In 1920, the first Assembly of the League of Nations occurred.

…a general association of nations should be formed on the basis of covenants designed to create mutual guarantees of the political independence and territorial integrity of States, large and small equally.

-President Woodrow Wilson, from his “Fourteen Points” speech before Congress in 1918.

After World War I ended, the six-month-long Paris Peace Conference of 1919 was held, resulting in the Treaty of Versailles, which was ratified on January 10, 1920. Part I of the treaty called for the establishment of an international organization, designed to avoid another major war by reducing armaments, settling disputes between countries and improving economic conditions. The brutality and destruction of World War I had shocked the world and devastated Europe, and the hope was that such an international organization would help avoid such events in future. President Wilson was a great proponent of the League, although the United States itself never joined because the Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. The League of Nations is perceived by most to have been a failure. Unanimous vote was required, major countries did not participate or participated only briefly and it had no armed forces with which to enforce its decisions. Ironically, the treaty that called for the formation of the League may also have caused the very conflict the League hoped to prevent. The Treaty of Versailles called for Germany to pay war reparations, an amount that was officially set at $33 billion. This amount, especially for a war-ravaged Germany in 1921, was impossible to repay, and it caused great economic hardship. Most historians believe that this led to the fall of the Weimar Republic and allowed for the rise of the Nazis and the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Only 19 years after the League's formation, World War II began. In 1946, the League of Nations transferred all of its assets to the United Nations, the organization designed as the League’s replacement.

EDSITEment
In The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations: Disagreement Over the League (9-12), part of EDSITEment's curriculum unit The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations (9-12), students develop an understanding of the central issues in the debate in America. Students understand the personalities involved in the debate by viewing historical videos. They outline the main objections to the League of Nations by some Americans.

In The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations: Five Camps: From Voices of Consent to Voices of Dissent (9-12), part of the same unit, students describe President Wilson's role in creating the League. They discuss whether Wilson's predictions were proven correct by events occurring after 1923. They also discuss whether the League of Nations could have prevented World War II had the U.S. joined.

In The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations: League of Nations Basics (9-12), also in the unit, students describe President Wilson's role in creating the League. They learn the basic issues covered in Wilson's Fourteen Points, and they compare those with the tenets in the Covenant of the League of Nations.