A British political scientist named Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson first used the term League of Nations in 1914. One year later, the League to Enforce Peace was established by President Taft along with others in the U.S. The French also drafted a peace proposal that included an international military force charged with keeping the peace. The League of Nations that followed the Paris Peace Conference was officially established in November of 1920.

Many negotiations and compromises were needed before a founding "covenant" for the League could be agreed upon, but in June of 1919, forty-four established nations and newly emerging states joined the organization. According to the final version of the agreement, the General Assembly would include a representative of each member nation, and a much smaller Executive Council would include delegates from each of the major world powers. Each of the member nations was supposed to disarm their military forces and to seek arbitration within the League before going to war. Also, a Permanent Court of International Justice was introduced to negotiate disputes.

Study the tabs below to learn more about the various roles within the League of Nations.

The Assembly included all of the League's permanent members as well as four non-permanent members that were elected by the Assembly for three-year terms. Each state was allowed up to three representatives in the Assembly, but just one vote. The Assembly was charged with considering the admission of new members, electing judges for the Permanent Court of Justice and handling budgetary matters. A unanimous decision was required in both the Assembly and the Council for any significant measures: The idea was to seek solution by consent instead of by force.

The Council was intended to serve as an executive committee and included both permanent and non-permanent members. It began with four permanent members (Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan). In September of 1926, Germany became the fifth permanent member of the Council. The first non-permanent members were Belgium, Brazil, Greece, and Spain. Later, after Germany and Japan left the League, the Soviet Union was made a permanent member. In total, the Council held 107 sessions between 1920 and 1939.

The Secretariat was a group of experts who provided advice about political, economic, health, disarmament, and legal issues. The staff of the Secretariat prepared the agenda for the Council and the Assembly. This organization also published articles and reviews about League of Nation meetings.

The Permanent Court of International Justice, which was designed to negotiate conflicts among members, was not the only "subcommittee" in the League. There was also a Disarmament Commission, the Health Organisation, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Mandates Commission, the International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation, the Commission for Refugees and the Slavery Commission. It is important to consider that despite the military and political failings of the League of Nations, it organized several hundred global conferences covering many important issues.

Theodore Roosevelt once stated that "it would be a masterstroke if those great powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace." However, Roosevelt's voice was one of the loudest in opposition to U.S. membership in the League of Nations. In the end, the League of Nations was unable to prevent Soviet expansion, Japanese militarism, or the rise of the Axis powers that led to World War II. When it became clear that the Permanent Council was not able to force decisions on the member states, Germany was the first to withdraw. They were soon followed by Spain, Italy and Japan. The League of Nations survived for 26 years until it was replaced by the United Nations in April of 1946.

How well do you understand the structure of the League of Nations, and how those parts worked together? Use the questions below to review key elements.