Mrs. Ruland's Advanced Placement United States History Class
Unit 12 — Diplomacy and War, 1920-1945
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
The League of Nations was an international association of countries created at the end of World War I. It grew out of the desire of the people throughout the world to prevent war forever. The League began on January 10, 1920. Most of the major nations were members. Woodrow Wilson is considered the father of the League (the proposal was one of Wilson's fourteen points). However, the Senate of the United States refused to ratify the Versailles Treaty, and refused to approve membership in the League. The League of Nations was officially dissolved on April 18, 1946, when another international organization, the United Nations, took its place.
The League of Nations was organized under the League Covenant, or constitution. This document contained twenty-six articles explaining the organization and the purpose of the League. The covenant created three main bodies--the Secretariat, the Assembly, and the Council.
The Secretariat was the permanent secretarial staff of the League. It consisted of several hundred persons of all nationalities appointed by the League Council. The Secretariat appointed persons to work in the various League sections such as the Political, Economic and Financial, Communications and Transit, Disarmament, and Health.
The Assembly was the largest and most democratic body of the League. Each of the member nations sent representatives to the Assembly. These representatives had only one vote no matter how large the country they represented. The Assembly was often called "the sounding board of the civilized world." The sessions, which were held a minimum of once a year, were reported in newspapers throughout the world. The Assembly admitted new members, elected temporary members to the Council of the League, controlled the budget, and made changes in the League Covenant.
The most important work of the League of Nations was the peaceful settlement of international quarrels. The Council was set up for that purpose. The nine member Council was later expanded to fourteen. Great Britain and France were permanent members throughout its life; Italy, Germany, Japan, and Russia held permanent seats for various periods of time. The remaining seats went to the other League members in turn. The Council members met at least three times a year to consider threats to world peace.
One of the most difficult tasks of the Council was to protect small nations from their powerful neighbors. When a conflict arose, both parties would be called before the Council to submit arguments for their position. The Council then tried to settle the problem satisfactorily and peacefully. Any individual member who felt threatened by another member could bring his complaint to the Council for settlement.
Unfortunately, the efforts of the Council were not always successful. During 1935 and 1936 the Council failed to settle the dispute between Italy and Ethiopia. At that time, Italy was trying to build an empire at the expense of the Ethiopians. Italian troops invaded Ethiopia. The Emperor of Ethiopia appealed to the League of Nations. Neither the Council nor the League could stop the Italian aggression. The League did not have any real power to enforce their decisions. Settlement of disputes depended upon the co-operation of the nations involved. The nations striving to become world powers refused, and therefore the League was unable to fulfill its purpose.
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Last updated December 27, 2002
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