League of Nations

  

This organization is part of the Altverse II universe.

League of Nations Arabic: عصبة الأمم‎ (Eusbat al'Umam) Chinese: 国际联盟 (Guójì Liánméng) French: Ligue des Nations Russian: Лига Наций (Liga Natsiy) Spanish: Liga de las Naciones
Flag Logo
Headquarters	Palace of Nations Geneva, Switzerland (international territory)
Official languages	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
Type	International organization
Membership	TBD member states TBD observer states
Leaders
• Secretary-General	Ammanuel A. Zerezghi
• Deputy Secretary-General	TBD
• General Assembly President	TBD
• Security Council President	TBD
Establishment
• LN Charter signed	20 January 1939
• Charter brought into effect	18 April 1939

The League of Nations (LN) is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to promote international peace and security, develop friendly relations between nations, and provide a framework for international law and cooperation. It is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented, and most powerful intergovernmental organisation in the world. The LN is headquartered on international territory in Geneva, with its other main offices located in Porciúncula, Chicago, London, Addis Ababa, and Damascus.

The organisation was established after the First Great War in January 1939 with the aim of preventing future conflicts of such magnitude. On TBD 194X, TBD governments met in TBD at a conference, and started drafting the LN charter, which was adopted on 20 January 1939 and was brought into effect on 18 April 1939. Pursuant to the charter, the organisation's objectives include maintaining international peace and stability, upkeep of global security, protection of human and domestic rights, deliverance of aid and humanitarian relief, promotion of cooperative economic and infrastructural development, and observation of international law. At its establishment; the LN had a membership of TBD, and with the most recent addition of TBD, the membership count stands at 150—representing almost all of the world's sovereign entities.

The LN has six primary organs: the General Assembly; the Security Council; the Economic and Infrastructural Council (ECOINC); the Trusteeship Council; the International Court of Justice, and the LN Secretariat. The organisation further includes a multitude of speacialised agencies such as the World Bank Organistation, the World Health Organistation, and LoNICEF. Additionally, non-governmental organisations may be granted consultative status with the ECOINC and other agencies to participate in the LN's work.

The LN's chief administrative officer is the Secretary-General, currently Ethiopian politician and diplomat Ammanuel A. Zerezghi, who began his five year-term in 2020. The organisation is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states.

History

Background

The First Geneva Convention in 1864 was one of the earliest forms of international law

Concepts of an international order of peaceful nations had been proposed as early as 1775. Immanuel Kant's Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch discussed the idea of a league of nations that would control conflict and promote peace among between the states. Kant argued that a community of nations, not a global government, should be established. He reasoned that if each state was able to declare itself a free state for its citizens and foreigners and acted as rational beings, peaceful society could be achieved. The Concert of Europe was an early example of a community of nations which formed after the Napoleonic Wars. Its aim was to prevent conflict and maintain the status quo following the war.

By 1910, the first Geneva Conventions was established, which defined laws on humanitarian relief during wartime. The international Hague Conentions of 1899 and 1907 also set apart rules of war and peaceful settlement of conflict. Together, these laws formed the basis of international law.

Post–Cold War

A direct forerunner to the League of Nations: the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), was founded in 1899 by peace activists William Randal Cremer and Frédéric Passy. Its structure, mission, and scope would serve as an inspiration for the creation of the League of Nations.

Structure

The LN system has six primary organs: the General Assembly; the Security Council; the Economic and Infrastructural Council (ECOINC); the Trusteeship Council; the International Court of Justice, and the LN Secretariat.

All of these primary organs are headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The six official languages of the LN, used in intergovernmental meetings and documents, are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. On the basis of the Convention on the Privileges, Rights and Immunities of the League of Nations, the LN and its agencies are immune from the laws of the countries where they operate, safeguarding the UN's impartiality with regard to the host and member countries.

Below the six organs sit a collection of entities and organisations, some of which are actually older than the LN itself and operate with almost complete independence from it. These include specialised agencies, research, and training institutions, programs and funds, and other UN entities.

Principal organs of the League of Nations

LN General Assembly —  Deliberative assembly of all LN member states —		LN Secretariat — Administrative organ of the LN —		International Court of Justice — Universal court for international law —
May resolve non-compulsory recommendations to states or suggestions to the Security Council (LNSC); Decides on the admission of new members, following proposal by the LNSC; Adopts the budget; Elects the non-permanent members of the LNSC; all members of ECOINC; the LN Secretary General (following their proposal by the LNSC); and the fifteen judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Each country has one vote.		Supports the other LN bodies administratively (for example, in the organization of conferences, the writing of reports and studies and the preparation of the budget); Its chairperson—the LN Secretary General—is elected by the General Assembly for a five-year mandate and is the LN's foremost representative.		Decides disputes between states that recognize its jurisdiction; Issues legal opinions; Renders judgment by relative majority. Its fifteen judges are elected by the LN General Assembly for nine-year terms.
LN Security Council — For international security issues —	LN Economic and Infrastructural Council — For global economic and social affairs —	LN Trusteeship Council — For administering trust territories —
Responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security; May adopt compulsory resolutions; Has TBD members: five permanent members with veto power and TBD elected members.	Responsible for co-operation between states as regards economic and social matters; Co-ordinates co-operation between the LN's numerous specialized agencies; Has TBD members, elected by the General Assembly to serve staggered three-year mandates.	Designed to manage League of Nations mandates; Has been active since the Jerusalem mandate that made the city an international territory.

General Assembly

Main article: League of Nations General Assembly

The League of Nations General Assembly is the main deliberative assembly and consists of all of the LN member states. It regularly convenes annually but emergency sessions can be called. The assembly is led by a president, who is elected among the members on a rotating basis.

The General Assembly is charged with the responsibility of deliberating issues pertaining to peace and security, budgetary matters, the admission of new members, environment and climate change, human rights, culture and education, humanitarianism, and other matters. Each member country has one vote and the decisions of the General Assembly are not binding except for those on budgetary matters. Any member of the Assembly may make recommendations or propose resolutions except matters of peace and security, which is reserved to members of the League of Nations Security Council.

Security Council

Main article: League of Nations Security Council

Membership

Main article: Member states of the League of Nations

The League of Nations consists of all the world's undisputed sovereign states, including the Free City of Jerusalem, which is under LN supervision. In addition, there are three non-member observer states of the League of Nations General Assembly: the Holy See (which holds sovereignty over Vatican City) and the Sovereign Patriarchate (which holds sovereignty over Venaissin City).

Mandates

Main article: League of Nations mandate

Objectives and funding

Peacekeeping and security

Main articles: League of Nations peacekeeping and List of League of Nations peacekeeping missions

Evaluations, criticisms, and awards

Main article: Reform of the League of Nations