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League of Nations

An international organization and the limits of collective security

The interwar years

The League of Nations was created after the First World War as a forum for resolving international disputes. Based in Geneva, it was intended to protect its members’ security. The Manchurian crisis exposed the difference between rejecting aggression and changing the situation on the ground.

What the organization was meant to do

After the experience of the First World War, international cooperation was intended to help prevent further conflicts. The League Covenant provided for protection of members’ territorial integrity and political independence, arbitration and sanctions. The United States never joined.

The test in Manchuria

In 1933 the League endorsed the Lytton Report, which rejected recognition of Manchukuo because its establishment violated China’s territorial integrity. The subsequent truce nevertheless left Japanese forces in control of Manchuria.

The episode explains why the existence of an international organization does not automatically ensure effective protection of its principles. A diplomatic decision and the military situation are different things.

Failure and a new beginning

The League failed to prevent another world war. It was a predecessor of the United Nations, which came into existence on 24 October 1945. The new institution sought to maintain international peace and security; its creation did not in itself end disputes among the powers.

Explore further

  • Mukden and Manchuria

    Japanese expansion and the question of international recognition.

  • Manchukuo

    The dispute over recognition of a state under Japanese control.

  • United Nations

    A new postwar organisation and the experience of its predecessor.

Sources

  • The Mukden Incident of 1931 and the Stimson Doctrine · Office of the Historian, US Department of State

    Introduction; Japanese Invasion of China; Lytton Report

    Retired institutional overview; US government text in the public domain.

  • The League of Nations, 1920 · Office of the Historian, US Department of State

    Opening definition; origins and collective security; US nonmembership

    Retired institutional overview; US government text in the public domain.

  • The Potsdam Conference, 1945 · US Department of State, Office of the Historian

    Conference dates, leadership, four occupation zones, agreed measures and already occurring population transfers.

    Selected original US federal institutional text. Photographs, third-party quotations and reader comments are excluded.

  • The Formation of the United Nations, 1945 · US Department of State, Office of the Historian

    1942 declaration,1945 Charter and ratification. Unused inaccurate UNESCO 1944/agency-date assertions excluded.

    Selected original US federal institutional text. Photographs, third-party quotations and reader comments are excluded.

  • United Nations Charter (1945) · National Archives

    Predecessor/purpose and five permanent Security Council members; founding distinguished from June signature, no current nonpermanent count transferred to 1945.

    Selected original US federal institutional text. Photographs, third-party quotations and reader comments are excluded.