Forming the League of Nations

• Disarmament involved reducing the number of weapons that each country had
• Arbitration meant helping countries to talk about their disputes rather than fight
• Collective security meant that if one country attacked another, League members would act together to control the aggressor
• The League had Two main Aims

  • To maintain peace using disarmament, arbitration and collective security
  • To encourage cooperation - and help solve economic and social problems, such as disease, slavery, and poor working and living conditions
• All the members of the League followed a Covenant of 26 Articles
• Assembly

  • Met once a year
  • Every country in the League had one vote at the Assembly
  • Decisions could only be made if everyone agreed on them
• The Council

  • Met at least four times a year
  • Permanent Members - Britain, France, Italy, Japan and later Germany
  • All members had a vote, but permanent members could veto Council decisions
• Secretariat

  • Carried out the work of the League, like a civil service
• The International Labour Organisation

  • made up of government officials, employers and workers from different countries
• The Permanent Court of International Justice

  • 15 judges from different member countries
  • Asked to settle international disputes (everyone hoped this would avoid another major war)
• 42 countries joined the League at the start. In the 1930s, about 60 countries were members. This made the League seem strong
• The League had a range of agencies and commissions, which worked on specific humanitarian issues. These included a health organisation, a commission for refugees, and a commission for women's rights. These commissions did some valuable work.
• The Covenant set out the moral guidelines for keeping peace that all members were supposed to follow. If this moral guidance wasn't enough, then the PCIJ could:

  • decide which country was in the right
  • tell a country it was doing wrong
  • impose sanctions on an offending country
• The PCIJ could apply economic sanctions (penalties designed to damage the economies of misbehaving countries), then if necessary use military sanctions and send troops in
• The League didn't have it own army, but it was hoped that collective would mean it wouldn't need one. Collective security means that an attack against one country is seen as an attack against all - the armies of member nations would be used against aggressors