On the 15th of November, 1920, the first assembly of the League of Nations was held in Geneva.The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organisation established after the First World War with the primary aim of maintaining global peace and preventing future conflicts. It was conceived as part of the post-war settlement, largely driven by United States President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, which called for the creation of a general association of nations to provide mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity. The League officially came into existence on the 10th of January. 1920, under the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended the war with Germany.
The League of Nations was headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, chosen for its reputation for political neutrality. Its structure comprised three main organs: the Assembly, the Council, and the Secretariat. The Assembly included representatives from all member states and met annually to discuss general policy and consider matters affecting international relations. The Council, which acted as the executive body, was composed of permanent members – initially Britain, France, Italy, and Japan – and several non-permanent members elected by the Assembly. The Secretariat managed the League’s day-to-day activities, headed by a Secretary-General.
Membership of the League fluctuated over its 26-year history. At its peak, it had 58 member countries, including many significant powers, although the absence of the United States, which never ratified the Treaty of Versailles, greatly undermined its authority from the outset. Germany joined in 1926 but withdrew in 1933 under Adolf Hitler, and the Soviet Union joined in 1934 but was expelled in 1939 following its invasion of Finland. These shifts in membership reflected the volatile international climate of the 1920s and 1930s and highlighted the League’s struggle to maintain the universal legitimacy it aspired to.
The League of Nations sought to promote peace through collective security, disarmament, and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Its Covenant, set out in the Treaty of Versailles, required members to submit conflicts to arbitration, pursue negotiation, and avoid war until all peaceful measures had been exhausted. If a state resorted to war in defiance of the League, the other members could impose economic sanctions and, theoretically, military action as a last resort. In addition to conflict prevention, the League undertook humanitarian and social work, including the administration of mandates over former colonies of the defeated Central Powers, efforts to combat disease, the suppression of the slave trade, and assistance to refugees.
Despite its ambitious mission, the League faced significant challenges and failures. Its first decade saw some successes in mediating minor disputes, such as conflicts between Sweden and Finland over the Åland Islands and between Greece and Bulgaria in 1925. It also contributed to the resolution of border issues following the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. However, the 1930s exposed the League’s weaknesses when confronted with major crises. The organisation failed to respond effectively to Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931, as it lacked the power to enforce its recommendations and its members were reluctant to risk military confrontation. Similarly, the League’s inability to prevent Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935, despite imposing limited economic sanctions, revealed its ineffectiveness in deterring aggressive powers.
The League’s weaknesses stemmed from several factors. Its reliance on the voluntary cooperation of sovereign states meant it could not compel members to act against their national interests. Economic sanctions were often half-hearted and easily circumvented, and the absence of the United States deprived the League of both moral and military authority. Additionally, the requirement for unanimous decisions in the Council and Assembly frequently paralysed action, as any dissenting member could block proposals. The rise of militaristic regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan further eroded the League’s relevance, as these powers openly flouted its authority.
By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the League of Nations had effectively ceased to function as a guardian of peace. Its offices in Geneva continued some technical work during the war, but its credibility as a security organisation was irreparably damaged. After the war, the newly established United Nations, founded in 1945, inherited many of the League’s principles but introduced significant structural changes to avoid repeating its predecessor’s mistakes, such as granting enforcement powers to the Security Council and including the United States from the outset.
Despite its ultimate failure to prevent a second global conflict, the League of Nations left a lasting legacy. It pioneered international cooperation in fields such as health, labour standards, and humanitarian relief, laying the groundwork for specialised agencies like the World Health Organization. It also set the precedent for a collective security framework that inspired the post-war United Nations. In many respects, the League’s history serves as both a cautionary tale about the limitations of idealism in international politics and a foundation upon which modern multilateralism has been built.