New Zealand in the League of Nations

Download or read book New Zealand in the League of Nations written by Gerald Chaudron and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When New Zealand's prime minister William Massey joined other heads of British Empire countries in signing the 1919 Treaty of Versailles to end World War I and join the League of Nations, he did not regard the act as a declaration of independence. On the contrary, while Canadian and South African leaders saw membership in the league as a rite of passage towards greater autonomy, New Zealand's leader 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 complex movement, the book traces New Zealand's first tiny, halting steps towards developing its own foreign policy.