Conclusion: The League of Nations, International Law, and Beyond

What was the place of international law in the League of Nations? Drawing up the balance from the many perspectives on this question offered in the Handbook, the Conclusion first and foremost acknowledges the complex reality observed in many chapters of an oftentimes messy interplay between politics and law, a reality that defies any generalizing account of either ‘failure’ or ‘progress’ achieved through the League. Instead, it points at three overarching developments that can be discerned: (1) the continuing impact of ‘peace through law’ ideals throughout the League years in spite of their suppression during the Paris Peace Conference; (2) the imperial, civilizational but also geographical differences the League of Nations and its international law helped sustain but also contested from the perspective of (legal) equality; and (3) the transformation of international law into a prerequisite of global governance which prevailed also after the League of Nations collapsed.