The League of Nations; The Way to the World's Peace (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER VI GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS Territorial and professional unions of a sort were in existence before the war. Alliances of States were formed with a particular purpose in view. International treaties of all kinds were concluded between them, and international bureaux were set up, which were empowered by these alliances of States to perform certain tasks for the community. Very often, too, arbitration treaties between individual nations were concluded, so that differences of opinion might be settled by law instead of by force. But there existed no obligation on the part of all the States to establish their collective and reciprocal relations on a basis of universality and mutual consideration. These individual unions of States have not prevented the latter from behaving, in given instances, as their interests demanded. According to the prevailing usages of the international policy obtaining in modern times, every State is absolutely sovereign and independent; all, ifthey feel that they are sufficiently powerful, employ forcible means of accomplishing what they consider to be worth striving for. It is only because war means profound interference with the life of the nation that the States do not more frequently resort to arms. As a mutual protection against the danger of war, the States heap up stupendous armaments, and form coalitions. On principle, they pursue their external policies in accordance with their own actual or pretended interests. They are judges of their own cause; they themselves decide the standard of their behavior to other States, and they tolerate no interference in what they proclaim their spheres of interest. In the international political system as it has hitherto existed there is, in respect of political questions, or matters...