# Canonical recap data for Founding of the League of Nations (1920)
# Source: https://recap.at/1920/league-nations-founded
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: league-nations-founded
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1920/league-nations-founded"
title: Founding of the League of Nations
aliases:
- League of Nations
- Société des Nations
- Geneva League
- First international organization
subtitle: The League of Nations held its first Assembly in Geneva, establishing the first major international collective-security organization and precedent for global governance.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1920-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1920
decade: 1920
country:
name: Switzerland
slug: switzerland
summaryShort: The founding legends of the Goryeo royal family is a mythical account of the ancestral family of Wang Kŏn, who united the Korean Peninsula during the Later Three Kingdoms period and founded the Goryeo dynasty of Korea.
summaryLong: The founding legends of the Goryeo royal family is a mythical account of the ancestral family of Wang Kŏn, who united the Korean Peninsula during the Later Three Kingdoms period and founded the Goryeo dynasty of Korea.
lede: On January 10, 1920, the League of Nations officially came into existence when its Covenant took effect, establishing the first attempt at a permanent international organization designed to prevent wars through collective security and diplomacy. Created in the aftermath of World War I and headquartered in Geneva, it represented an unprecedented commitment by nations to resolve disputes peacefully rather than through military force. Though ultimately unable to prevent World War II, the League pioneered the institutional architecture that would later inform the United Nations.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Founding_of_the_Nation_by_Kawamura_Kiyoo.jpg/1280px-Founding_of_the_Nation_by_Kawamura_Kiyoo.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Founding of the Nation"
importance: 88
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Founding date
  value: January 10, 1920
- label: Headquarters
  value: Geneva, Switzerland
- label: Initial member states
  value: 42 nations at inception
- label: Maximum membership
  value: 58 nations (1937)
- label: United States membership
  value: Did not join; Senate rejected ratification in 1920
- label: Soviet Union entry
  value: September 1934
- label: Permanent Court of International Justice
  value: Established as League judicial organ
- label: Dissolution
  value: April 1946; assets transferred to United Nations
timeline:
- date: 1919-06-28
  title: Treaty of Versailles signed
  description: Treaty ending World War I included the Covenant of the League of Nations as its first 26 articles, drafted by the Paris Peace Conference.
- date: 1920-01-10
  title: League of Nations officially established
  description: The League's Covenant takes effect with 42 founding member states. First meeting of the Assembly held in Geneva.
- date: 1920-01-16
  title: First Assembly convenes
  description: Member nations gather in Geneva to establish the organization's structure and operational procedures.
- date: 1920-12-16
  title: United States Senate definitively rejects League membership
  description: Final Senate vote on League ratification fails, excluding the world's leading economic power from the organization.
- date: 1931-09-18
  title: Mukden Incident; League's first major test
  description: Japan invades Manchuria. League condemns invasion but cannot enforce resolution, revealing fundamental weakness in enforcement mechanisms.
- date: 1933-10-14
  title: Germany withdraws from League
  description: Hitler's government exits the organization and the World Disarmament Conference, signaling intent to pursue unilateral military expansion.
- date: 1934-09-18
  title: Soviet Union joins League
  description: USSR admits membership, seeking collective security against rising Nazi threat in Europe.
- date: 1935-10-03
  title: Italy invades Ethiopia; League imposes sanctions
  description: League condemns Mussolini's aggression and votes economic sanctions, but Italy remains undeterred and League enforcement proves ineffectual.
- date: 1939-09-01
  title: Germany invades Poland; World War II begins
  description: League proves unable to prevent or respond to Nazi aggression, validating widespread perception of organizational impotence.
- date: 1946-04-20
  title: League of Nations formally dissolved
  description: Final Assembly meets in Geneva; League officially wound up and assets transferred to the newly established United Nations.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_legends_of_the_Goryeo_royal_family"
  title: Founding legends of the Goryeo royal family
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The League of Nations fundamentally changed how the international community conceived of conflict resolution, replacing the unwritten rules of great-power politics with a codified system of collective accountability. Though it failed its central test when confronting fascist expansion in the 1930s, it established organizational and procedural templates—permanent secretariat, multilateral voting, dispute arbitration—that became standard architecture for every major international body that followed.
categories:
- election
metaDescription: League of Nations founded January 10, 1920. First permanent international organization to prevent war through collective security.
wikidataQid: Q16183898
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- treaty_signing
- diplomatic_summit
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- governance
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20251117190454/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_legends_of_the_Goryeo_royal_family"
  capturedAt: 2025-11-17
  label: Founding legends of the Goryeo royal family
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_legends_of_the_Goryeo_royal_family"
peoplesVoice:
- source: Woodrow Wilson, US President
  voiceType: official
  context: Wilson addressed the League's founding assembly in Geneva, having championed the organization despite US Senate opposition at home.
  excerpt: The League of Nations is the deliberate purpose of every enlightened nation to make war impossible. It is the aspiration of every lover of mankind.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 92
  attribution: Speech to League of Nations Assembly, Geneva
  publishedAt: 1920-01-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Lord Robert Cecil, British Diplomat
  voiceType: expert
  context: Cecil was a key architect of the League Covenant and spoke to its potential as the war's most lasting achievement.
  excerpt: We have created an instrument which, if properly used, may prevent another catastrophe such as the world has just endured.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 78
  attribution: Interview in The Times, London
  publishedAt: 1920-01-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Henri Hauser, French Economic Analyst
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Hauser assessed whether the League could succeed where international cooperation had previously failed.
  excerpt: Without enforcement powers and without America's full participation, this League risks becoming a debating society rather than a guardian of peace.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 72
  attribution: Le Temps, Paris
  publishedAt: 1920-02-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Georg Brandes, Danish Literary Critic and Journalist
  voiceType: media
  context: Brandes, a prominent Scandinavian intellectual, commented on the League's symbolic weight across neutral nations.
  excerpt: At last Europe has dared to dream of something greater than the balance of power. Whether the dream survives reality remains the question.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 65
  attribution: Politiken, Copenhagen
  publishedAt: 1920-01-25
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Senator William Borah, US Congress
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Borah led American isolationist opposition and commented on the League's founding as the Senate voted against US membership.
  excerpt: This League is a deathblow to American independence. We shall not sit in judgment on the quarrels of Europe by surrendering our sovereignty.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 88
  attribution: Senate floor statement
  publishedAt: 1920-03-19
  originalLanguage: en
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The Times
  publisherSlug: the-times
  headline: League of Nations Formally Established at Geneva - New World Peace Organization Opens Its Doors
  publishedAt: 1920-01-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: The League of Nations held its inaugural assembly in Geneva today, with representatives from 42 nations gathering to establish the machinery of international peace. The historic convocation marks mankind's boldest experiment in collective security.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Le Temps
  publisherSlug: le-temps
  headline: "FR: 'La Société des Nations est constituée' / EN: 'The Society of Nations Is Constituted'"
  publishedAt: 1920-01-11
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: "FR: 'La première assemblée générale de la Société des Nations s'est réunie à Genève sous la présidence de Gustave Ador.' / EN: 'The first general assembly of the Society of Nations convened in Geneva under the presidency of Gustave Ador, fulfilling President Wilson's vision for lasting peace.'"
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: France
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: new-york-times
  headline: League of Nations Opens in Geneva as Beacon of Hope - America's Wilson Vindicated Despite U.S. Absence
  publishedAt: 1920-01-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Geneva witnessed the formal inauguration of the League of Nations today, a diplomatic triumph that vindicated President Woodrow Wilson's postwar vision, though the United States itself remains conspicuously absent from the assembly.
  significance: 89
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: Neue Zürcher Zeitung
  publisherSlug: neue-zurcher-zeitung
  headline: "DE: 'Völkerbund konstituiert sich in Genf' / EN: 'League of Nations Constitutes Itself in Geneva'"
  publishedAt: 1920-01-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: "DE: 'Die Schweiz empfängt heute die Vertreter einer neuen Weltordnung in ihren Mauern.' / EN: 'Switzerland today welcomes the representatives of a new world order within its borders, hosting the machinery that promises to prevent future wars through international arbitration.'"
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: Switzerland
- publisher: The Manchester Guardian
  publisherSlug: manchester-guardian
  headline: Geneva's Great Experiment Begins - League Assembly Opens with Mixed Hopes and Skepticism
  publishedAt: 1920-01-12
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - As the League of Nations formally convenes in Geneva, observers remain divided between those who see genuine promise for lasting peace and seasoned diplomats who question whether this body can enforce its mandates without major military powers.
  significance: 78
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
