A Sacred Trust: The League of Nations and Africa, 1929-1946

A Sacred Trust: The League of Nations and Africa, 1929-1946. By Michael D. Callahan. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2004. Distributed by International Specialized Books Service, Portland, Oregon. Pp. x, 197, appendices. $69.50. The mandate system of the League of Nations introduced a new level of international oversight to European colonialism in Africa. Focusing on the 1930s, Michael Callahan's new study examines the operation and influence of this innovation on imperialism. It carries forward the analysis he began in his earlier book, Mandates and Empire: The League of Nations and Africa, 1914-1931 (1999). Callahan argues that the mandate system provided a significant force for the reform and internationalization of Anglo-French colonialism. Drawing on Wilsonian principles, the mandates advanced the idea of trusteeship rather than colonial annexation. The author contends that they led to a decline in militarism, an increase in commercial equality (though this generally refers to equal opportunities for expatriates in the mandates), and greater concern for the interests of Africans. Accompanying the "sacred trust" represented by the mandates was a new form of colonial accountability before the Permanent Mandates Commission (PMC) in Geneva. This in turn forced a broader reexamination of European imperialism. Callahan's analysis reveals the dual nature of these relationships as colonial officials, experts, and interest groups influenced the PMC. Its agenda of gradual reforms shaped not only policies in the mandates but also the general culture of colonialism. The author bases his assessments on thorough research in British and French archives, extensive use of published primary sources, including League documents, and wide reading of secondary sources. This is a valuable study, but some of its interpretations are problematic. The research is limited by a European colonial perspective. European colonial officials report to a PMC led by men who were often former European colonial officials. Further, the desire to prevent a return of the mandates to Germany provided an incentive to emphasize the reforms that were being introduced. Petitions from the mandated territories do offer some African views on issues before the Commission. Additional African perspectives, such as those found in West African newspapers, could have provided the work with further insights on such topics as indirect rule and the Ethiopian crisis as well as on self-determination-a Wilsonian principle largely absent from contemporary Western considerations in Africa. In Africa, the study focuses on the British and French mandates in Tanganyika, Togo, and Cameroon. This selection provides a comparative basis for examining the policies of the two major European colonial powers, and the author is able to show examples of reforms introduced under the mandate system. …