What Was The League Of Nations?

The League of Nations was a precursor to the United Nations. It was instituted after the First World War following discussions at the Paris Peace Conference. Like the United Nations today, it had a General Assembly consisting of all member states, together with an inner council comprising a few select permanent members and other countries which were elected to non-permanent council positions every few years.

Preserving peace was the prime goal of the League of Nations. Economic sanctions, to be imposed on any aggressor state, were the means by which this goal was intended be achieved. From the beginning, however, the League of Nations was hamstrung by its lack of universal support. Although it was originally an American idea, the U.S. congress ignored the entreaties of American president Woodrow Wilson and rejected the idea of American membership. Other countries, too, refused to join or left after joining for a time.

A number of aggressions took place between the world wars to which the League of Nations made no effective response, although it did have some success in mediating an end to minor disputes, and won respect for its activities in non-controversial fields such as famine relief.

The League of Nations did not meet during the Second World War and was superseded at the war's end by the United Nations.