Today, January 10, marks the 102nd anniversary of the establishment of the League of Nations — the first intergovernmental organization to promote international cooperation and maintain international peace and security.
The League was a key factor in the transition from a world of formal empires to a world of formally sovereign states. Despite its effectiveness for international cooperation, the League failed to safeguard peace during the Second World War.
It was founded on this day in 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. The main organization ceased operations on 20 April 1946 but many of its components were relocated into the new United Nations.
The League's primary goals were stated in its Covenant. They included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration
The idea of an international coalition had been suggested in the 19th century but more attention to the idea developed during World War I when The Treaty of Versailles discussed the need for an institution that encouraged collective security.
Here're some facts about the League f Nations below:
The League resulted in the independence of Australia on the global stage. Thanks to the lobbying of Prime Minister Billy Hughes, Australia was granted the right to participate as an autonomous member nation. For the first time, the young nation would step out from Britain’s shadow and speak for itself in international affairs.
President Woodrow Wilson summed up the aims of the proposed league in his famous Fourteen Points speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Wilson was also instrumental in drafting the covenant that established the League, but he could not persuade the U.S. Senate to approve the Treaty of Versailles or become a member of the League.
Despite the fact that the U.S. was not a member of the League, the Law Library of Congress holds the League of Nations treaties in its collections.
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