Talk:Member states of the League of Nations

Untitled
could you tabulate the values? with countries organized by year? 141.213.66.162 06:21, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Switzerland
Was Switzerland a founding member? German wikipedia states the opposite.. -- Firefox13 (talk) 21:32, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

South and Central America
Why did so many nations in Latin America leave the League? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Davetoms (talk • contribs) 19:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

founder members
I hope by changing these to "founding members" I didn't offend any local dialect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.102.210.163 (talk) 23:36, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Map is mistaken (Argentina)
Argentina left in 1921 after the failure of a resolution, and resumed full membership in 1931. Map must be changed. Tazmaniacs (talk) 16:53, 30 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Done --Canuckguy (talk) 20:04, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Symbol of the League of Nations.svg
The image Image:Symbol of the League of Nations.svg is used in this article under a claim of fair use, but it does not have an adequate explanation for why it meets the requirements for such images when used here. In particular, for each page the image is used on, it must have an explanation linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page. Please check


 * That there is a non-free use rationale on the image's description page for the use in this article.
 * That this article is linked to from the image description page.

This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. --03:03, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Endreus (talk) 22:55, 4 January 2010 (UTC)I think there's an error on the map and also on the list, because Ethiopia became an Italian colony in 1936, so I think it must be specified if the former Negus keep it while he was not on charge. Or it need to be changed in left in 1937 as Italian colony also in the map, it never has the colony color. To check just search here on Wikipedia any Italian history link.


 * Ethiopia was actually a member prior to the Italian invasion, so it should not have the colony marker but instead have the nation marker. The Italian attack on Ethiopia and the League's unwillingness to defend Ethiopia (but willingness to supply Italy) was one of the biggest markers of the League's failure as an organization. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.92.220.115 (talk) 07:44, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Withdrawal/expulsion of members
An edit late last year added some incorrect information about the expulsion of Finland. Finland was never expelled from the LoN, and certainly not for "aggression against the USSR". Apart from the editor's unverifiable 'source', there is no other evidence for this claim. A primary LoN document dated from 1944, hosted on a university website, includes Finland on the list of members. It also includes Albania, Denmark and Luxembourg, so I have removed their withdrawal dates as well. Having said that, I did only cursory checks before doing so, so if someone can cite their withdrawals, then fine. (Would a withdrawal under duress/invasion count though? e.g. Free French did not recognise Vichy France's withdrawal. Could those countries' resistance movements have done the same?) -- Tankman182 (talk) 12:34, 11 February 2012 (UTC)
 * I think you are correct re. Finland. On the question of who was or was not a member, the League itself should be the ultimate arbitrator. If it listed 'France' as a member, then it was, wherever the recognised government was based. RashersTierney (talk) 14:30, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia was present at the last meeting of the Assembly in 1946 (see for list of attending member states; above cited list from 1944 also mentions Czechoslovakia), so I added it to the respective list (members at end of League). Czechoslovakia never formaly left League until its final dissolution. However, pure legal continuity between pre-war and post-war Czechoslovakia is another question...--Pavlor (talk) 00:17, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Kingdom of Hejaz, and other founding members
Hejaz appears to be missing from this list and the map. See p.13 of this. The list of founding members in the article is not consistent with this source (the Treaty of Sèvres. Oncenawhile (talk) 13:06, 31 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Another source showing the same problem:


 * Oncenawhile (talk) 13:20, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

Conquered and annexed
A usual problem is the two-standards one. For instance, Austria appears as "ceased to exist" or Czechoslovakia as "occupied (by Nazi Germany)", and the Baltic Republics as "conquered and annexed (by the USSR)", which at the mininum is confuse. The plain fact is all these states ceased to exist to be annexed by others (and of course in the former cases reverted to the original situation sooner), and any of the three chosen sentences can be applied to any of the cases. The difference of course is in the case of Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic or Austria the matter is far away in historical terms, and with the Baltic Republics I imagine the problem is near enough to play a political useful role to many people. But I don't think this was a NPOV, nor useful for the Wikipedia itself.91.117.8.27 (talk) 20:07, 3 June 2016 (UTC)
 * What solution you propose? Eg. Czechoslovakia ceased to exist in its home territory in 1939, but was later reconstituted as sort-of government-in-exile which gradually gained recognition - even by the League (post-Avenol). As you see membership of these countries is rather complicated...Pavlor (talk) 12:13, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

Newfoundland
Newfoundland ceased to be a colony of anyone in 1907. It might have let the UK handle foreign policy, but it was a Dominion, the same status as Canada. Newfoundland did not seek to join the League of Nations, so should be indicated as a nonmember. --Richardson mcphillips (talk) 01:43, 18 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Even after 1934 establishment of Newfoundland Commission of Government? Pavlor (talk) 09:20, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

It did not revert to colony status. It was technically still a Dominion. --Richardson mcphillips (talk) 15:13, 18 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I don´t know precise legal aspects of Newfoundland´s Dominion status, but lack of self-government voids comparison to Canada. Question is, was Newfoundland independent enough in view of international law to become member? Note the Dominion of Newfoundland never adopted the Statute of Westminster. On the other hand, British empire had separate membership for India... Pavlor (talk) 15:36, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article Dominion of Newfoundland says "After the war, Newfoundland along with the other dominions sent a separate delegation to the Paris Peace Conference but, unlike the other dominions, Newfoundland did not sign the Treaty of Versailles in her own right, nor did she seek a separate membership in the League of Nations." That same article says, referring to the Commission of Government, "Newfoundland remained a dominion in name only"which implies that it still legally was a dominion. The question of Commission of Government would still leave the period before 1934. And the interesting question of the non-adhesion to the Statute of Westminster would still leave Nfld in the same situation as Canada before 1931. Richardson mcphillips (talk) 02:08, 20 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Feel free to change whatever you want, I don´t mind. Pavlor (talk) 06:08, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll wait a bit to see if anyone else wants to chime in. In the meantime, I can't figure out how to edit a map so it might stay this way for a while. Richardson mcphillips (talk) 21:48, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Member states of the League of Nations. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080510160203/http://www.bartleby.com/67/2242.html to http://www.bartleby.com/67/2242.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 23:39, 29 November 2017 (UTC)

Irish Free State, India, and the map...?
Hello, can somebody please fix the incorrect status of the Irish Free State, which joined in August 1923, separate from the other Dominions completely, and was not automatically included due to Great Britain's - or the British Empire's - membership in 1920 as is implied by its complete omission?

India was never separately represented, as it was never a Dominion and remained a Colony in all but name until independence in 1947? The link to some Archive Machine is also wrong regarding its list of states and inductions.

The transitional map also misrepresents these facts.

Nürö G'DÄŸ MÄTË 08:03, 1 November 2021 (UTC)
 * That map is a mess (eg. inconsistency of WW2 changes - Czechoslovakia not included, Poland included). As of India, membership and representation are two different concepts. What changes you have in mind? Pavlor (talk) 09:06, 1 November 2021 (UTC)

Conflicting join and leave dates
Unfortunately, the sources linked by this article have contradictory join and leave dates for several of the members. When I tried to reconcile them with reliable sources, I found even more contradictions. Some look like typos while others don't. For transparency, I'm outlining everything here.

I'm using the following sources:
 * 1) https://www.thegreenpapers.com/ww/LeagueOfNations.phtml
 * 2) https://www.worldstatesmen.org/International_Organizations.html#League
 * 3) https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1919Parisv13/ch10subch1
 * 4) https://www.jstor.org/stable/2188357?seq=1 (Membership in the League of Nations JSTOR article from 1924)
 * 5) https://treaties.un.org/Pages/Content.aspx?path=DB/LoNOnline/pageIntro_en.xml
 * 6) https://www.ungeneva.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/sdn_chronology_0.pdf

Note:
 * Because the Assembly didn't meet until November 1920, several sources (including the more reliable ones) just assume that everyone listed in the original Covenant must have joined on exactly 10 January 1920, when the Covenant entered into force, instead of between January and November. This assumption is inaccurate; all instances of 10 January 1920 have been deliberately omitted from the table below to reduce visual clutter (because the point of the table is to note contradictions).

Methodology:
 * The last four sources (US State Dept., JSTOR, UN official sites) are probably more reliable than the first two. (Yes, even the two different UN official sites disagree with each other.) The first two sources were originally linked by this article.
 * If there's a plurality among the reliable sources, use that date.
 * If the more reliable sources tie, use the first two sources as tiebreaker (otherwise several withdrawals including Haiti, Romania, Chile etc. would all tie). If still tied, then note the deadlock in the article.
 * The reliable sources tend to omit de facto withdrawals and only note de jure ones. De facto dates are well documented and can be used. If one source lists a de jure date and another lists a de facto date, use the de jure date (usually a state issuing a withdrawal under duress, followed by the League not recognizing the withdrawal).
 * The reliable sources tend to only mention the date a country actually de jure withdrew its obligations, not the date 2 years earlier when it quit and stopped participating in the League. Since there isn't enough reliable information on the earlier date for all the members, it's being omitted from the article table.
 * One source says that Finland formally withdrew, 2-year notice period and all, during WW2. This doesn't seem to be backed up by anything?

Zowayix001 (talk) 04:35, 10 July 2024 (UTC)
 * Finally figured out why everyone disagreed on the withdrawal dates: it often took a day or multiple days between the member sending the withdrawal notification, the League Secretariat receiving it, and the League Assembly receiving it. When these dates differ, it looks like even the reliable sources kept switching which of the three dates they picked across various members. I've finally added sources for the withdrawal notification dates to the article, picking the earliest date as that's the one most prominently highlighted by the League documents. Note that this was only done in a reasonable time since withdrawals are their own separate documents with dates in the metadata (contrast joins, whose dates are buried within journals). Zowayix001 (talk) 06:22, 16 July 2024 (UTC)