The+League+Of+Nations

=**The League of Nations**=
 * By: Leena Walia**

The League of Nations (LON) first founded intergovernmental organisation now known as United Nations. It was based in Geneva, Switzerland. The first meeting took place here in 1920. It was established at the end of world war one during the Paris Peace Conference. The main goal of this protective organisation was to prevent another war from happening. However, they also took many other actions to stop any aggression. Within the Covenant (The League of Nations’ Charter) it states enforcing collective security, disarmament, resolving conflicts through negotiation and arbitration. They were also concerned with treaties, labour conditions, native inhabitant treatment, trafficking, arms race, global health, prisoners of war and protecting minorities in Europe.



**The League of Nations was made up of three branches:**

 * Secretariat**

They were seen as civil service of the league. They were in charge of organising the Council and Assembly’s agenda, planning and reporting the routine meetings. In all there were 400 members but only 75 officially classified members in 1924. This group had many functions. Some aspects concerning them were political, financial and economic matters, administration and minorities, mandates, disarmament, health, social, legal and information. Each of these sections had their own work, conferences and meetings regarding that particular subject.


 * Assembly**

The Assembly acted as the director of League activities. It contained representatives from all Members of the League. Each Member was granted a maximum of three members but only one vote on their behalf. The Members met only once a year in Geneva. The meetings were held at the request of a Member but majority of the Members had to agree on this. Specifically, the tasks carried out by this group were to accept new members, elect non-permanent Members of the Council, the election with the Council of the judges of the Permanent Court and manage money.




 * Council **

The council was considered the executive branch. It was in charge of the Assembly’s business. The first permanent members were Britain, France, Italy, Japan and non-permanent members were Belgium, Brazil, Greece & Spain. Germany eventually joined as a fifth Member but also left along with Japan. The United States was never a Member which was a big disadvantage since it was a Superpower. The council met approximately five times in a year.



Despite the positive attitude, The League’s attempts at carrying out their plans were weak and unorganized. They relied heavily on the Great Powers. The Great Powers provided the LON with an armed force, economic sanction enforcement and an army when needed. Because the League was unable to be stand on their own and the Great Powers weren’t always accountable, that displayed them to be incompetent and somewhat a joke.

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