The League of Nations : from collective security to global rearmament

In the wake of the First World War, at the Peace Conference at Versailles, US President Wilson called for the creation of a League of Nations for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations alike.

For the first time, conflicts between nations were a matter of global concern.

Numerous key areas - social, economic and statistics, health, labour - were dealt with either directly by the League or indirectly by its specialised agencies.

The League's lifetime (1919-1947) saw the creation of bodies that would be at the origin of the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Their achievements were manifold and though some of them were "revived" as United Nations offices or specialised agencies after the Second World War, they were inherited from the League of Nations.