Eye Witnesses to Peace 1918-20: Forming the League of Nations

An education resource for one or two lessons focusing on individuals who witnessed the aftermath of the First World War in Britain and Europe and tried to improve the fragile peace through documents from LSE Archives, including the Women’s Library Collection. These notes and presentation cover ‘Peace-making’ and the formation of The League of Nations for the early part of the ‘inter-war years 1918-1939’ topic at GCSE level, with extra content that can be adapted for A Level. A Level and / or Citizenship sections are marked in orange.

Presented within contextual information about the background of the armistice, the Paris Peace Treaty and the formation of the League of Nations, primary sources are presented alongside the story of the person whose archive it belongs to: Beatrice Webb, Eglantyne Jebb, Charles Kingsley Webster, Catherine Marshall and Rachel Crowdy. These five eye witnesses were all involved either in witnessing the painstaking process of agreeing a settlement for the war in the peace conferences, attempting to improve conditions for people after the war or trying to ensure that this was the ‘war to end all wars’ through a lasting peace.

It draws on documents within LSE Archives to provide source work materials and exercises around reading primary sources.

The resource is linked to sections on the League of Nations in the Giving Peace a Chance: From the League of Nations to Greenham Common exhibition at LSE Library 4 January – 17 April 2019, which were curated by Professor David Stevenson, LSE International History.