January 10 In History: The Founding Of The League Of Nations Without The United States

LBB first meeting (wikimedia commons)

JAKARTA - Today, January 10, more than a century ago or in 1920, an inter-state organization tasked with maintaining world peace, the League of Nations, was formed. LBB was formed through the 1919 Parsi Peace Conference, after World War I ended. The question is, even though this idea was initiated by the United States (US), why did they choose not to join?

History cited, in 1914, the political assassination in Sarajevo triggered a series of events that led to the outbreak of the most expensive war ever to take place up to that time. As more and more youths were sent to battlefields Britain and the US began calling for the creation of a permanent international body to work for postwar world peace.

For this reason, the 28th US President Woodrow Wilson proposed the LBB concept. And four years later, he included a sketch of an international body in a 14-point proposal to end the war.

In November of the same year, the Central Powers agreed to a ceasefire to end World War I. Two months later, the Allies met Germany and Austria-Hungary at Versailles to finalize formal peace terms.

President Wilson urged a just and lasting peace, but Britain and France disagreed, imposing harsh war reparations on their former enemies. Then the League of Nations was born.

However in the summer of 1919 Wilson submitted the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of the League of Nations to the US Senate for ratification. But Wilson, who was suffering from a severe stroke, prevented him from reaching a consensus in Congress. The US Parliament considers the agreement to reduce US dominance.

In November, the US Senate refused to ratify the agreement. Until the LBB for the first time held a meeting in Geneva on November 15, 1920 without the US.

During the 1920s, the Geneva-based LBB added new members and succeeded in mediating minor international disputes but was often ignored by the major powers. LBB was not taken seriously until the early 1930s, a series of events made the institution even more toothless.

During the Japan-China war, for example. Negeri Sakura left LBB after receiving criticism from many members. LBB's inability was also seen when it was powerless to prevent Germany from rearming its country and the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

Until the peak of World War II broke out. And LBB is unable to prevent it. Finally, this British and French-dominated world institution is on the line.

In 1946, LBB was officially dissolved and replaced by the United Nations. The PBB adopted the LBB model but coupled with increased international support and strengthened military to help the new agency avoid a repeat of LBB failures.