Administering the Administrators

The administration of the industrially important Saar territory, taken from Germany following the First World War, was one of the League of Nations’ most high-profile tasks. As the first instance of international territorial administration undertaken by an international organization, striking the right balance between control and autonomy proved challenging for the League. At the heart of the challenge was the relationship between the Governing Commission which administered the territory on the ground, the Great Power dominated League Council, and the League’s Permanent International Secretariat. This article examines how the patterns and practices of the League’s Saar administration were negotiated between these three entities during its first five formative years, and also points to the tension inherent in the League’s two dominant approaches: public diplomacy and technocratic functionalism

Administration (probate law · Autonomy · Diplomacy · League · Political science · Politics · Technocracy · European history and politics · European Political History Analysis · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · Law · Public Administration