Structure of the League of Nations

Structure of the League of Nations

1. The Secretariat

   • Civil service
   • Kept records of League meetings
     • Prepared reports for the different agencies of the League
   • Had specialist sections
     • Covered areas such as, health, disarmament and economic matters

2. The Council

   • Met often, about five times a year and in emergencies
   • Permanent members.
     • In 1920 these were Britain, France, Italy and Japan
     • Each of these had a VETO
       • One permanent member could stop the Council acting even if all other members agreed
   • Temporary members
     • Elected by the assembly for three year periods
   • If any disputes arose between members- brought the problem to the council
     • Sorted out through discussion before matters got out of hand
     • If this did not work- Council could use a range of powers
       • Moral Condemnation
         • Could condemn aggressor and 'tell it off'
       • Economic and Financial Sanctions
         • Members of the League could refuse to trade with the aggressor
       • Military Force
         • Armed forces of member countries could be used against an aggressor

3. The Assembly

   • League's Parliament
   • Every country in League sent a representative to Assembly
   • Could recommend action to Council could vote on:
     • Admitting new members to League
     • Appointing temporary members of the Council
     • Budget of the League
     • Other ideas put forward by the Council
   • Only met once a year
   • Decisions had to be unanimous

4. Permanent Court of International Justice

   • Key part of League's job of settling disputes between countries peacefully
   • Based at the Hague in the Netherlands
     • Made up of judges from member countries
   • Court would give a decision on a border dispute between two countries
   • Gave legal advice to the Assembly or Council
   • Had no way of making sure that countries followed its rulings.

5. The International Labour Organisation

   • Brought together employers, governments and workers' representatives once a year
   • Aim was to improve working conditions for people throughout the world
   • Collected statistics and information about working conditions
   • Tried to persuade member countries to adopt its suggestions