Introduction

The expansion of European Empires ensured that the entire globe was encompassed by one, European system of international law by the conclusion of the nineteenth century. The great project of dismantling these Empires, of facilitating the transformation of colonial territories into sovereign, independent states, was to become one of the central preoccupations of the United Nations from the 1950s onwards.

The first efforts to begin this radical project of transforming colonial territories into sovereign states commenced, however, immediately after the First World War. It occurred at the same time that another monumental change was taking place in international law, the emergence of international institutions in the form of the League of Nations. Up to the beginning of the twentieth century, sovereign states were the only actors recognized by international law. With the creation of the League, however, the international institution emerged as a new actor in the international system, providing international law with a new range of ambi-tions and techniques for the management of international relations.