The "League of Nations" is an organization born after the Paris Peace Conference in 1920, which ended World War I, and was established with the aim of being an "international policeman" whose mission is to maintain peace between the countries of the world and prevent wars and conflicts, but that league did not succeed in preventing the outbreak of World War II, This led to its eventual dissolution and its replacement by what is known today as the United Nations.

Origin and establishment

On January 10, 1920, the first international organization that assumed the task of preserving world peace was established, and that organization took the name of the "League of Nations."

But that "League of Nations" did not include all the countries of the world, but its executive council was limited only to the powerful countries that emerged victorious from the First World War, namely England, France, Italy and Japan.

At its peak in the period between 1934 and 1935, the League had about 58 members, and the official languages ​​it adopted were English and French.

The main goal of the League of Nations was to prevent any future wars after the devastating effects left by the First World War, and it intended to achieve this goal by taking a number of measures, including disarmament and settling international disputes by playing the role of "arbiter" between the adversaries and leading negotiation efforts between countries conflicting.

Apart from the dream of achieving world peace, the League of Nations had a set of other goals that included improving working conditions, caring for global health, protecting minorities in Europe, and interest in dealing with issues such as prisoners of war, human trafficking, drugs and arms trade.

The official opening of the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 15, 1920 (Shutterstock)

History of the idea of ​​the "League of Nations"

Although the League of Nations was officially formed in 1920, its idea arose much earlier. It was first proposed by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1795, when he proposed a league of states aimed at controlling conflict and promoting world peace.

In 1910, President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt put forward the idea upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

With the onset of the first war, serious thinking began on the establishment of an organization that would control international conflicts and prevent future wars. The idea gained wide popularity in Britain and the United States in particular, and British political scientist Goldie Dickinson was the first to coin the term "League of Nations" in 1914 and put A vision to organize the work of this league.

The points included an "ideal" vision of the world after World War I, outlined a policy of free trade, open agreements, and democracy, emphasized the need for national self-determination for the various ethnic groups in Europe, and called for a negotiated end to war, international disarmament, and the withdrawal of the Central Powers from territories occupied.

In the context of the diplomatic efforts led by a group of countries during the First World War, the idea of ​​establishing an international peace organization to prevent future war through disarmament and international cooperation re-emerged.

One of the main officials responsible for drafting the League of Nations Charter is former South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts (Getty Images)

In 1918, US President Woodrow Wilson formulated the "Terms of Peace" in 14 points, which included an "ideal" vision of the world after the First World War, outlined the policy of free trade, open agreements and democracy, and stressed the need for national self-determination for the various ethnic groups in Europe. It also called for a negotiated end to the war, international disarmament, and the withdrawal of the Central Powers from occupied territories.

Wilson also proposed the creation of a general association whose mission would be to mediate international disputes to prevent future wars.

In the same year, a committee known as the "Phillimore Committee" was formed in London, which came out with recommendations for the establishment of what was known as the "Conference of Allied States", which aims to settle disputes and impose sanctions on violating countries, and these proposals were approved by the British government to be later merged into the "League Charter". Nations".

France also formulated similar recommendations in the same year and called for the formation of an "international army" to implement the agreed decisions.

Ultimately, the two principals responsible for drafting the League of Nations' charter were British politician Lord Robert Cecil and former South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts.

Finally, the League of Nations Charter was signed on June 28, 1919 within the Treaty of Versailles, which was approved at the Paris Peace Conference.

Although the League of Nations was relatively more global and inclusive in its membership and structure than previous international organizations, it perpetuated racial hierarchies by restricting the right to self-determination and preventing decolonization.

The "Walter Phillimore" committee was formed in London and came out with recommendations that were later incorporated into the "Charter of the League of Nations" (Harvard University)

Structuring the League of Nations

The League's headquarters were moved from London to Geneva, and Wilson's mansion, located on the shore of West Lake Geneva, was the first permanent headquarters of the League, knowing that the palace was named after US President Woodrow Wilson.

Despite Wilson's efforts to establish and promote the League, which qualified him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1919, the United States never joined the League, as it was against the will of the majority of Republicans in the Senate led by Henry Cabot Lodge.

Thus, the League of Nations included an executive council that included the great powers except for the United States, as it consisted initially only of the four permanent members, namely Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan, in addition to 4 non-permanent members elected by the Assembly for a period of 3 years, namely Belgium, Brazil, Greece and Spain.

In addition to the Executive Council, the structure of the League of Nations also included a permanent secretariat that included experts in various fields under the direction of the Secretary-General, and included several departments such as politics, finance and economics, the Commission on the Status of Minorities, the Commission on Disarmament, the Health Organization, and social matters (opium and trafficking in women and children ) and legal affairs and others.

The League of Nations had two main wings: the Permanent Court of International Justice (its mission is to issue judgments in cases of international dispute) and the International Labor Organization.

In addition, there were many sub-committees and agencies, each of which was allocated a budget, knowing that the League was financially supported by its member states.

It is worth noting that the composition of the League of Nations changed several times over the years, so the number of non-permanent members increased for the first time to 6 in September 1922 and to 9 in September 1926, and Germany joined in 1926 to become the fifth permanent member of the Council.

But Germany and Japan later left the League, and then the Soviet Union became a member and was expelled from the League after its invasion of Finland.

America's President Theodore Roosevelt (right) put forward in 1910 the idea of ​​a "League of Nations" upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize (Associated Press)

Achievements

Although the League of Nations could not achieve its main goal, which is to establish world peace, it was able to achieve some general achievements through its various institutions and committees.

One of these achievements is the International Committee for Intellectual Cooperation, which was a precursor to UNESCO, the Refugee Committee and the Health Organization, which later became the World Health Organization, the International Labor Organization and others.

The International Labor Organization succeeded in restricting lead in paint and persuaded many countries to adopt an eight-hour day and a 48-hour week.

She also campaigned to end child labor, increase women's rights in the workplace, and hold shipowners accountable for accidents involving seafarers.

The Slavery Commission also sought to eradicate slavery and the slave trade throughout the world, and fought against forced prostitution.

The League obtained a commitment from Ethiopia to end slavery as a condition of membership in 1923, and worked with Liberia to abolish forced labor and intertribal slavery.

The League also succeeded in reducing the death rate of workers building the German Tanganyika Railway from 55% to 4%.

The UNHCR was established on 27 June 1921 to look after the interests of refugees, including overseeing their repatriation or resettlement when necessary.

At the end of World War I, there were between two and three million former prisoners of war from different countries scattered all over Russia, and within two years of the establishment of the UNHCR Committee, it was able to help 425,000 of them return to their homes.

United nations

The outbreak of World War II was clear evidence of the failure of the League of Nations in its primary objective, which is to establish peace and prevent world wars.

The failure of the League of Nations is due to a number of reasons, most notably the failure of the United States to join it, and its implementation of the agendas of its constituent superpowers at the expense of world peace. .

This is in addition to the failure of the disarmament program, and the difficulty of making decisions within the League, which required the unanimous consent of the members to implement them.

Also, the idea of ​​"collective security" adopted by the League of Nations did not coincide with individual international relations between member states. For example, the idea of ​​"collective security" requires that some countries take measures against other friendly countries to protect the interests of other countries with which they have no connection. which was not applicable.

Finally, the League of Nations did not have an armed force of its own but relied on the great powers to implement its decisions or apply sanctions to the offending states.

As a result of all these factors, the League eventually proved unable to stem the Second World War in 1939.

Because of this failure, the declaration came to dissolve the League of Nations on April 20, 1946, 26 years after its founding.

The body known today as the "United Nations" replaced the League of Nations, and inherited many agencies and institutions, including the International Labor Organization.

And the main allies in World War II became permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in 1946, and Security Council decisions became binding on all members of the United Nations, and unlike what was prevalent in the League of Nations, unanimity is no longer required to implement decisions.

Now only the five permanent members of the Security Council (the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France, the United States and the Republic of China) can use their veto power to protect their vital interests.