'An anomaly among anomalies'; colonial membership of the League of Nations

The admission of colonial India as a founding member of the League of Nations is often perceived as an anomaly of the international system, as well as a paradox in imperial policy. Yet India’s admission was built on historical precedent and set the stage for other colonial polities in the British Empire to be later admitted to the League. The admission of colonies to international organisations was only practised by the British Empire and was shunned by other European empires. However, the inclusion of British colonial polities to international organisations reveals new practices in imperial policy to legitimise empire in the face of growing nationalist resistance to colonial rule. This thesis will study the accession of three colonial states: India in 1919, Ireland in 1923 and Egypt in 1937. Each colonial polity had a different status in the Empire and was admitted to the League at different points in its history. This thesis thus tracks the development of colonial representation from its outset at the League’s creation in 1919 towards the end of the League’s authority in the latter half of the 1930’'.