The League of Nations begins work

The Paris Peace Conference discussed preventing another major war. The Covenant entered peace treaties in 1919 and took effect in 1920, with Geneva becoming the main working centre. An Assembly, Council, and Secretariat organized consultation and procedures for disputes. Wilson supported the project, but the United States did not join after domestic opposition. Membership and power were therefore shaped from the beginning by politics within individual countries.

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The League mediated territorial disputes, supervised particular territories and mandates, and pursued disarmament and arbitration. Health, refugees, trafficking, and economic issues also entered its work. Nansen passports assisted stateless refugees with documentation. Specialists collected statistics and exchanged disease information. Cooperation thus extended beyond meetings of national leaders into continuing technical and administrative relationships, producing records, data, and procedures for problems that crossed borders.

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Decisions depended on members’ willingness to act, without a reliable common military force. Japanese aggression in China and Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia exposed difficulties in collective security. Withdrawals and disagreements further weakened authority. The Second World War defeated the peace system, and the League dissolved in 1946. Some records and activities passed into the UN framework. Experience in health and refugee cooperation continued, alongside the recurring gap between diplomatic commitments and national action.

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