The League of Nations archives is a collection of the historical

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

and official

documents A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" or ...

of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

. The collection is housed at the

United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...

(UNOG), where it is managed by the Institutional Memory Section (IMS) of the UN Library & Archives Geneva. It consists of approximately 15 million pages of content and comprises nearly 3 linear kilometers. The League of Nations archives' historical significance is recognized by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

, with its inscription on the

Memory of the World Register Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembere ...

in 2009.

History and scope

Throughout its existence (10 January 1920 – 18 April 1946), the League of Nations created and stored records; however, its

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...

s overlap its founding and dissolution, dating back to the negotiations of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

in 1919, and extending through the liquidation of the League after its closure in 1946. In general, the League kept records only as an aftereffect of its functions (i.e., without the intention of preserving its history). As early as 1919, the Secretariat of the League developed a Registry, which was responsible for opening files and keeping registers regarding administration as well as the League's official acts, particularly as embodied in the functioning of the

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and Assembly and their affiliated committees, commissions and conferences. In 1946, the nascent

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

received the League's records and registry documents. At the time, these were not considered to be an archive in the true sense of the term, and access was extremely limited. It wasn't until 1956, during their reorganization under the UNOG Library that they were formally recognized as separate from UN administration. However, access was still very limited, granted to researchers only on a very strict "merits" system. In 1965, the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded i ...

proposed to finance a project to open League materials to researchers. The project commenced in 1966 and concluded in 1969. The main deliverable was the creation of the archives' primary

finding aid A finding aid, in the context of archival science, is an organization tool, a document containing detailed, indexed, and processed metadata and other information about a specific collection of records within an archive. Finding aids often consist o ...

, the ''Répertoire Général'' (accessible in

External Links An internal link is a type of hyperlink on a web page to another page or resource, such as an image or document, on the same website or domain. Hyperlinks are considered either "external" or "internal" depending on their target or destination ...

)'','' corresponding to the change of the League's records and documents into a proper archive. Access to the archives was further defined by the official rules established in a two-page document titled "Access to League of Nations archives," published in the Secretary-General's bulletin in 1969.

Structure

The League of Nations archives is a historical collection of the United Nations Archives at Geneva. It is arranged according to the administrative sections that existed during the time of the League of Nations, such as the Mandates Section, which focused on the administration of the territories under the mandates system as created by the

1927_British_issued_Nansen_identity_certificate

The archives are divided into two main segments: The Secretariat archive group and the External Fonds. The Nansen Fonds (aka "Refugees mixed archive group") is the only section considered to be a hybrid of these two segments.

The Secretariat archive group

The Secretariat archive group encompasses archives that were produced or received at the League of Nations Headquarters in Geneva. It consists of the files established by the Registry, or files generated by certain sections of the League. These are known as Registry files and Section files, respectively.

The Registry

The Registry was the centralized function of the Secretariat that indexed and processed the majority of the records of the League of Nations according to official rules. Registry files are arranged in three different chronological periods: 1919–1927, 1928–1932, and 1933–1946.

Section files

Section files were spontaneously created and developed freely by the specific sections (e.g., Economic and Finance Section, Mandates Section, etc.). Accordingly, they have no "true official history." Due to their separation from the Registry, section files were organized by their respective section. Therefore, Section files tend to be less organized than Registry files.

External Fonds

External Fonds are archive groups of external origin, meaning that they were collected outside of the Secretariat. They were defined and controlled by the specific institutions that created them. Examples include the

Saar Basin Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name *Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist *Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...

Governing Commission and the archives of the League's Berlin Office.

Collections

Aside from the two main segments, the League archives also contain "Collections," which are groups of material assembled independently of the League's administration. The main group of this kind is known as the collection of "documents" of the League.

Destroyed or lost archives

Parts of the League of Nations archives were destroyed at different times for different reasons. Sections files, for example, were not necessarily subjected to the rules of the Registry, and this often resulted in sections destroying records for the sake of administrative convenience. On other occasions, destruction was the consequence of the wartime situation. The most serious losses are those of certain later section files, and the papers of the first two Secretaries-General. Many External Fonds have been lost, subjected to wartime damage, and/or systematic destruction. To date the exact number of missing archives is unknown.

Total Digital Access to the League of Nations Archives Project (LONTAD)

In 2017, the UNOG Library launched the Total Digital Access to the League of Nations Archives Project (LONTAD), with the intention of preserving, digitizing, and providing online access to the League of Nations archives. Its fundamental aim is to modernize access to the archives for researchers, education institutions, and the general public.

References

External links

Access to League of Nations archives

League of Nations Archives (UN Archives Geneva Platform)

League of Nations films

League of Nations finding aids (e.g., Répertoire Général)

League of Nations Photo Archive

LONTAD: Total Digital Access to the LON Archives Research Guide

The Architectural History of International Organizations in Geneva

United Nations Research Guides
{{Authority control Archival science Archives in Switzerland Documents History resources League of Nations Memory of the World Register Records management Works about history 20th century in Geneva