New Zealand in the League of Nations: The Beginnings of an Independent Foreign Policy, 1919-1939

When leaders of New Zealand joined other heads of British Commonwealth countries in signing the 1919 Treaty of Versailles to end World War I and joining the League of Nations, they did not regard the act as a declaration of independence. On the contrary, while their Canadian and South African counterparts saw membership in the league as a rite of passage towards greater autonomy, New Zealand’s leaders viewed it as an unwelcome burden and a potential threat to the British Empire. This history of New Zealand’s relations with the League of Nations from its inception in 1920 to its demise in 1946 follows the government’s transformation in attitude from its initial hostility to detached acceptance and, finally, passionate support in the late 1930s. By chronicling this intricate relationship, this work traces New Zealand’s first tiny, halting steps towards developing its own foreign policy.