right after the atrocities of World War One people wanted peace many leaders and politicians planned to create an international organization with the aim of maintaining peace and security around the world one of the leading politicians in this course was American President Woodrow Wilson who promoted International cooperation and peace in particular Wilson had a significant role in founding the League of Nations which would award him the Nobel Prize in 1920. [Music] the League of Nations was set up as far as the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. the first meeting of the league was held in January 16 1920 which took place in the headquarters in Geneva Switzerland the plan of the League of Nations was pieced by Collective Security which meant that the members of the league would act together to punish and stop any country that attacked any other state the punishments of the league would be economic such as sanctions and abandoned trade or military which in some cases involved the use of War this is how the League of Nations worked the council was composed of representatives from permanent and non-permanent members elected for three-year terms the assembly was the main body of the league comprised of representatives from all member states it met once a year and had the power to make recommendations on a range of issues from economic and social progress to disarmament and peacekeeping the assembly had little real power compared to the council the final body was the Secretariat which was responsible for carrying out the day-to-day work of the league and was headed by the Secretary General the Secretariat was responsible for preparing reports and documents carrying out investigations and maintaining contacts with members and international organizations the League of Nations was also supported by a number of Technical and administrative services including International organizations a library and a research section when the League of Nations started it was composed of 41 member states at first it was suspected that one of those members would be the United States which was supposed to be leading the League of Nations but disagreements between President Wilson and the U.S Senate meant that the United States would never join the League the main Council was composed of four permanent members which were the British Empire France Italy and Japan this also included Germany which joined in 1926 and the Soviet Union which joined later in 1934. the league was responsible for several organizations many of which still exist today as part of the United Nations some of these included the refugee organization which helped victims of war the international labor organization which improved working conditions and the Health Organization which encouraged systems to improve health care during the 1920s the league made some progress in solving arguments between small countries here are some conflicts and problems solved by the league in 1920 Finland and Sweden found themselves in dispute over the ownership of the island Islands a group of islands located in the Baltic Sea these were seated to Finland when the country declared its independence from Russia in 1917. however Sweden claimed that the island island should be part of Sweden this claim was based on historical ties and the fact that the island had a majority swedish-speaking population in response to the dispute the League of Nations was called upon to act as a mediator the league determined that the island Islands were remain part of Finland but with certain special privileges for the swedish-beacon population solving the conflict later in 1922 the League of Nations played a key role in rescuing Austria from a financial crisis that caused high levels of unemployment and inflation the league helped by providing financial assistance International loans and economic reforms including a new currency and a new Central Bank the league also solved various conflicts surrounding Greece one of them was a dispute over the Greek island of Corfu which was invaded after the death of some Italian diplomats in 1923 the league negotiated a compromise between Italy and Greece which saw the withdrawal of Italian troops and a compensation for the victims later in 1925 the League of Nations was able to prevent a war between Greece and Bulgaria over border disputes all these conflicts demonstrated the League's ability to address International conflicts peacefully and diplomatically which avoided possible conflicts that could have escalated into Wars although the league saw some progress and success in its early years many of the League's weaknesses became clear during the 1930s in 1931 Japan attacked the Chinese province of Manchuria as it was a vital economic and strategic interest the League of Nations was called upon to address the crisis however the least response was slow and inadequate due to a lack of support from the major Powers as there was focused on their national interests many of the powers also had essential trading ties with Japan which led to disagreements on sanctions and bans Japan unhappy with the criticism of its actions in Manchuria and continues dissatisfaction with the league led the organization in 1933 later in 1934 Hitler pulled Germany from the League this caused trouble for International Peace as Germany later pursued aggressive foreign policy and territorial expansion which the league could do nothing about finally in 1935 Italy invaded abyssinia in present-day Ethiopia similar to the situation in Japan the major Powers were focused on their own National interest and were willing to take quick decisive action to prevent Italy from invading abyssinia Mussolini left the League of Nations in 1937 after the league had imposed economic sanctions for The Invasion after this crisis the league was not taken seriously anymore why did the League of Nations fail many historians argue that the league was doomed from the start with the refusal of the United States to join with the United States the league would have had more power and authority which would have been of great help when dealing with conflicts the league also lost other powerful countries such as Germany which didn't join until 1926 and the USSR which was excluded until 1934 by which Germany had already left the most powerful states in the league were Britain and France who did not trust each other and often disagreed on how the leak should work the fact that the council had to make unanimous decisions made it even harder to implement fast and decisive action collective security did not work the League's powerful countries were more concerned with their own interest in the league the organization also had a lack of military power as it didn't have any Army and the countries were too reluctant to use their own militaries the final straw for the league was the Great Depression of 1929 the economic crisis distracted the League's major Powers an opportunity that was taken advantage of by Japan and Italy who managed to invade other countries without any punishment the least failures in the 1930s contributed to its Decline and eventual collapse in the Years leading to World War II which was the biggest evidence for the League's failure to maintain peace and stability thank you for watching please consider liking subscribing and checking out more content