Mandate System Research Articles

THE FIRST INTEGRATION ATTEMPT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIK OF GEORGIA WITH THE WESTERN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (IN THE 20s OF THE 20 CENTURY)

The first attempts of integration of the Democratic Republic of Georgia with Europe and the United States of America are studied in the paper. Integration was foreseen by the Georgian government as a guarantee for security and economic development of the country, which was demonstrated through the joint actions and closer partnership among the countries. The analyses of the new information resources and modern research methodology enabled us to positively evaluate the strategy and tactics of Noe Zhordania’s government considering the historical circumstances of that time. The European countries and the United States of America considered a problem of Georgia in the context of the international policy. There was a secret battle among the great powers over mandate system and distribution of influence. Therefore, the strategies and political decisions used to unexpectedly change. The international situation after the First World War and the controversial political platforms of the Georgian diplomats raised number of questions about the instability of political course of the Democratic Government of Georgia not positively effecting the decisions of the Paris Conference or the League of Nations. Eventually, Georgia lost a trust being a secure and an important geopolitical partner in a strategic region to fight against the Bolshevik Russia. On the other hand, an inclination of the European countries to trade and economically cooperate with Russia hindered the political attempts of Georgia to obtain mandate over the country with the purpose of protecting it from the anticipated annexation by the Bolshevik Russia.

Proto-Refugees? Palestinian Arabs and the Concept of Statelessness before 1948

The Palestine mandate was built around the assumption that the League of Nations and the British mandatory government would preside over a gradual demographic and political transformation there, creating a European Jewish settler majority to replace the Palestinian Arab one and allowing for the eventual emergence of a Jewish nation-state. This process required a corresponding de-nationalisation of the incumbent Arab population – a project that formally began with the language of the mandate and continued through the mechanisms of governance set by the British mandate state and the League of Nations throughout the mandate period. Through new legal, economic and political mechanisms, the mandate system coalesced around a project of producing Palestinian Arab statelessness that made notable use of a simultaneously emerging language of refugeedom elsewhere in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This paper explores the use of refugee-related discourse and institutions to produce this deliberate de-nationalisation of Palestinian Arabs during the mandate period, arguing that the League of Nations put into place conditions and categories of statelessness for Palestinians that set them up as ‘proto-refugees’ long before the physical expulsions of 1948 and set the stage for an international acceptance of their refugee status as a long-established and essentially permanent condition.

THE «JORDANIAN OPTION» FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: FROM THE «ABDULLAH-HUSSEIN’S PLAN» TO THE D. TRUMP’S «DEAL OF THE CENTURY»

The article is devoted to the consideration of the role of the «Jordanian option» for the solution of the Palestinian question, which was embodied in the Middle East by the Hashemite dynasty. As the direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, they initiated the pan-Arab movement to create a united Arab state on the lands of the historical «Great Syria» and the Hejaz. In the context of the formation of a mandate system of these territories, the opposition of the Zionist movement and neighboring Arab countries, the Hashemites focused their attention on Palestine. After World War II, the Abdullah Hussein plan was implemented, which resulted in the creation of a federation between Jordan and Arab Palestine. After the loss of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967, Jordan maintained administrative and legal ties with the part of Palestine occupied by Israel. Only in 1988, having abandoned its claims to the status of a unified Arab state, Jordan «distanced itself» from the specific forms of the future Palestinian state formation and the time framing of its emergence. By such actions, Jordan «secured» itself from participation in the creation of a Palestinian state what is explained by the fact that the Palestinians play an important role in the country, influencing its demographic and socio-economic component. The peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump in 2018 stipulating the formation of a Jordan-Palestine federation, known as the «Deal of the Century» can be considered as an actual revival of the «Abdullah-Hussein» plan. This indicates that Jordan and in the 20s of the XXIst century still remains an important actor in the settlement of the Palestinian question, on which balanced policy the factual peace in the Middle East will strongly depend.

Sovereignty under the League of Nations Mandates: The Jurists’ Debates

Abstract The mandate system took shape at an inflexion point in the evolution from an international system based on rule over territories to one based on rule over peoples. Political compromises made at the Paris Peace Conference resulted in the creation of a new political agent, the League of Nations Mandate, with no clear sovereign. In seeking to systematize this political outcome, jurists located sovereignty with the victorious Great Powers, the League itself, and with the peoples of the mandate territories. Yet they never achieved a consensus, which created an absence at the centre of the mandate system that politics would have to fill throughout the interwar period.

A League to Preserve Empires: Understanding the Mandates System and Avenues for Further Scholarly Inquiry

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

The French Mandate in Lebanon

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

The British Cameroons Mandate Regime: The Roots of the Twenty-First-Century Political Crisis in Cameroon

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

The Matter of Time

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

“Sons of the Soil”: Cause Lawyers, the Togo-Cameroun Mandates, and the Origins of Decolonization

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

An International Regime in an Age of Empire

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

The Ottoman Empire: The Mandate That Never Was

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

Islands for an Anxious Empire: Japan’s Pacific Island Mandate

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of AHR “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

Betwixt and Between Colony and Nation-State: Liminality, Decolonization, and the South West Africa Mandate

Abstract A century after the victorious Allied powers distributed their spoils of victory in 1919, the world still lives with the geopolitical consequences of the mandates system established by the League of Nations. The Covenant article authorizing the new imperial dispensation came cloaked in the old civilizationist discourse, entrusting sovereignty over “peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world” to the “advanced nations” of Belgium, England, France, Japan, and South Africa. In this series of “reflections” on the mandates, ten scholars of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the international order consider the consequences of the new geopolitical order birthed by World War I. How did the reshuffling of imperial power in the immediate postwar period configure long-term struggles over minority rights, decolonization, and the shape of nation-states when the colonial era finally came to a close? How did the alleged beneficiaries—more often the victims—of this “sacred trust” grasp their own fates in a world that simultaneously promised and denied them the possibility of self-determination? From Palestine, to Namibia, to Kurdistan, and beyond, the legacies of the mandatory moment remain pressing questions today.

Final stage of the struggle for independence of Syria: international discussion on evacuation of foreign troops (1945-1946)

The subject of this research is the final stage of the struggle for independence of Syria (1945-1946). The article explores the “Anglo-French Agreement on Near East” of December 13, 1945, as well as the response of Syrian society to its conclusion. The author reviews the discussion in the United Nations Security Council  that took place on February 14-16, 1946 regarding the question of evacuation of foreign troops from the territory of Levant , as well as the results of decisions accepted in the UN Security Council that affected the attainment of independence of Syria. Moreover, the article analyzes the final stage of negotiations between Syrian, British and French governments, which led to evacuation of foreign troops from Syria on April 17, 1946. This event resumed the result of French mandate control in the country. The conclusion is made that the “Anglo-French Agreement on Near East” of December 13, 1945 became a breakthrough moment in the struggle of Syrian nation for independence. After it has been signed, the protest movement in Syrian cities reached its heights, forcing the government of Levant to propose it for consideration in the UN Security Council regarding the evacuation of foreign troops on February 14-16, 1946. Although no resolution has been adopted, the question received an international resonance. Under the international pressure, Britain and France had to withdraw their troops in April 1946. This marked another – Syrian – chapter of decolonization of Asian countries. The mandate system was left behind.

Problematising the peacebuilding strategies through embedded and situated research in Pyla

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use Foucault’s genealogical analysis to problematise the influence of political agreements and resolutions on Cypriots’ social life and to examine spatial practices. At the same time, this paper deals with the implications of the UN’s vision for Pyla in Cyprus as a prototype of integrity and bi-communality. Furthermore, it analyses and problematises the UN mandate system in order to challenge “peace-keeping” strategies.Design/methodology/approachThis investigation has been achieved through the author’s experience of situating and being in the site as well as through conducting site-specific interventions, performances, walking, observations, writing and interviews. Adding to these analytical methods, the involvement of the feminist theories in different ways allowed author to be more critical, reflexive and personal. In addition, the author critically analyses legal documents such as the Cyprus Constitution and the UN’s reports, documents and resolutions in order to understand the connection between politics and accordingly the creation of space.FindingsThis embedded critical spatial research into the in-between village Pyla establishes a new methodological understanding for design interventions that do not target a solution but, by implementing a reflexive practice, they create resistance practices. Focusing on these practices should allow a critical reflection on the previously applied urban development programs and their impact on Pyla and other cities and villages in Cyprus. The findings and outcomes that are presented through this research can be used by different powers for a critical reflection on the role of design in conflict situations.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations of this research has been the lack of direct contact with the Greek Cypriot inhabitants of the village in order to understand their specific views on the conflict and their participation in the everyday life of the village. One of the reasons for this has been the differences in language which has made it difficult to approach the citizens and discuss their struggles as they would not necessarily confine in an outsider. Nonetheless, the author has tried to capture Greek Cypriot views in the circumstances of the UN and authorities meeting and, where possible has relied on literature to guide the understanding of the village life and Greek Cypriot role in it.Originality/valueThe author’s critical reflection on the unification-focused resolution strategies for the divided Cyprus (created by the UN, academics and architects) established the unique strength of this research paper. This research does not perceive the Cyprus conflict and its division as a problem, instead, it recognises the conflict and works within its division in order to understand the hidden political transformations, powers, appreciations and practices which become subordinate to the conflict. Different practices challenge the idea behind the normalisation processes that the UN aimed to achieve and reacts to those who came up with unification strategies; nonetheless, this should open new visions in the negotiations between the different powers.

The Trusteeship Council and state failure – Trusteeship systems and the forgotten UN organ in the 21st century

This paper shows the historical path of the different types of trusteeship systems. It describes the evolution of the League of Nations’ Mandate System, the United Nations’ Trusteeship Council and their application to different regions. The paper identifies the problems facing the creation of a trusteeship system nowadays and tries to offer possible answers to them as well. The United Nations Trusteeship System supervised the relationships between non-self-governing territories and their colonial masters. The purpose of the organisation was purely the implementation of decolonisation measures. That is the reason why the Council suspended its activities in 1994. Thanks to the globalisation, the Negative Spillover Effects (NSEs) of the 21st century may make the trusteeship systems desirable once again. Security problems like state failure demand a more effective response from the international com-munity. The cases of Somalia, East Timor and Kosovo show that the UN Security Council was ready to create missions tasked with similar responsibilities as a trusteeship in the past. During the discussion about the war-torn Syria, creation of a “safe zone” was mentio-ned as well. The ultimate solution for these chaotic places could be a new type of trusteeship system. The paper argues in favour of the Trusteeship Council to be revitalized as the main organ responsible for the management of these problems.

Note from the Editor

Note from the Editor Sem Vermeersch This issue again presents both continuity and change. As any discipline, humanities research naturally reflects the changes in society, both in terms of new topics of research and new research methodology, and in the different ways research is accessed and used. Continuity can be seen in two articles that reflect the academic activities taking place at Kyujanggak, the intellectual home of our journal. This issue contains two papers from our annual Symposium on Korean Studies. This year the 12th edition of the Symposium was held on November 1 and 2, and though for once it did not have a specific conference theme, since it coincided with a special exhibition on King Chŏngjo, both the keynote address and a panel were devoted to King Chŏngjo's legacy. The keynote address by Prof. Kim In-geol, a former Director of Kyujangak and emeritus professor of Korean history, analyzes the evolution of research on King Chŏngjo. Reproduced here as a special essay, it offers a cautionary tale on how not to read the present into the past. Having devoted much of his career to the history of late Chosŏn society, Professor Kim is uniquely placed to dissect the intricacies of eighteenth-century political discourse, and through a close reading of key passages shows the importance of a correct interpretation of the terminology of the day. Although I do not normally introduce the book reviews, in this case it is worth drawing the reader's attention to the first Englishlanguage book on King Chŏngjo, by Christopher Lovins, reviewed here by Prof. Kim Paek-chol. This work takes a macroscopic view, and for the first time brings late Chosŏn into fruitful dialogue with modern European history. Another paper from this year's symposium is Mark Caprio's "The Politics of Trusteeship." It formed part of a panel revisiting the immediate post-liberation period; while the influence of colonial legacies is often debated, the impact of this brief period is often overlooked. The trusteeship issue was one of the most divisive political issues of the time, around which the positions of north and south gradually hardened. This article focuses especially on the precedents of [End Page v] trusteeship (or mandate system) that helped to shape the policy choices for Korea. Hopefully we can present more papers from the symposium in following issues. Rounding off the 'traditional' part is an article by Sem Vermeersch on the founding of the Ch'ŏnt'ae Order by Ŭich'ŏn. Although he agrees with the general consensus that Ŭich'ŏn was indeed the founder of a new Buddhist order, he draws attention to the precarious situation in which he left it. Ŭich'ŏn is still heralded for his vision of a unified Buddhism, yet crucially he never provided the template through which Ch'ŏnt'ae might achieve this. This left the disciples who had to implement the new school in a quandary. This article also draws attention to Pure Land societies as a crucial missing link in the success of the new school. Representing newer trends in academic research is the article by Jung A Choi and Han Sung Kim on Na Hyesŏk. Rather than focusing on her pioneering activities as a "new woman" artist, the authors focus on how her feminism was received by male contemporaries. By focusing on the image of Ibsen's Nora she projected through her poem "A Doll's Song," the authors reveal the different expectations and iterations of modernity and feminism in colonial Korea. For the first time, we are also including a section on "materials in translation." Yulgok's Kyŏngmong yogyŏl (Essential instructions on rectifying folly) is a well-known primer in Confucian education. It has been translated many times in different languages, but here the translator, Sanghoon Na, reveals the discussions that took place between Yulgok and Song Ikp'il, who urged Yulgok to revise several passages. In the end Yulgok seems to have ignored most of his friend's suggestions, yet the correspondence between the two shows how important the project was to them; it also reveals something of their personalities. We are hoping to present...

Система мандатів Ліги Націй – успіх чи невдача?

Основним питанням цієї статті є аналіз мандатної системи Ліги Націй, орієнтованої на "В" мандати, а також спроба відповісти на запитання на скільки успішною вона була. Більше того, пропоноване дослідження з проблеми мандатів має на меті показати, чи пов’язана сучасна нестабільна ситуація в Африці з діяльністю Ліги. Створення системи, в якій держави-переможниці у Першій світовій війні мали сприяти розвитку відсталих регіонів, видавалося ідеальною моделлю. Безумовно, це мало створити краще майбутнє для корінних народів, однак, необхідно розглянути, чи була форма, за якою мандати могли надати допомогу, доречною і чи була вона зосереджена на розвитку цих територій чи ще більшою мірою використовувала колонії. Століттями Африка використовувалася європейцями як джерело природних ресурсів і робочої сили. План Ліги Націй щодо посилення трансформації регіонів, колонізованих у несуверенних державах, був гарною ідеєю, але слід пам’ятати, що Ліга Націй трансформувалася в Організацію Об’єднаних Націй. Таким чином, минув дуже короткий проміжок часу в їх відносинах, оскільки африканські колонії перетворилися на незалежні держави.

A két világháború közti libanoni rendszer természetrajza

The reconfiguration of the Middle East after the First World War can be regarded as the first wave of Europeanization in the Middle East. The centuries-long imperial order that defined the region and originated from local factors were replaced by a European-type modern state system, in which mandate powers such as France and Great Britain established Western institutions with their secular ideology, administrative basis, and understanding of sovereignty. It was evident from the beginning, that the arbitrarily designated borders broke many wellestablished local compromises and subverted the delicate balance between different sects, religions, language groups, and nations. The case of Lebanon – as the most complex area concerning the ethnic and sectarian divisions – illustrates the fact that implementing a European style nationstate into a Middle Eastern environment met with resistance and these set of internal contradictions have been exerting influence on the political situation of the region ever since. Although the mandate system of the interwar period broke up and Lebanon gained independence after the Second World War, the original demands by local movements (e.g. establishing a Greater Syria) was not possible owing to the firm establishment of new borders after 1918. In practice, this meant that independence was materialized in a framework defined by France and Great Britain and this condition considerably limited the space of action both on the political and the social level.

POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE EMERGENCE OF THE MANDATE PALESTINE: Old and “New Diplomacy” (1918–1923)

Introduction. The Mandate Palestine as a separate administrative unit inside the British empire emerged after the First World War. The aim of the present article is to research and analyze the key factors of its creation, the so-called «new diplomacy», which was formed on the verge of 1910s–1920s. Materials and methods. The methods used in the article are historical-analytical and historical-systematical applied to the original sources, as well as to the research literature on the relevant topics. Results and Discussion. During and after the First World War there happened considerable changes in the international political system: nationalist movements of the Middle East became the leading players in it; among them a major role was played by the Jewish and Arab nationalism. Their aspirations were supported by the United States of America, which with the help of the «new diplomacy» and the League of Nations tried to change the balance of powers on the international arena of that period. Conclusion. As a result of all the changes the mandate system was created – a new phenomenon in the international relations of that period. Thus the appearance of the Mandate Palestine became possible Keywords: the Mandate Palestine, Zionism, nationalism, the Middle East, «new diplomacy», the League of Nations