Constantinople and the Battle for the League of Nations, 1919–1920 : Global Inclusivity Versus Western Imperialism

This book examines the forgotten proposal to make Constantinople the headquarters of the League of Nations after the First World War, in order to rethink the origins of modern international order.

This book examines the forgotten proposal to make Constantinople the headquarters of the League of Nations after the First World War, in order to rethink the origins of modern international order. By tracing the debate between liberal internationalism and Western imperialism, it shows how global governance was shaped by power, geography, and ideology rather than universal principles. The author argues that the choice of Geneva as the League’s seat was not a neutral administrative decision, but a deeply political one. Focusing on the years from 1919 to 1920, the book reconstructs a critical moment when two competing visions of world order collided: the first, an inclusive, post-imperial internationalism advanced by figures such as David Davies, versus an imperial internationalism championed by policy-makers and the likes of Jan Smuts and Robert Henry Brand. At stake was whether the League would emerge as a genuinely global institution or as a reconfigured instrument of Western dominance. Drawing on pamphlets, Peace Conference minutes, parliamentary debates, and archival sources, the book offers a new perspective on postwar diplomacy, the League of Nations, and the spatial politics of international institutions.