BOOK: Thomas GIDNEY, An International Anomaly. Colonial Accession to the League of Nations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025), ISBN 9781009584432 [OPEN ACCESS]

 

(image source: CUP)

Abstract:

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

Table of contents:

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

6. The demise of the League of Nations and the reemergence of colonial membership at the United Nations.

On the author:

Thomas Gidney is a a historian of international and colonial history and a Research Fellow at the Global Governance Centre, Graduate Institute Geneva. 

Read more: DOI 10.1017/9781009584432.