In this innovative account of the origins of the idea of the League of
Nations, Sakiko Kaiga casts new light on the pro–League of Nations
movement in Britain in the era of the First World War, revealing its
unexpected consequences for the development of the first international
organisation for peace. Combining international, social and intellectual
history and international relations, she challenges two misunderstandings about the role of the movement: that their ideas about a league were
utopian and that its peaceful ideal appealed to the war-weary public.
Kaiga demonstrates how the original post-war plan consisted of both
realistic and idealistic views of international relations and shows how it
evolved and changed in tandem with the war. She provides a comprehensive analysis of the unknown origins of the League of Nations and
highlights the transformation of international society and of ideas about
war prevention from the twentieth century to the present.
Sakiko Kaiga is a research fellow at the Institute of Social Science,
University of Tokyo.