Historical Dictionary of the League of Nations

The League of Nations lasted just 27 years. An offshoot of the treaties and settlements that concluded the “war to end all wars” of 1914‐1918, it was formally wound up in 1946, replaced by the United Nations, of which it might be considered the failed prototype. For, although the League had some successes, especially in the honeymoon years of the 1920s, it was finally overwhelmed by the gathering storm of fascist aggression in the 1930s. Its inability to prevent the outbreak the Second World War must be seen as the ultimate failure, but by 1939 the organization was already effectively...