  Countries that were granted mandates to supervise  Mandatory powers were supposed to send an annual report on their territories to the League’s Permant Mandates Commission  The mandatory powers could manage the mandates the best way they deemed the best Mandatory Powers

  There was an agreement amongst the allies to create a mandatory system to distribute the colonies of the defeated powers  This would be supervised by the League of Nations  The main priority of the mandate system was to ensure the well being of the people and the development of these territories

  The League of Nations was also responsible for making sure that trade was possible for each territory and that no slavery occurred  The main purpose was to create independent democratic states and help improve the populations education and ways of life

  Three classes of mandates existed; mandates A, B and C. Each territory was put into a class according to its stage of development and to which extent it was ready to becoming independent.

Mandate System  A League of Nations mandate refers to territories transferred from the control of one country to another following WW I.  The mandate system was established under Article 22 of the League of Nations.  All the mandates were previously controlled by states defeated in WW I, principally Germany and the Ottoman Empire.

  The territories, which in the near future would be ready for independence where placed in "mandates A". This included Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Transjordan.  The territories that where less advanced and where not going to become independent for quite some time where placed in "mandates B". This included the German colonies in Africa which where distributed to Britain, France and Belgium.

  The territories which had a low population and where underdeveloped fell into "mandates C" and where handed over directly to the countries that had conquered them. Japan, New Zealand and Australia received the German colonies in the Pacific and South Africa received Southwest Africa.

  Some countries like Japan treated its new colonies as an addition to its territory which went against the system  The mandate system did however create a system in which the countries in power of these colonies had responsibilities to the people who lived them and if these countries actions went against the system they could be subjected to an international body.

  There was a lot of controversy around the distribution of the mandates especially because most of them went to France and the UK which were already in possession of the worlds largest empires

  The Italians where very unhappy as they had been promised territories which they had not received and in addition they were not given any mandates even though they where on the winning side of the war  The Arabs in the Middle East where also very unhappy about the mandate system as they wanted land and independent status which they were not given despite the fact that they helped the UK conquer the Ottoman Empire

  Another controversy emerged when the British decided to go ahead with the Balfour Declaration of 1917

Class A Mandates  The mandates were divided into three groups: Class A, B, & C  Class A mandates  Class A mandates were areas formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire that were recognized as independent nations but were provisionally recognized subject to a lead country until they are able to stand alone.

  Mesopotamia (United Kingdom), which became the independent kingdom of Iraq.  Syria (France) After the termination of the French Mandate, to independent nations were formed (Syria and Lebanon) Examples of Class A Mandates

Class B Mandates  Class B mandates  Class B mandates were all former German territories in the Sub-Saharan regions of West and Central Africa, which were deemed to require a greater level of control by the mandatory power. The mandatory power was forbidden to construct military or naval bases within the mandates.

  Ruanda-Urundi (Belgium) became two separate nations of Rwanda and Burundi after independence Example of Class B Mandates

Class C mandates  Class C mandates  Class C mandates, including South-West Africa and the South Pacific Islands, were considered to be best administered under the laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory.  They essentially became colonies of the Mandates.  The Class C mandates were former German possessions.

  former German New Guinea became the Territory of New Guinea (Australia/United Kingdom)  former German Samoa (New Zealand/UK)  South-West Africa (South Africa/UK) Examples of Class C Mandates

 League of Nations’ Mandates