Covenant of the League of Nations

Questions for Further Study

• 1.: What impact, if any, did the formation of the League of Nations have on relationships between the European powers and other regions of the world? See, for example, the Government of India Act and the Resolution of the General Syrian Congress, both passed also in 1919.
• 2.: Compare the Covenant of the League of Nations with the Treaty of Versailles. How do the two documents differ in tone and attitude? In what sense could the argument be made that the two documents, to some extent, canceled each other out by promoting different ends?
• 3.: Do you believe that the history of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s might have been radically different if the powers defeated in World War I had been admitted to the League of Nations? For insights, see Adolf Hitler's Proclamation to the German People and, from Italy, Benito Mussolini's essay “The Doctrine of Fascism.”
• 4.: World War I and the postwar settlement, reflected in the Covenant and in the Treaty of Versailles, redrew the map of Europe. How did that map change? Did the changes tend toward good or ill? Why was the League of Nations unable to keep the peace?
• 5.: Why did the U.S. Senate fail to ratify the document so that the United States was not a member of the League of Nations? Do you think that subsequent history might have been different if the United States had joined the League of Nations?