What international organization was created after World War I?

The League of Nations was the international organization created after World War I. It was designed to prevent future wars through collective security, diplomacy, arbitration, and economic sanctions against aggressor states.

The idea gained momentum during the war and became closely associated with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, announced in January 1918. The League’s Covenant was incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919. The organization formally came into existence on 10 January 1920, when the treaty entered into force.

The League was headquartered in Geneva and initially relied on member states to enforce its decisions. It achieved some diplomatic and humanitarian successes, but its effectiveness was weakened by the absence of a standing army and the reluctance of major powers to enforce sanctions. The United States, despite Wilson’s advocacy, never joined because the Senate rejected the treaty.

The League could not prevent aggression in the 1930s, including expansion by Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was formally dissolved in 1946, after many of its functions and agencies had passed to the United Nations, which was established in 1945.