• Français
  • Home
  • News
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  •  Browse
  •  Advanced Search
  •  Reader Mode
  •  Printer-friendly
mobile
    • Outline
    facebook sharing button Share
    twitter sharing button Tweet
    • New Biographies
    • Minor Corrections
    • Biography of the Day
      d. 17 May 1815 at Quebec
      PANET, JEAN-ANTOINE
      d. 17 May 1815 at Quebec
      See previous
    • Themes, Essays, and Guides
      • The War of 1812
      • The First World War
      • Confederation
      • Women in the DCB/DBC
      • See complete list
    facebook sharing button Share
    twitter sharing button Tweet

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an international body formed in 1920 following the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the establishment of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War. Until then Canada’s foreign policy had been mainly confined to relations with Britain and the United States, and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King expected to deal with these countries directly. However, his government was faced with a request from the League to impose economic sanctions on Italy because it had invaded Ethiopia. The cabinet agreed to apply sanctions, but the discussion made it clear to King that if the League went on to propose military intervention, the cabinet and the country would be deeply divided. The request for military sanctions never came because Britain and France backed away from any confrontation with Italy’s Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. King nevertheless learned an important lesson: membership in the League might have serious political consequences for Canada. He took steps to minimize the risk. Though he affirmed, in the commons and later in Geneva, his support for the League as a necessary institution for the resolution of disputes, he bluntly rejected the idea of the League as a military alliance against aggressors. Canada, he told the League’s Assembly in 1936, did not support “automatic commitments to the use of force.” The League’s influence waned with its inability to confront the challenges of the 1930s and especially the rise of an aggressive German state. It was dissolved during the the Second World War and was succeeded by the United Nations in 1946.

Related Biographies

BORDEN, Sir ROBERT LAIRD
DOHERTY, CHARLES JOSEPH
FOSTER, Sir GEORGE EULAS
HOPKINS, JOHN CASTELL
HÉBERT, GAUDIOSE
JACKSON, OLIVER
KING, WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE
LAPOINTE, ERNEST
LLOYD, Sir WILLIAM FREDERICK
LOUGHEED, Sir JAMES ALEXANDER
MARJORIBANKS, ISHBEL MARIA (Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of ABERDEEN and TEMAIR)
PEARSON, LESTER BOWLES
ROWELL, NEWTON WESLEY

Other Resources

First World War.com - Primary Documents - Henry Cabot Lodge on the League of Nations, 12 August 1919. Content archived on 12 May 2023 (original link)
League of Nations - Wikipedia
League of Nations instituted - Jan 10, 1920 - HISTORY.com
League of Nations | Definition & Purpose | Britannica.com

Image Gallery

We acknowledge the financial support of the Canadian Museum of History through the Online Works of Reference Program funded by the Government of Canada.
Nous reconnaissons l'aide financière du Musée canadien de l'histoire à travers les œuvres du programme de référence en ligne financés par le gouvernement du Canada.

We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada.


Nous reconnaissons l’appui du gouvernement du Canada.

© 2003-2025 University of Toronto/Université Laval

Suggest corrections or additions

Important Notices

Websites of Interest

 
OK Cancel
OK