The main organization ceased operations on 18 April when many of its components were relocated into the new United Nations. As the template for modern global governance, the League profoundly shaped the modern world. The League's primary goals were stated in its eponymous Covenant. They included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Australia was granted the right to participate as an autonomous member nation, marking the start of Australian independence on the global stage.
In , U. The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift from the preceding hundred years. The League lacked its own armed force and depended on the victorious Allies of World War I Britain, France, Italy and Japan were the initial permanent members of the Executive Council to enforce its resolutions, keep to its economic sanctions, or provide an army when needed. The Great Powers were often reluctant to do so. Sanctions could hurt League members, so they were reluctant to comply with them.
During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War , when the League accused Italian soldiers of targeting International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement medical tents, Benito Mussolini responded that "the League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out. At its greatest extent from 28 September to 23 February , it had 58 members. After some notable successes and some early failures in the s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the s.
The credibility of the organization was weakened by the fact that the United States never joined. Japan and Germany left in , Italy left in , and Spain left in The Soviet Union only joined in and was expelled in after invading Finland. One example of this hesitancy was the Abyssinia Crisis , in which Italy's sanctions were only limited from the outset coal and oil were not restricted , and later altogether abandoned despite Italy being declared the aggressors in the conflict. The onset of the Second World War in showed that the League had failed its primary purpose; it was largely inactive until its abolition.
The League lasted for 26 years; the United Nations UN replaced it in and inherited several agencies and organisations founded by the League. Current scholarly consensus views that, even though the League failed to achieve its main goal of world peace , it did manage to build new roads towards expanding the rule of law across the globe; strengthened the concept of collective security , gave a voice to smaller nations; fostered economic stabilization and financial stability , especially in Central Europe in the s; helped to raise awareness of problems like epidemics , slavery , child labour , colonial tyranny, refugee crises and general working conditions through its numerous commissions and committees; and paved the way for new forms of statehood, as the mandate system put the colonial powers under international observation.
