplomatic measures, a compromise decision was made to give the UN the function of coordinating interstate socio-economic cooperation. The tasks of coordination were formulated in a general form and entrusted to the Economic and Social Council created for this purpose. Unlike the Security Council, ECOSOC initially had very limited powers in its sphere. The latter circumstance did not allow the UN to become a serious center for cooperation between states in socio-economic issues. This area of ​​international relations was notable for its complexity and included a truly immense number of interstate relationships. For these reasons, the coordination of economic interstate cooperation from a single center seemed unlikely. The approach from the position of functional decentralization was called more realistic.

Thus, in 1945, shortly before the end of World War II, the Allied countries officially abolished the League of Nations, which failed to justify the hopes of the world community, and its place was taken by the United Nations, on which great hopes were placed from the very beginning in connection with ensuring international security. , peace and prosperity throughout the earth.

Conclusion

As you can see, humanity has come a long and difficult path, full of wars and human suffering, before realizing the need to create such a system that is able to maintain peace and security throughout the world in the name of the prosperity of all peoples and people.

The creation of the UN was an epoch-making event, both in the history of international relations and in the history of international law. The UN Charter, which reflected the will of all progressive mankind, established the main goals and principles that formed the basis of the system that we call modern international law.

Regional agreements and organizations play an important role in the implementation of the ideas and principles embodied in the UN Charter and underlying modern international law. The UN Charter itself and the Resolutions of the General Assembly pay great attention to cooperation with regional organizations in order to achieve certain goals, especially those related to ensuring regional security and resolving local conflicts.

An important role in terms of ensuring regional and international security is played by agreements in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons mass destruction and strategic nuclear weapons.

There are positive and negative aspects in the activities of the League. The Charter of the League is certainly imbued with peace-loving principles, but the specific legal side of the practical settlement of conflicts has not been sufficiently developed. The League carefully tried to resolve more than 40 political conflicts. In major conflicts, her opinion was little heeded. The activity of various organizations of the League was more fruitful.

The League of Nations, as an international organization, might have developed further, but fascism has matured in the world, and the League of Nations was unable to resist it. The League of nations? this is the first version of an international organization that could make some decisions on general issues related to conflicts. When the Second World War began, the League of Nations was unable to make any decisions, it was unable to stop the processes that had begun in Europe, and it quietly "died" without fulfilling its main functions. The successor to the League of Nations was the United Nations. The UN is another organization. It was created in view of the failures of the League of Nations. This is a comprehensive organization that took into account both the nature of threats and the nature of possible conflicts that could arise on the planet. As a result, a rigid structure was created, including the Security Council, which included the victorious countries.

The failures of the League in solving political problems often overshadow its achievements in the social and humanitarian fields, downplay the importance of its activities in the field of international economic policy and financial regulation, international communications and transit systems, in improving the health system in many countries of the world, scientific cooperation, codification of international law , preparing conferences on disarmament and other social and humanitarian fields.

Successes include establishing control over the spread of opium and the slave trade (mainly by women). In addition, significant progress has been made in protecting the rights and interests of young people. Was the league closely connected to its legal body? the Permanent Court of International Justice, which had its own structure and adopted independent solutions. In addition, the League worked closely with many international organizations that did not have formal or historical ties with it.

Disarmament is an old dream of the progressive minds of mankind. After World War II, this idea was reflected in many universal and regional international legal acts. Some international jurists are even inclined to single out the concept of disarmament as an independent principle of international law. In this regard, it should be noted that even if this concept can be called a principle, it will be a principle-idea rather than a norm of positive law.

The Charter of the United Nations empowered the General Assembly to "consider general principles cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments” (Article 11). The Security Council is responsible for formulating "plans for the creation of a system of arms regulation" (Article 26).

The fundamental basis for disarmament has been reflected in a number of resolutions of the General Assembly, as well as in treaties and other international acts. The first was the 1959 Assembly Resolution concerning general and complete disarmament as the ultimate goal. This resolution was initiated by the USSR. Another “example of the declared commitment of countries to general disarmament is the 1962 Joint Statement of the Governments of the USSR and the USA approved by the Assembly, which provides for general disarmament through the following measures:

The dissolution of the armed forces, the liquidation of military institutions and armaments;

Destruction and cessation of production of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery;

The abolition of military leadership and the termination of military training;

Stop spending money on military purposes.

Despite the difficult situation associated with the Cold War, the international legal system founded by the UN has evolved and assumed an ever wider scope and perfect form. The scope of international legal regulation of international and regional security issues has expanded and every year the efficiency of the entire system has increased.

The collapse of the socialist bloc and the end of the Cold War led to a fundamental change international environment, which required a revision of some key positions of security and its international legal regulation.

Over the past 17 years, several new theoretical approaches to the issue of ensuring international security have been formed. Many provisions of the described concepts are disputable, but some of their points can be effectively used in overcoming the problems that international law faces at the turn of the millennia.

One of characteristic features of our time lies in the fact that for the first time the question of the future of all mankind is being directly resolved, without dividing it into any military-political blocs. This is reflected both in the statements of high-ranking officials of international organizations and in the speeches of many politicians representing the interests of individual states. Some politicians declare the need to create a new international organization to replace the UN, under the pretext of the failure of this organization, the inability to counter such new threats. In our opinion, it is too early to talk about the replacement of this international organization, it is necessary to use all the possibilities of the United Nations.

The new realities, together with the obstacles that stand in the way of ensuring international security, are a kind of test for the established international legal system, and how modern international law copes with its new tasks depends on whether this legal system will be successfully applied and enjoy authority. in the coming millennium.

List of used sources and literature

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4.Baskin Yu.Ya., Feldman D.I. History of international law. M.: 1990.

.Grotsiy G. On the right of war and peace. Three books. M.: 1956.

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In the early years of the League of Nations, there was hope that it would ease international tensions. So, until the 1930s, about 30 interstate disputes, conflicts and disputes arose, which were successfully resolved, for example, the conflict on the Greek-Bulgarian border in 1925.

The big test for the League came in 1931 when Japan attacked Chinese Manchuria in September. At this crucial moment, the Council of the League did not take effective measures, since Great Britain and France did not want to apply economic or military sanctions to the aggressor.

Next serious test for the League was the Italian war against Ethiopia in 1935. And this time the League showed its inaction and inefficiency. This time, Great Britain and France were afraid of Hitler and practically allowed his satellites to conquer. However, 50 countries out of 54 member countries of the League applied sanctions against Italy in accordance with Article 16 of the Treaty. They did not supply weapons to Italy, did not issue loans, banned the import of goods from Italy, banned the export of strategic materials to Italy (rubber, tin, aluminum). These measures affected the country's economy, but did not stop the takeover of Ethiopia. As a result, Italy's gold reserves were significantly depleted and the lira devalued. The measures taken were half-hearted, the embargo did not include food, coal, steel and oil, the country was not blockaded by the sea. As a result (and not without the efforts of Great Britain and France) in July 1936, the sanctions were lifted.

As a result, after these two great events, the countries of the world community lost confidence in the effectiveness of the League of Nations and tried not to interfere in the aggression of some countries against others. Later, this position allowed Hitler to painlessly capture Austria and Czechoslovakia.

At the same time, despite the lack of funds, the League carried out economic and social work, which was subsequently continued in the UN. In addition to the Council for Economic and Social Work, there were a dozen different organizations (agencies) that collected and disseminated information and knowledge. By the end of the 1930s, the importance of the economic and social work of the League had increased. This led to a reorganization of the agencies in order to expand their links with countries and to expand the powers of the Council for Economic and Social Work. However, the outbreak of World War II put an end to all this activity.

Thus, the League of Nations represented the interests of both radicals and conservatives and had more than 20 years of experience. It was a radical idea to create an international organization with appropriate agencies, but it remained conservative in its essence, as it was based on the existing order.

Within the League, there was little cooperation between countries, such important countries as the United States did not take part in its work, and such countries as the USSR and Germany participated in the work for a short time. The League of Nations was poorly armed for its purposes, that is, it was based on inadequate peace and cooperation, and international organizations proved to be incompatible with state sovereignty. As a result, all this led to the fact that the League of Nations ceased to exist, but its experience was used in the creation of another international organization - the United Nations.

League of Nations and its historical role.

The purpose of the creation of the League of Nations, its tasks and role in the new post-war system of international relations, the differences of the Entente powers regarding its Charter.

The idea of ​​creating the League of Nations belongs to Great Britain. At the end of 1915, Foreign Secretary Gray proposed the creation of an international organization to fight for peace.

The issue of the League on the agenda turned out to be one of the main ones for at least two main reasons. First, as an international body, the League could indeed make a practical contribution to the regulation of international relations and the reduction of the danger of war. Secondly, the League and its Charter were called upon to give legal and moral sanction to the policy of the great powers, to legalize it in the eyes of public opinion, which by the 1920s was already becoming an important political factor, primarily in democratic and liberal countries. A commission was set up to draw up the League's charter, headed by Wilson. A struggle began between England, France and the United States regarding the draft charter. Later, England and the United States united.

The creation of the League caused serious controversy among the main participants of the conference. At one of the first meetings, it turned out that the plans for its creation, coming from different delegations, differ in terms of length and degree of elaboration of details. The French plan, in particular, was much more detailed than the British. Paris irreconcilably demanded the inclusion in the Charter of a clause on the creation of international armed forces capable of maintaining security in Europe. France hoped to use her superiority in ground forces and to make them the basis of a future international army, which, if necessary, could be sent against Germany. At the same time, the French delegation believed that it was first necessary to prepare and sign an agreement with Germany, and then to engage in the creation of an international organization.

In this, Clemenceau met with very serious resistance from Wilson, who believed that the creation of a world order should begin precisely with the building of the League. According to the United States, the League, as the main international organization for creating a new system of collective security, could even be delegated the right to develop a peace treaty with Germany. Wilson insisted on the preparation of a project for the creation of the League by a special commission. Within the framework of the conference, a committee was formed (January 25, 1919) to prepare the project of the League of Nations. The resolution on its establishment, proposed by the British delegation, provided that the League: F 0 B 7 would be created to resolve all issues related to the establishment of peace and promote international cooperation, the implementation of guarantees for the fulfillment of international obligations; F 0 B 7 will become an integral part of the general peace treaty and remain open to the accession of every civilized nation that will accept and support its goals; F 0 B 7 will ensure periodic meetings of its members at international conferences (sessions), in the interests of which a permanent organization and a secretariat will be created to ensure the work of the League in between conferences (sessions).

The adoption of the resolution was Wilson's undoubted success, but it did not guarantee the preparation of the Charter of the organization before the work on the treaty with Germany was completed. Wilson's opponents did not hide their hopes that the work of the commission under his chairmanship would fail. But the American delegation showed stubbornness. The President of the United States himself, with the help of a member of the American delegation, D. H. Miller, twice revised his initial draft of the League. The last one was completed on February 2, 1919.

Members of the League of Nations.

Of the 65 large states that existed on the planet in 1920, all, with the exception of the United States and Saudi Arabia (formed in 1932), were members of the League at one time or another. Founding countries are marked with an asterisk (*). The year of adoption and/or the year of the declaration of withdrawal (which came into effect after two years) are indicated in brackets.

Australia* Austria (accepted in 1920, annexed by Germany in 1938) Albania (accepted in 1920, annexed by Italy in 1939) Argentina* Afghanistan (accepted in 1934) Belgium* Bulgaria (accepted in 1920) Bolivia* Brazil (withdrew in 1926) Hungary ( adopted 1922, withdrew 1939) Venezuela* (withdrew 1938) Haiti* (withdrew 1942) Guatemala* (withdrew 1936) Germany (accepted 1926, withdrew 1933) Honduras* (withdrew 1936) Greece* Denmark* Dominican Republic (accepted 1924) Egypt (accepted 1937) India* Iraq (accepted 1932) Ireland (accepted 1923) Spain* (withdrew 1939) Italy* (withdrew 1937) Canada* China* Columbia* Costa Rica (accepted 1920, withdrew 1925) Cuba* Latvia (accepted 1921) Liberia* Lithuania (accepted 1921) Luxembourg (accepted 1920) Mexico (accepted 1931) Netherlands* Nicaragua* (withdrew 1936) New Zealand* Norway * Panama* Paraguay* (withdrawn in 1935) Persia (Iran)* Peru* (withdrawn in 1939) Poland* Portugal* Romania* (withdrawn in 1940) El Salvador* (withdrawn in 1937)

Siam (Thailand)* United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland* Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (adopted 1934, expelled 1939) Turkey (accepted 1932) Uruguay* Finland (accepted 1920) France* Czechoslovakia* Chile* (withdrew 1938) Switzerland* Sweden* Ecuador (admitted 1934) Estonia (admitted 1921) Ethiopia (admitted 1923) Yugoslavia* Union of South Africa* Japan* (withdrew 1933)

The main tasks of the League of Nations building peace through cooperation; the guarantee of peace through collective security; This was the first time in history that the guarantor of international custom

was to become an international organization. The main point of the Charter of the LN. was: providing guarantees to member countries: - collective action in case of violation of the charter and war - preservation of the independence and territorial integrity of the powers - if the conflict cannot be resolved independently, its participants can

apply to arbitration or the LN Council. -- Parties must not resort to hostilities for 3 months

after convening a conference on the conflict (that is, the war is allowed!) Measures against violations: breaking the peace is seen as a war against all members of the League -- waging complete economic and political isolation -- raising troops from national contingents to force

world These sanctions were applied in 1935 against Italy during the aggression and Ethiopia.

Ineffective. Cons of the Charter of LN and generally cons the sanctions were not all-encompassing - decisions in the Assembly were made by unanimity, and any member of the LN

could put a veto and paralyze the activities of the LN - LN did not acquire an influential character due to the absence of the USA and the USSR - The number of committees was not limited - there were a huge number of them.

The missing coordinating body and only in last years 2 Coordination Committees were created.

Structure. The League of Nations included the member states of the League, the Assembly, the Council, the Secretariat, various technical commissions and auxiliary services. The structure, functions and powers of the League were defined in the Charter. The League's annual budget was ca. 6 million dollars. The headquarters of the main organs of the League was Geneva (Switzerland).

The Assembly included representatives of all states that were members of the League of Nations. The sessions of the Assembly were held annually in September, in addition, special sessions were convened from time to time. Each member of the Assembly had one vote. The Assembly had broad powers that covered the entire scope of the League's activities. Paragraph 3 of the Charter stated that the Assembly had the right to consider "any question within the League's powers or affecting the peace of the world." The internal structure of the Assembly corresponded to the principles of building a legislative body, it included 7 standing committees, which usually acted in parallel with the technical services of the League. The Council was originally intended for representatives of 9 states. US non-participation reduced the number of members of the Council to 8. Over the next 20 years, this figure fluctuated, and on January 1, 1940, the number of members of the Council reached 14. Membership in the Council could be permanent, non-permanent and temporary. The purpose of this division was to grant the right to permanent membership in the Council; the representation of small powers was carried out on the basis of the principle of rotation. In accordance with the Charter, Council sessions were held 4 times a year, not counting special sessions. The functions of the Council, defined by the Charter, were as broad as the functions of the Assembly, however, the Council had exclusive rights in resolving minority problems, issues related to the system of mandates, the problems of Danzig (Gdansk), Saar, in resolving conflicts and applying the articles of the Charter devoted to collective security issues. The Secretariat was the administrative body of the League. The secretariat acted on a permanent basis and had a strong influence on the policy of the League. The Secretariat was headed by the Secretary General, the administrative head of the League. In 1940, the staff of the Secretariat included employees from 50 countries of the world.

Functions.

The main goals of the League were to preserve peace and improve the conditions of human life. Among the measures used to preserve peace were the reduction and limitation of armaments; the obligations of the member states of the League to oppose any aggression; mutual agreements to arbitrate, legally settle or conduct special investigations by the Board; agreements of the members of the League on mutual actions in the application of economic and military sanctions. In addition to these basic conditions, a number of different provisions have been adopted, such as the registration of contracts and the protection of minorities.

Reasons for the collapse of the League of Nations .

An objective, unprejudiced approach to evaluating the peacekeeping activities of the League of Nations, a balanced analysis of the results of its activities indicate that this international organization had both negative and positive features inherent in it. And although it was unable to prevent the Second World War, through its activities in the first stage (20s), the League contributed to the peaceful settlement of dozens of conflicts. For the first time, the responsibility for collective action against the violator of international law was embodied in concrete decisions. Another new phenomenon was that the League of Nations had a global character and had a global responsibility for the prevention of war by the concerted actions of its members. The charter provided guarantees to the members of the organization in maintaining their political independence and territorial integrity against external aggression. The organization was created to ensure the peaceful resolution of conflicts,

preventing war. The Charter provided for the collective action of all members of the League of Nations in the event that the aggressor violated the Charter and unleashed a war. A certain procedure for resolving conflicts was established. If the conflicting parties were unable to resolve the disputed issue through negotiations, they had to apply to arbitration, the Permanent Court of International Justice or the Council of the League. The parties to the conflict were not to resort to war for at least three months after the decision was made by the body that dealt with the conflict. But after this period, the hands of the conflicting parties were actually untied. An important shortcoming of the Charter of the League was that war, as a method of solving contentious issues was not prohibited. Measures against violators of the peace were regulated by the Charter. Breaking the peace was seen as an act of war against all members of the League. Immediate total economic and political isolation of the violator was assumed. The Council also had the right to recommend military sanctions, including the creation of a unified armed force from contingents of League members.

Nevertheless, many important provisions of the Charter were not implemented due to the position of the main participants in the organization, primarily England and France, whose interests did not coincide in many respects. The envisaged sanctions were also weakened by the possibility of such an interpretation of the Charter, which made it possible for each member to decide independently on participation in the general activities of the organization. And the reality testified that among the members of the League there was no conviction that any war, wherever it began, was a threat to them. The weakness of the League as an instrument for maintaining peace was already predetermined by the Charter of the organization itself. Decisions of both the Assembly and the Council were taken by unanimity. The only exception was voting on procedural issues and on admission to the League, when decisions were made by two-thirds, that is, by a qualified majority. Given the presence of sharp disagreements among the members of the League, the obstacles to the adoption by the organization of urgent, urgent decisions on political, military and other important issues become clear. An important drawback of the Charter was the fact that only the decision of the Assembly and the Council on administrative issues that concerned the League itself had binding force. Even the sanctions were actually voluntary, since the decisions had the character of recommendations.

The absence of a number of large states among its members had a negative effect on the effectiveness of the League's activities. The United States, which was among the initiators of the creation of the League of Nations, did not become a member. The growing influence of the isolationists, who demanded that the United States not be drawn into European affairs, not bind its hands by the obligations of the Charter of the League, was the reason that the Treaty of Versailles, of which the provisions for the creation of the League of Nations were part, was not ratified by the American Congress. The participation of the USSR in the work of the League turned out to be short-lived. It was adopted in 1934 and excluded in 1939 due to the Soviet-Finnish war. Germany joined the League in 1926 and left it in 1935, submitting a corresponding application in 1933. So, the League of Nations is not a permanent, indeed, universal organization. In 1932, it had 60 members. For various reasons, 16 powers left it. England and France played the main role in the leadership of the League of Nations. All this narrowed the possibilities for making informed decisions, taking into account the national interests of all states and the interests of common security. The League of Nations was called upon to maintain the status quo that had been created as a result of the First World War. But the Treaty of Versailles was built on great disagreements, injustices associated with the predatory division of territories and the forcible solution of other fundamentally important issues. The League proved unable to quell the first dangerous fires of war that the fascist states were kindling. The Second World War finally buried the League of Nations, although it formally lasted until July 31

1946 The collapse of the League of Nations seriously undermined the idea of ​​collective security. There are quite enough preconditions for negative assessments of this international organization.

But it would be a mistake to cross out the entire history of the League, to reduce its activities to mere shortcomings. There were achievements in her work. The League played a positive role in a number of cases in solving post-war problems. Thus, during the first 10 years of its existence (1919-1929), the League of Nations considered 30 international conflicts, and most of them were resolved. The failures of the League in solving political problems often overshadow its achievements in the social and humanitarian fields, downplay the importance of its activities in the field of international economic policy and financial regulation, international communications and transit systems, in improving the health system in many countries of the world, scientific cooperation, codification of international law , preparing conferences on disarmament and other social and humanitarian fields. Successes include establishing control over the spread of opium and the slave trade (mainly by women). In addition, significant progress has been made in protecting the rights and interests of young people. The League was closely connected with its legal body - the Permanent Court of International Justice, which had its own structure and made independent decisions. In addition, the League worked closely with many international organizations that did not have formal or historical ties with it. It should be noted that the first attempt at official codification was made within the framework of the League of Nations. In 1924, the Council of the League formed a committee of experts of 16 jurists, which was to deal with the codification of international law, including the law of treaties. A report was prepared on this branch of law, which was never discussed. The first international legal act that codified the most established norms of the law of treaties was the Inter-American Convention on Treaties of 1928, which consisted of only 21 articles.

The results of the existence of the League of Nations.

The lessons and experience of the League of Nations were used in the creation of the United Nations. The very fact of the creation of a permanent international organization of a general political nature with a permanent apparatus was an important event. historical significance. The League of Nations was built as a body of collective peacekeeping, which meant a step towards the internationalization of responsibility for maintaining peace. When studying the experience of the League of Nations, one should take into account the discrepancy in the assessments of its activities given by different authors at different historical stages. Summarizing the existing concepts, it is not difficult to see, first of all, two tendencies: the desire of some to portray the actions of the League in a rosy light and the opposite effort of others - to paint the entire history of this international organization with one black paint, focusing only on its shortcomings and mistakes. The latter trend is clearly seen in the publications of Soviet authors, who analyzed the actions of the League of Nations mainly from the point of view of the extent to which they contradicted or met the interests of the Soviet state. The helplessness of the League of Nations in the context of the outbreak of the Second World War undermined the confidence of the world community in this international organization as an instrument of peace and common security.

But the sad history of the League did not destroy the very idea of ​​the need for united efforts in the interests of maintaining peace. The desire for collective security, even more than the existence of the League, prompted the search for a new, thorough and effective international organization. Actively developed

projects to create a new international organization in the United States. Thus, in 1939, the Commission for the Study of the Organization of the World was created, in which leading international experts collaborated. During 1941-1944. The Commission prepared four reports, which set out thoughts and specific proposals for the formation of a new world organization. In 1944, the Committee on International Organizations, which included 15 American experts, published a draft charter for the main international organization. The US State Department summarized the proposals of various private organizations, developing the American vision of a new international organization. In England, the League of Nations, under the leadership of Lord Robert Sessil, prepared its proposals for the formation of a world organization. The concept of a post-war organization was also worked out at the level of international relations of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Atlantic Charter of August 14, 1941; United Nations Declaration of January 1, 1942; Moscow Declaration of 1943; Tehran Conference 1943; Dumbarton Oxy Conference 1944; Yalta Conference 1945; Francisco in 1945 took the most important steps towards the formation of the UN. It should be noted that the optimal model of the new organization was formed in a complex search, in the process of discussing fundamentally opposite options. One of the problems was the confrontation between the concept of universal, global security and the concept of regional security.

As W. Churchill recalls, in 1943, during the Tehran Conference, Roosevelt, in a conversation with Stalin, discussed his plan for managing the post-war world. According to Roosevelt's plan, it was to be carried out by "four policemen", namely the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and China. This proposal did not meet with support from Stalin, who said that "four policemen can hardly count on a benevolent attitude from the small countries of Europe." Stalin, as an alternative, proposed the creation of one committee for Europe and a second for Far East, and the European committee was to consist of England, the USSR, France and possibly another European state. As W. Churchill pointed out, this proposal was somewhat similar to his own idea of ​​regional committees: one for Europe, one for the Far East and one for the American continent

The result of great creative work was the birth in 1945 of the United Nations, which brought to life the collectively developed ideas about a world international organization, which was called upon to replace the League of Nations and become the main instrument for protecting the peace and security of all mankind. Given the discrediting of the League of Nations, which was ingloriously buried in the ruins of the Second World War, the creators of the new organization tried in every possible way to protect it from the previous one. It was not about restructuring, improving the League, but about creating a fundamentally new organization with a qualitatively new Charter, principles of functioning. It was even decided to abandon Geneva as the seat of the UN headquarters, so that the new organization would not have anything to do with the discredited League of Nations. The UN was created primarily as an instrument of struggle for the preservation of peace and international security. The concept of collective security was taken as the basis of the UN Charter and all its peacekeeping activities.

Application CHARTER OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS Entered into force on January 10, 1920 The High Contracting Parties, Considering that in order to develop cooperation among peoples and to guarantee their peace and security, it is important to accept certain obligations not to resort to war, to maintain in full publicity international relations based on justice and honor, to observe strictly the prescriptions of international law, which are henceforth recognized as the valid rule of conduct for governments, to establish the rule of justice, and to observe in good faith all the obligations imposed by treaties in the mutual relations of organized peoples who accept the present Charter, which establishes the League of Nations. Article 1 1. The original Members of the League of Nations shall be those of the signatories whose names appear in the Appendix to this Constitution, and also the States alike named in the Appendix, which shall accede to this Constitution without any reservation, by means of a declaration deposited with the Secretariat within

two months prior to the entry into force of the Statute, which will be notified to other Members of the League. 2. All States, Dominions or Colonies which are freely governed and which are not listed in the Appendix may become Members of the League if two-thirds of the Assembly (Assembly) vote for their admission, insofar as they will give effective guarantees of their sincere intention to comply with international obligations and in so far as they will accept the regulations laid down by the League regarding their military, naval and air forces and armaments. 3. Any Member of the League may, after two years' prior warning, withdraw from the League, provided that by that time he has fulfilled all his international obligations, including those under this Charter. Article 2 The activities of the League, as defined in these Statutes, are carried out by the Assembly and the Council, which has a permanent Secretariat. Article 3 1. The Assembly shall consist of representatives of the Members of the League. 2. It meets at the appointed time and at any other time, if circumstances so require, at the seat of the League or such other place as may be appointed. 3. The Assembly is in charge of all matters which fall within the League's sphere of action and which affect the peace of the world. 4. Each Member of the League may have no more than three representatives in the Assembly and shall have only one vote. Article 4 1. The Council shall be composed of representatives of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers (Note: USA, British Empire, France, Italy and Japan), as well as representatives of four other Members of the League. These four Members of the League shall be appointed at the discretion of the Assembly and for such terms as it may wish to elect. Pending their first appointment by the Assembly, the representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Greece shall be members of the Council. 2. With the approval of a majority of the Assembly, the Council may appoint other Members of the League, whose representation on the Council shall henceforth be permanent. He may, with the same approval, increase the number of Members of the League to be elected by the Assembly to be represented on the Council (Note. On 25 September 1922 the number of members of the Council to be chosen by the Assembly was increased to six, and on 8 September 1926 to nine ). 2-a. The Assembly will establish, by a two-thirds majority, the procedure for electing temporary members of the Council, in particular, determine the period of their participation in it and the conditions for a new election. (This amendment came into force on July 29, 1926. )

3. The Council meets when circumstances so require, and at least once a year, at the seat of the League or such other place as may be appointed. 4. The Council is in charge of all matters within the scope of the League and affecting the peace of the world. 5. Any Member of the League not represented on the Council is invited to send a representative to attend when a question is brought before the Council that especially affects its interests. 6. Each Member of the League represented in the Council has only one vote and has only one representative. Article 5 1. Insofar as there are no specifically contrary provisions of this Statute or provisions of this Treaty, the decisions of the Assembly or the Council shall be taken unanimously by the Members of the League represented in the assembly. 2. Any question of procedure arising at meetings of the Assembly or Council, including the appointment of commissions charged with investigating special cases, shall be decided by the Assembly or Council and decided by a majority of the Members of the League represented at the meeting. [...] Article 6 1. A permanent Secretariat shall be established at the seat of the League. It includes the Secretary General, as well as the necessary secretaries and necessary staff. [...] Article 7 1. The seat of the League shall be Geneva. Article 8 1. The Members of the League recognize that the maintenance of peace requires the limitation of national armaments to the minimum compatible with national security and with the fulfillment of international obligations imposed by common action. 2. The Council, taking into account the geographical location and special conditions of each State, shall prepare plans for this limitation for the consideration and decision of the various Governments. 3. These plans shall be the subject of a new review and, if necessary, revision at least every ten years. 4. After they have been adopted by the various Governments, the armaments limit so fixed may not be exceeded without the consent of the Council. 5. Considering that the private production of munitions and war material is seriously objected to, the Members of the League instruct the Council to give an opinion on measures capable of eliminating its harmful effects, taking into account the needs of those Members of the League who are unable to manufacture equipment and war material necessary for their security.

6. The Members of the League undertake to exchange in the most frank and exhaustive manner all information relating to the extent of their armaments, to their military, naval and air programs, and to the state of those branches of their industry that can be used for war. Article 9 A Permanent Commission shall be formed to present to the Council its opinions on the implementation of the provisions of Articles 1 and 8 and likewise on general military, maritime and air matters. Article 10 The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve, against any external attack, the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In the event of an attack, threat or danger of attack, the Council shall indicate the measures to ensure the fulfillment of this obligation. Article 11 1. Declares expressly that every war or threat of war, whether directly or not directly affecting any of the Members of the League, is of interest to the League as a whole, and that the latter must take measures capable of effectively safeguarding the peace of nations. In such a case, the General Secretary shall immediately convene the Council at the request of any Member of the League. 2. In addition, it is declared that every Member of the League has the right to draw the attention of the Assembly or Council in a friendly manner to any circumstance capable of affecting international relations and, therefore, threatening to shake the peace or good harmony between nations, on which the world depends. Article 12 1. The Members of the League agree that if a dispute arises between them, which may lead to a rupture, they will submit it either to arbitration, or to a judicial decision, or to the consideration of the Council. They also agree that they must in no case resort to war before the expiration of a period of three months after the decision of the arbitrators or the judgment, or the report of the Council. 2. In all cases provided for in this article, the decision of the arbitrators or the judgment must be made within a reasonable time, and the report of the Board must be drawn up within six months from the date the dispute was submitted to it. Article 13 1. The Members of the League agree that if a dispute arises between them, which, in their opinion, may be resolved by arbitration or judicial decision, and if this dispute cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomatic means, then the matter will be fully submitted to arbitration or judicial permission.

2. Disputes which relate to the interpretation of a treaty, to any question of international law, to the existence of any fact which, if established, would amount to a breach of an international obligation, or to the amount and manner of remedy to be awarded for such breach. 3. The tribunal to which all such disputes are to be referred shall be the Permanent Court of Justice of the International Court of Justice established under Article 14, or any other tribunal on which the parties to the dispute agree among themselves, or which is established by some existing convention between them. 4. Members of the League undertake to carry out in good faith the decisions or resolutions passed and not to resort to war against a Member of the League who will comply with them. In case of non-compliance with the decision or regulation, the Council proposes measures to ensure their implementation. Article 14 The Council is instructed to draw up a draft of the Permanent Court of the International Court of Justice and submit it to the Members of the League. This Chamber shall be in charge of all disputes of an international character which the parties submit to it. It will also give advisory opinions on all disputes and on all questions that are brought before it by the Council or the Assembly. Article 15 1. If a dispute arises between the Members of the League, which may lead to a rupture, and if this dispute is not subject to arbitration or judicial proceedings provided for in article 13, then the Members of the League agree to submit it to the Council. It is enough for one of them to point this dispute to the Secretary General, who takes all measures for a full investigation and consideration. 2. As soon as possible, the Parties shall communicate to him the statement of their case with all relevant facts and corroborative documents. The Council may order their immediate publication. 3. The Council shall endeavor to secure a settlement of the dispute. If he succeeds, he publishes, to the extent he sees fit, a statement conveying the facts, the relevant explanations and the terms of this settlement. 4. If the dispute could not be settled, the Council shall draw up and publish a report, adopted either unanimously or by a majority vote, to inform about the circumstances of the dispute, as well as the solutions proposed by it, as the most just and most suitable for the case. 5. Any Member of the League represented on the Council may likewise publish a statement of the facts relating to the dispute and its own conclusions.

6. If the report of the Council is adopted unanimously, and the votes of the representatives of the parties are not taken into account in establishing this unanimity, then the Members of the League undertake not to resort to war against any side that is consistent with the conclusions of the report. 7. In the event that the Council fails to achieve acceptance of its report by all its members other than the Representatives of the Parties to the dispute, the Members of the League reserve the right to do as they see fit for the preservation of law and justice. 8. If one of the Parties asserts, and if the Council accepts, that the dispute relates to a matter conferred by international law exclusively within the domestic jurisdiction of that Party, the Council shall so state in the report without proposing any solution to the matter. 9. The Council may, in all cases provided for in this article, bring the dispute before the Assembly. The Assembly will have to deal with the dispute also at the request of one of the Parties; this motion must be submitted within fourteen days from the date the dispute was brought before the Council. 10. In any case referred to the Assembly, the provisions of this Article and Article 12 relating to the actions and powers of the Council shall apply equally to the actions and powers of the Assembly. It is agreed that a report drawn up by the Assembly with the approval of the representatives of the Members of the League represented on the Council and of the majority of the other Members of the League, except in each case the Representatives of the Parties to the dispute, shall have the same validity as a report of the Council unanimously accepted by its Members, except Representatives of the parties to the dispute. Article 16 1. If a Member of the League resorts to war contrary to the obligations assumed in Articles 12, 13 or 15, he is ipso facto considered to have committed an act of war against all other Members of the League. The latter undertake to immediately break off all commercial or financial relations with him, to prohibit all communications between their own citizens and the citizens of the state that has violated the Charter, and to cut off financial, commercial or personal communications between the citizens of this state and the citizens of any other state, whether it is a Member of the League or not. . 2. In this case, the Council is obliged to propose to the various Governments concerned that strength of military, sea or air force, whereby the Members of the League will, according to their affiliation, participate in the armed forces intended to maintain respect for the obligations of the League. 3. The Members of the League furthermore agree to give each other mutual support in the application of the financial and economic measures to be taken by virtue of this article, in order to reduce to a minimum the losses and inconveniences which may result therefrom. They likewise give mutual support to counter any special measure directed against one of them by a state that has violated the Charter. They accept

necessary arrangements to facilitate the passage through their territory of the forces of any Member of the League participating in the general action, in order to maintain respect for the obligations of the League. 4. Any Member found guilty of violating one of the obligations arising from the Charter may be expelled from the League. The exception is decided by the votes of all other members of the League represented in the Council. Article 17 1. In the event of a dispute between two States, of which only one is a Member of the League, or of which neither is a member of it, the State or States outside the League shall be invited to submit to the obligations incumbent on its Members, for the purpose of settling the dispute on conditions deemed fair by the Council. If this invitation is accepted, the provisions of Articles 12 to 16 shall apply, subject to modifications deemed necessary by the Council. 2. After this invitation has been sent, the Council shall open an inquiry into the circumstances of the dispute and propose such measure as seems to it the best and most effective in the present case. 3. If the invited State, refusing to assume the duties of a Member of the League for the purpose of settling a dispute, resorts to war against a Member of the League, then the provisions of Article 16 shall apply to it. 4. If both invited parties refuse to assume the duties of a Member of the League for the purposes of settling a dispute , the Council may take all measures and make any proposals capable of preventing hostile actions and leading to a resolution of the conflict. Article 18 Any international treaties or international obligations entered into in the future by a Member of the League shall immediately be registered with the Secretariat and published as soon as possible. None of these international treaties or agreements will become binding until they are registered. Article 19 The Assembly may from time to time invite the Members of the League to begin a new consideration of treaties which have become inapplicable, as well as of international provisions, the maintenance of which might endanger the peace of the world. 1. The Members of the League recognize, each insofar as it concerns him, that this Charter revokes all inter se obligations or agreements inconsistent with its terms, and solemnly undertake not to enter into such in the future. 2. If, before joining the League, a Member has assumed obligations inconsistent with the terms of the Charter, then he must take immediate measures to free himself from these obligations. Article 21

International obligations, such as arbitration treaties, and agreements limited to known areas, such as the Monroe Doctrine, which ensure the preservation of peace, shall not be considered inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Charter. Article 22 1. The following principles apply to colonies and territories which, as a result of the war, have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the states that previously ruled them, and which are inhabited by peoples who are not yet capable of self-governing themselves in the especially difficult conditions of the modern world. The well-being and development of these peoples is the sacred mission of civilization, and it is appropriate to include guarantees for the fulfillment of this mission in the present Charter. 2. The best method of putting this principle into practice is to entrust the guardianship of these peoples to the advanced nations [...] who are willing to accept it: they would exercise this guardianship in their capacity as Mandate-holders and in the name of the League. 3. The nature of the mandate must vary according to the degree of development of the people, the geographical position of the territory, its economic conditions and all other similar circumstances. [...] 7. In all cases, the Mandatory shall send to the Council an annual report concerning the territories assigned to him. [...] Article 23 Subject to and in agreement with the provisions of international agreements now in existence or to be concluded thereafter, the Members of the League: a) shall endeavor to secure and maintain just and humane working conditions for man, woman and child in their own territories, as well as in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend. [...] Article 24 All international bureaus previously established by collective agreements shall, subject to the consent of the Parties, be placed under the leadership of the League. Any other international bureaus and any commissions for settling cases of international importance which are subsequently set up will be placed under the leadership of the League. [...]

The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by a surge of unprecedented optimism, when it seemed that high level development of civilization made it impossible to wage new wars. However, the outbreak of the World War showed the utopian nature of these sentiments, remembered by contemporaries as the largest and most brutal conflict in the history of mankind. The result of this war was not only an unprecedented number of victims for that time, but also the collapse of four empires, the emergence of new states on the map of Europe, a significant economic decline, famine, outbreaks of epidemics and a huge number of refugees who sought refuge around the world. All this led to an intensive search for ways to end the war and not repeat such conflicts in the future. During the period from 1914 to 1918, more than 50 projects appeared aimed at preventing future wars and developed by individuals, public associations, and then government commissions of various countries. It was in these documents that the idea of ​​a single international organization capable of ensuring permanent peace and security was developed. Thus, the establishment of the League of Nations represented the readiness of the world community to create an international organization of a multi-purpose nature, capable of putting into practice the idea of ​​maintaining world peace.

Of course, we all know the sad result of the activities of the League, which failed to cope with its primary task - to prevent a new world war. At the same time, it would be wrong to say that all the undertakings of the League failed, since a number of principles and ideas laid down in its Statute were subsequently consolidated and developed within the framework of the UN. So, for example, the main organs of the League of Nations - the Assembly, the Council and the Secretariat - were retained in the UN.

In addition, such international organizations as UNESCO, the International Court of Justice, ECOSOC, the ILO, etc. were preserved and recreated on the basis of the relevant bodies and departments of the League. development of the fundamental principles of international law.

Before proceeding to the study, it must be remembered that at the beginning of the twentieth century there were no peremptory norms of jus cogens in the sense we are accustomed to. Instead, there were the fundamental rights of states recognized by the international community. These rights included: 1) the right to existence and self-preservation; 2) the right to equality; 3) the right to independence; 4) the right to respect; 5) the right to international communication.

Note that the Statute did not contain any special chapters or articles devoted exclusively to the rights of states or the principles of interstate cooperation. Despite this, a number of articles found their direct or indirect consolidation of ideas that influenced the development of generally recognized principles of international law. Let's consider them in more detail.

Despite the fact that any states, self-governing dominions and colonies could join the League (Article 1), the principle of the sovereign equality of states was not directly enshrined in its Statute. Indeed, already in the preamble to the Statute it was indicated that it was necessary to fulfill the obligations imposed by treaties only in relations between “organized peoples”.

A study of a number of articles leads to the conclusion that the Statute rather spoke of the sovereign equality of the member states of the League. For example, it enshrined the today recognized formula for participation in international organizations: "one state - one vote" (Art. 3, 4). The requirement for unanimous decision-making, provided for in Article 5, made it possible to take into account the opinion of each member state of the League, also pointing to their formal legal equality.

This is also confirmed by the fact that the states that were not members of the League were in a deliberately unequal position in comparison with its members. Thus, the League of Nations could not begin to resolve an international conflict until a member state addressed it with this request (Article 11). Consequently, if the affected party was a non-League state, the international organization remained indifferent to its requests to intervene in the conflict. At the same time, the Statute allowed for the possibility of League intervention in conflicts, the parties to which were only third states (Article 11).

Article 17 also points to the unequal position of the members of the League and the states that were not members of it, from the text of which it follows that: “In the event of a dispute between two states, of which only one is a member of the League ... it is invited to submit to the obligations incumbent on its [League] members...on terms deemed fair by the Council. If this invitation is accepted, the provisions of Articles 12 to 16 shall apply, subject to modifications deemed necessary by the Council." Thus, on the one hand, it refers to sovereign equality states and the impossibility of extending the provisions of the treaty to third countries - after all, the Statute does not require, but invites them to cooperate in resolving the dispute. On the other hand, there is no doubt about the initially unequal position of third countries that have agreed to accept the obligations imposed by the Statute, in comparison with the members of the League. Moreover, this article provided for the introduction of collective sanctions against a third state that refused to obey the provisions of the Statute, without giving an answer to the question of the admissibility of the same sanctions against a member of the League, which would be an aggressor in relation to a third state that accepted the obligations imposed by the League.

The statute did not contain clearly defined obligations of non-interference of the organization in the internal affairs of states. Moreover, Article 11 gave the League the right to intervene in any conflict, provided that it posed a threat to international peace, thus giving the League the opportunity to intervene in the affairs of any state. At the same time, a number of articles of the Statute implicitly refer to non-interference in the internal affairs, but not of all states, but only members of the League. Thus, Article 10 is devoted to the territorial integrity and political independence of the members of the League from external aggression, so it can be assumed that it allowed separation movements within these states. In addition, in accordance with Article 15, the Council could not resolve disputes that international law refers exclusively to the internal competence of the state, and Article 21, which consolidated the Monroe Doctrine, actually pointed to the principle of non-intervention in the affairs of the whole continent.

One of the oldest principles of international law, the principle of territorial integrity, was also not directly enshrined in the Statute of the League of Nations. Article 10, mentioned above, contained the obligation to respect and protect the territorial integrity of only the members of the League, and not all states, from external aggression.

The need for conscientious fulfillment of obligations is mentioned in the preamble to the Statute, as well as in a number of its articles. Thus, according to Article 1, one of the conditions for the inclusion of a state in the League was the provision of valid guarantees of compliance with international obligations assumed. The limitation of national armaments provided for in Article 8 depended on the need to fulfill international treaties. Article 18 was aimed at the abolition of secret diplomacy, since it contained the requirement for mandatory registration of international treaties concluded by members of the League. One cannot ignore article 19, which allowed for the revision of inapplicable treaties, as well as international provisions, the preservation of which would threaten world peace. It should be noted that this article has never been applied in practice, but a detailed study of it allows us to conclude that it limits the principle of pacta sunt servanda, making it dependent on the interests of the member states of the League. Article 20 pointed to the invalidity of previously concluded treaties inconsistent with the provisions of the Statute. This article did not receive practical application, for the following reasons: 1) it did not answer the question of who was authorized to determine the degree of compliance of previously concluded agreements with the provisions of the Statute; 2) Article 21 provided for the possibility of derogation from the provisions of Article 20; 12 3) practice has shown the unwillingness of the members of the League to refuse to conclude treaties incompatible with the Statute. Despite these shortcomings, the significance of Article 20 was that it attempted to consolidate the hierarchy of norms of international law, which today has been developed in the UN Charter.

The international law of the first half of the 20th century did not know the principle of non-use of force or its threat, and the right to war was considered as a natural right of states. Perhaps that is why the Statute did not explicitly ban aggressive wars, enshrining in its text only the principle of non-aggression, which later transformed into the principle of non-use of force or its threat. At the same time, despite the formal division of wars into “permissible” and “inadmissible,” the Statute retained the League’s ability to intervene in any conflict, regardless of whether it was a “permissible” war, a threat of war, an external or internal conflict, whether members of the League or third states (art. 11). Let us note that the grounds provided for in Article 11 for the League's intervention in the conflict could become a quite effective measure for maintaining world peace, if not for the compromise nature of its Statute. On the one hand, it gives the League fairly broad powers, and on the other hand, it contains norms that prevent their practical implementation.

Thus, a significant shortcoming of Article 11 was the absence of the League's right of independent initiative in resolving conflicts that arose. The organization could not take any steps until one of its members approached it with this request. Practice has shown that in the case when a member of the League acted as the aggressor, the latter remained indifferent to the requests of the affected third state. This circumstance, as well as the fact that the Statute allowed the League to intervene (at the request of its member) in a conflict to which only third states were parties, from the very beginning undermined the authority of this international organization as a guarantor of world peace.

The next point, which complicated the practical application of Article 11, was that it passed over in silence the question of which body of the League was supposed to take measures to resolve the conflict. It would be logical to assume that this right was assigned to the Council, since the numerous composition of the Assembly, as well as the requirement for unanimous decision-making, could nullify any attempts to influence the aggressor.

In addition to Article 11, the principle of non-use of force was also enshrined in Article 10 of the Statute, according to which “Members of the League undertake to respect and defend against external aggression the territorial integrity and political independence of all Members of the League. In the event of aggression or the threat of its commission, the Council shall determine the measures to ensure the fulfillment of this obligation.

A cursory examination of these articles may seem that the content of Article 11 was broader than Article 10. Thus, Article 11 covered not only external and internal military conflicts, but also any circumstances that threatened world peace. In addition, it empowered the League to take active action to prevent conflict (including the use of sanctions), and not just make recommendations. Moreover, Article 11 extended its effect to all participants in international relations, regardless of their membership in the League, while Article 10 was aimed at protecting the interests of the states that were members of the League. At the same time, Article 10 was devoid of the main drawback of Article 11 - the absence of the League's initiative to intervene in the conflict. Thus, in accordance with Article 10, the League was supposed to protect the status quo that had developed after the First World War, regardless of the presence of an appropriate appeal from its member.

Thus, the principle of the non-use of force enshrined in the Statute became only a half-measure, since the leading powers at that time were not yet ready to give up the “right to war”. At the same time, it would be wrong to assume that no attempts were made by the League to ban aggressive wars. A certain influence on the development of the principle of non-aggression was exerted by the Geneva Protocol on the Peaceful Settlement of International Conflicts (1924), which declared aggressive war an international crime; League of Nations Declaration on Wars of Aggression (1927), also forbidding wars of aggression. The most famous was the Briand-Kellogg Pact (1928), which enshrined the rejection of the use of war as a legitimate means of resolving international disputes. In addition, attempts were made to amend the Statute in order to remove provisions that allowed for war.

The Statute attaches great importance to the principle of the peaceful resolution of international disputes. Under Article 12, all disputes were to be referred to the Council or to arbitration. At the same time, the parties to the conflict were not to resort to war before the expiration of a three-month period after the decision of the arbitrators or the report of the Council. Article 13 contained a list of disputes subject to mandatory arbitration, and the enforcement of a court decision was ensured by the possibility of applying the sanctions provided for in Article 16. Here it is worth mentioning Article 19, which provided for the right of the Assembly to propose a revision of international treaties, the preservation of which would threaten world peace. Despite the lack of practice of applying this article, it can be assumed that it could also be used for the peaceful resolution of international disputes (subject to the elimination of conflicts in its text).

Assessing the practical activities of the League in this area, we can identify both successful actions - the resolution of the Polish-Lithuanian conflict (1920), the Greek-Bulgarian conflict (1925), the conflict between Colombia and Peru (1935), and the actions that ended in failure - the inability to influence the belligerents during the Spanish Civil War (1935-1939), as well as the Sudetenland problem in Czechoslovakia (1938).

We also note that within the framework of the League of Nations, a number of documents were concluded that consolidated the principle of the peaceful resolution of international disputes. Among them are the resolutions of the Assembly of September 26, 1928 "On the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, on Non-Aggression and on Mutual Assistance" and of September 26, 1931 "On a General Convention for the Development of Means of Preventing War." In addition, the creation of the Permanent Court of International Justice also had a certain impact on the parties to the conflict, since they could no longer refer to the difficulties associated with the creation of a court or the lack of persons competent to resolve this dispute.

Touching upon the issues of protecting human rights, we note that the Statute did not say anything about the principles of national, racial or religious equality. At the same time, it found consolidation of fair and humane working conditions, a ban on the slave trade (Article 23), as well as ensuring freedom of conscience and religion in relation to the native population of the territories for the management of which mandates were issued (Article 22). We also note that within the framework of the League of Nations, a mechanism for protecting the rights of national minorities was developed in detail, which, despite its shortcomings, contributed to the further development of this principle. In particular, the personal, property and socio-cultural rights of representatives of national minorities were enshrined in bilateral and multilateral treaties, the enforcement of which was carried out by the League of Nations. In addition, it was allowed to resolve disputes related to the protection of the rights of national minorities in the Permanent Court of International Justice.

The Statute of the League did not say anything about the right of nations to self-determination, however, the already well-known Article 10 of the Statute fixed an indirect ban on the League's interference in the internal affairs of its members, allowing for a peaceful change in the state borders that existed at that time. In addition, within the framework of the League of Nations, a system of mandates was created, which, despite its ambiguous assessment, recognized the temporary nature of the administration of the trust territories, with the possibility of acquiring independence by them peacefully. Moreover, the fact of public discussion in the League of Nations of colonial problems in itself became a definite signal for a change in the situation of the peoples of the trust territories.

Of course, one of the main goals of the creation of the League of Nations was to strengthen and develop international cooperation between states in various fields - in the field of arms limitation (Article 8) and the maintenance of international peace and security (Articles 10-13, 15, 16), as well as in socio-economic and humanitarian spheres (Art. 23-25). Noteworthy here is the fact that, despite the declarative nature of the articles devoted to non-political cooperation between states, it is in this area that the League managed to achieve the most significant results than in matters of ensuring collective security. Thus, within the framework of the League international conferences, projects were prepared to reduce customs duties, establish freedom of movement of capital, etc. Conventions were adopted on freedom of transit (1921), on the simplification of customs formalities (1923), on the abolition of prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports (1927), the plan developed by A. Briand for the establishment of the European Federative Union with the creation of a common European market (1929) was discussed. Some conventions adopted by the League are still in force, others that have not entered into force have been forgotten, but all of them are important for the formation and development of modern international law, since when creating the WTO, the EU, the EAEU and other international organizations, used the experience of the League of Nations.

Concluding the article, one can come to the conclusion that despite the contradictory content of the Statute, an attempt was made in it to give universal significance to those principles and ideas, without which modern international law is unthinkable. Free participation in the activities of an international organization, equality of rights and obligations of members of the League, conscientious fulfillment of obligations, protection of territorial integrity and political independence, rejection of secret diplomacy, development of interstate cooperation in various fields - this is a small list of principles enshrined in the Statute and which have become imperative norms today . In addition, the progressive development of modern international law was facilitated by: an indirect prohibition of any wars and interference in the internal affairs of the state; introduction of international judicial protection of the individual rights of national minorities; creation of a system international control over administered territories, as well as international administration of disputed territories; the creation of a permanent international tribunal; striving for cooperation with third states in matters of ensuring universal peace.

All of the above allows us to conclude that for its time the Statute of the League of Nations was to a certain extent a progressive document, and the ideas contained in it not only have not lost their relevance today, but have become the basis of modern international law, having been consolidated and developed in UN Charter.