What were the aims of the League of Nations?

Essay by KeirHigh School, 10th gradeA, April 2007

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In 1919 Woodrow Wilson stated, "I can predict with absolute certainty that within another generation there will be another world war if the nations of the world do not work together to prevent it." The League of Nations was Wilson's idea in keeping the world at peace and it had four main aims: to stop war, to disarm, to improve people's lives and jobs and to enforce the Treaty of Versailles. Even though the aims of the League are presently clearly ? historians still argue that the real aims of the League are not what they appear to be.

The League believed in keeping peace all around the world, showing shown clearly through its name the League of Nations. However, historians claim "The League of Nations, the unhappy forerunner of the UN, should have been designated the League of Imperial Nations, given that most of the world at the time was occupied or controlled by imperial powers."

The League claimed that it would help countries with any matter, and yet when dealing with imperial nations or nations of the Security Council, it was the smaller countries that suffered. In the Corfu Incident, Mussolini invaded and it was Greece that had to back down in order for Mussolini to stop. Clearly this does not meet the aim of improving people's lives. True, it did prevent war, but it also laid groundwork for the Greek invasion of Bulgaria in 1925. Similar to the Corfu incident, Greek officials were killed, but the Greeks did not gain the same result as the Italians. True, the League settled the dispute and prevented outbreak of war, but clearly shown through the two situations, countries that were more powerful and more significant in the League were treated better. Other nations were not benefiting the...