Structure and Organisation

• The League of Nations was based in Geneva in Switzerland. The organisation met once a year in September, but small, decision making meetings could be called quickly if something occured. The secretariat and PICJ worked all year round. (PICJ stands for Permenant International Court of Justice)
• The council's role was to settle international disputes. They scheduled meetings 4 times a year until 1929 and were relatively flexible. There were four permanant members of the council: France, GB, Italy and Japan. These powers were influential on the rest of the world at the time. Germany left the council in 1933, and the USSR left in 1934. America was never on the coucil, despite Woodrow Wilson being the one to set it up. The council were advised by the PICJ and also set up other agencies.
• The assembly decided all routine decisions unanimously. They voted on proposals made by the council, and decided on temporary nations that sat on the council. The assembly's meetings were published in the press around the world, which was an important part of how it operated, as public opinion in the member nations could act as an additional form of pressure on governments and delegates.
• The secretariat was a permenant body based in Geneva, led by the secretary general. They drew up an agenda for the assembly and did admin work necessary for the league to carry out their decisions.
• During and after WW1, the idea of an international organisation to keep states at peace became increasingly popular. From early 1918, building an organisation of nations became an important aim of the Triple Entente powers, but the key person in making the L of N possible, was US president Woodrow Wilson.
• After the defeat of the Triple Alliance in November 1918, a conference was set up in Versailles. It was at this conference the League of Nations was created.
• Woodrow Wilson wanted international peace. In January 1918, he issued his famous 14 points, outlining his vision for the post-war world. The most important of these points were:

  1. The right to self-determination (People in a particular region / country being able to govern themselves)
  2. Disarmament (apart from what was necessary for a nation to protect itself)
  3. An end to all secret treaties and alliances.
  4. a 'League of Nations' to preserve future peace.

  Many different aims however, e.g. France wanted punishment for Germany.
• Some weaknesses of the League of Nations included:

  1. Unanimity
  2. Membership
  3. Victors' club
  4. Lack of force
• Unanimity was a weakness for the League, as all members of the council had to agree for action to be taken, even in the most serious of cases, and often they did not all agree. If one nation were to go against it, action would not be taken, this was a weakness as the League did not have the cooperation it needed to be successful, making it impossible for them to enforce decisions, and hold any authority.
• Membership was an issue for the League, as the US, and incredibly powerful nation, did not join despite the fact Wilson was the one to set up the League. Germany was also prohibited from joining until 1926, due to its being defeated in war and the USSR could not join until 1934 due to its being communist. This damaged the Leagues reputation, making it look like a selective Victors' Club.
• Britain and France were two of the big victorious allies, and two of the big powers of the League, which supported its appearance of a Victors' club. It began to become resented by other nations, who believed their interests were put after the best interests of Britain and France.
• The League did not have their own armed forces, which was an important drawback. It was not strong enough to defeat members under threat from more powerful countries. Collective Security began to work less and less as the 1930s developed.