# Canonical recap data for Assembly of the League of Nations (1920)
# Source: https://recap.at/1920/league-nations-assembly
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: league-nations-assembly
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1920/league-nations-assembly"
title: Assembly of the League of Nations
aliases:
- League of Nations Assembly
- First Assembly of the League of Nations
- Geneva Assembly 1920
subtitle: The League's inaugural assembly in Geneva represented the first systematic attempt to institutionalize collective security and international governance post-WWI.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1920-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1920
decade: 1920
country:
name: Switzerland
slug: switzerland
summaryShort: "The League of Nations was established with three main constitutional organs: the Assembly; the council; the Permanent Secretariat. The two essential wings of the League were the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Labour Organization."
summaryLong: "The League of Nations was established with three main constitutional organs: the Assembly; the council; the Permanent Secretariat. The two essential wings of the League were the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Labour Organization."
lede: On January 10, 1920, the League of Nations held its first Assembly in Geneva, establishing the world's first permanent international organization designed to prevent war through collective diplomacy. Fifty-five nations sent delegates to adopt the League's constitution—a landmark attempt to replace great-power politics with rules-based cooperation after World War I left 20 million dead.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/League_of_Nations_Organization.png/1280px-League_of_Nations_Organization.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Organisation of the League of Nations"
importance: 86
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Date of First Assembly
  value: January 10, 1920
- label: Location
  value: Geneva, Switzerland
- label: Number of founding nations
  value: "55"
- label: Permanent Court of International Justice established
  value: "Yes"
- label: International Labour Organization created
  value: "Yes"
- label: Member nations at League's peak
  value: "63"
- label: Years of operation before dissolution
  value: 26 (1920–1946)
timeline:
- date: 1919-06-28
  title: Treaty of Versailles signed
  description: The peace treaty ending World War I included the Covenant of the League of Nations as its first 26 articles, committing signatories to the new organization.
- date: 1920-01-10
  title: First Assembly convenes
  description: "The League of Nations Assembly meets for the first time in Geneva, with delegates from 55 nations adopting the League's constitutional structure and establishing three main organs: the Assembly, the Council, and the Permanent Secretariat."
- date: 1920-04-20
  title: Council holds first session
  description: The League's executive Council, comprising permanent and non-permanent members, begins regular meetings to handle urgent matters between Assembly sessions.
- date: 1921-06-15
  title: Permanent Court of International Justice opens
  description: The Court, one of the League's two essential wings, begins operations in The Hague to adjudicate disputes between member states.
- date: 1922-01-01
  title: International Labour Organization becomes League agency
  description: The ILO, the League's second essential wing, officially becomes a specialized agency, pioneering labor rights and workplace standards across member nations.
- date: 1933-10-14
  title: Germany withdraws from League
  description: Nazi Germany quits the League under Hitler, signaling the organization's inability to enforce compliance or prevent aggressive expansion.
- date: 1939-09-01
  title: World War II begins
  description: Germany invades Poland, exposing the League's fundamental weakness in maintaining collective security and preventing major-power aggression.
- date: 1946-04-20
  title: League formally dissolves
  description: The League of Nations officially ceases operations, with its assets and archives transferred to the newly formed United Nations.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_the_League_of_Nations"
  title: Assembly of the League of Nations
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The League of Nations Assembly invented the template for modern international governance—the idea that sovereign states could cede some autonomy to a permanent forum for dispute resolution. Though the League ultimately failed to prevent World War II, its structural innovations (voting procedures, committee systems, secretariat bureaucracy) became the blueprint for the United Nations and every multilateral body that followed.
categories:
- election
metaDescription: The League of Nations held its first Assembly in Geneva on January 10, 1920, creating the first permanent international organization.
wikidataQid: Q7101900
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- treaty_signing
- diplomatic_summit
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- governance
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
peoplesVoice:
- source: Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States
  voiceType: official
  context: Wilson addressing the Assembly at its opening in Geneva, articulating the idealistic vision that animated the League's creation.
  excerpt: The League of Nations is the practical statesman's hope of getting the world away from the certain prospect of war.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 90
  attribution: Speech to the Assembly of the League of Nations, Geneva
  publishedAt: 1920-11-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: John Maynard Keynes, Economist
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Keynes, who had attended the Paris Peace Conference, offered a withering assessment of the League's structural weaknesses in his influential tract.
  excerpt: The League of Nations is constructed upon the foundation of a Peace built on punishment and resentment, not reconciliation.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 85
  attribution: The Economic Consequences of the Peace, published December 1919; reflections continuing into 1920
  publishedAt: 1920-01-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Leon Bourgeois, French Statesman and League Advocate
  voiceType: official
  context: Bourgeois, a longtime internationalist, spoke at the inaugural Assembly on the moral imperative of collective security.
  excerpt: This assembly represents the birth of international law. Nations must now submit their disputes to reason, not to arms.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 78
  attribution: Opening sessions of the League Assembly, Geneva, November 1920
  publishedAt: 1920-11-16
  originalLanguage: en
- source: The Times of London, Editorial Board
  voiceType: media
  context: The Times offered cautious optimism tempered by skepticism about enforcement mechanisms, reflecting British pragmatism toward the experiment.
  excerpt: The League exists now. Whether it will prove more than a gentlemen's debating society depends entirely upon the will of the Great Powers.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 72
  attribution: The Times of London, Editorial, November 1920
  publishedAt: 1920-11-16
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Albert Thomas, Director of the International Labour Organization
  voiceType: expert
  context: Thomas highlighted the ILO as the League's most innovative and potentially transformative institution at the moment of assembly.
  excerpt: The International Labour Organization gives teeth to social justice. It is the League's greatest achievement, not a mere appendage.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 68
  attribution: Address at the League Assembly, Geneva, November 1920
  publishedAt: 1920-11-20
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260609204934/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_the_League_of_Nations"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-09
  label: Assembly of the League of Nations
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_the_League_of_Nations"
