League of Nationsn.
/ˌliːɡ əv ˈneɪʃnz/, U.S. /ˌliɡ əv ˈneɪʃənz/ Now historical.
An association of states, dominions, and colonies to promote international cooperation and achieve international peace and security, proposed during the First World War (1914–18), established by the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, and dissolved in 1946 to be replaced by the United Nations (see United Nations n.). Also in extended use.Lacking effective authority and power, the League of Nations was unable to restrain Italian, German, and Japanese expansionism in the 1930s, and was therefore perceived as having failed to prevent the Second World War (1939–45). This failure was a major factor in its dissolution.
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League of Nations1915
the League1917
1915 N.Y. Times 31 May 5/2 Ex-President Taft, has issued a call for a conference..to consider the adoption of proposals for a League of Peace or League of Nations.
1919 Treaty of Peace (H.M.S.O.) xii. art. 376 Disputes which may arise..shall be settled as provided by the League of Nations.
1925 D. H. Lawrence Refl. Death Porcupine 157 He [sc. Attila] was the scourge of God: not the scourge of the League of Nations, hired and paid in cash.
1946 Manch. Guardian 20 Apr. 6/4 The League of Nations and the Permanent Court of International Justice, created in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles, were dissolved to-day [sc. 19 Apr.].
2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 16 Aug. b6/2 Learning from the failures of the League of Nations..they admixed idealism and realism in drafting the United Nations Charter.
Compounds
League of Nations mandate n. now historical a commission issued by the League of Nations authorizing a selected power to administer, control, and develop a territory; the territory so allocated; = mandate n. 3.
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1919 Irish Times 1 Feb. 7/4 The principle of a League of Nations mandate.
1971 W. H. McNeill in A. Bullock 20th Cent. 47/2 Most of these lands were designated League of Nations ‘mandates’.
2011 G. Tombs tr. M. Nemni & M. Nemni Trudeau Transformed v. 130 France obtained a League of Nations mandate to govern Syria and Lebanon.
League of Nations Society n. British (now historical) a society formed in 1915 to campaign for the establishment of a League of Nations.The society merged with the League of Free Nations Association in 1918 to form the League of Nations Union.
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > [noun] > League of Nations > Society
League of Nations Society1916
1916 Ludington (Michigan) Daily News 7 Nov. 6/3 The League of Nations society in this country [sc. England] is going to work immediately to popularize the idea of a combination of powers.
1917 H. N. Brailsford League of Nations ii. 37 The programme of the British ‘League of Nations Society’ is as follows.
2006 V. Glendinning Leonard Woolf ix. 189 The League of Nations Society was..adamant that Germany must be included.
League of Nations Union n. British (now historical) an organization for the promotion of the ideals and principles of the League of Nations, formed in 1918 from a merger of the League of Nations Society and the League of Free Nations Association.Succeeded in 1945 by the United Nations Association.
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1918 Manch. Guardian 12 Oct. 4/1 The League of Nations Union..is now in the process of formation.
1945 Classical Jrnl. 40 395 For fifteen years..he was chairman of the League of Nations Union in England.
2009 German Stud. Rev. 32 132 They both became involved in pacifist and feminist politics and in 1922 began lecturing for the League of Nations Union.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1915