Member states of the League of Nations

Between 1920 and 1939, a total of 63 countries became member states of the League of Nations. The Covenant forming the League of Nations was included in the Treaty of Versailles and came into force on 10 January 1920, with the League of Nations being dissolved on 18 April 1946; its assets and responsibilities were transferred to the United Nations.

The League's greatest extent was from 28 September 1934 (when Ecuador joined) to 23 February 1935 (when Paraguay withdrew) with 58 members. At this time, only Costa Rica (22 January 1925), Brazil (14 June 1926), Japan (27 March 1933) and Germany (19 October 1933) had withdrawn, and only Egypt was later joined (on 26 May 1937).

The members (listed from their earliest joining and alphabetically if they joined on the same day) at that time were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, the British Empire, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Italy, Liberia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Persia/Iran, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Siam, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Luxembourg, Albania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Irish Free State, Ethiopia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Turkey, Iraq, the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, and Ecuador .

Of the 42 founding members, 23 (or 24, counting Free France) were members when the League of Nations was dissolved in 1946. A further 21 countries joined between 1920 and 1937, but seven had withdrawn, left, or been expelled before 1946.

Countries are listed under the year in which they joined. Several countries withdrew after joining; the Covenant stipulated that a withdrawing country kept its obligations and membership for two years. Several countries also ceased to exist after annexation by Germany, Italy, or the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was expelled from the League in 1939 after its invasion of Finland, and was the only country to face that measure.

Despite formulating the concept and signing the Covenant, the United States never joined the League of Nations. (The United States Senate voted 49–35 in favor of ratifying, but this failed to reach the necessary two-thirds majority.) Saudi Arabia (then the Kingdom of Hejaz) also signed the Covenant but did not join, and some relatively-isolated sovereign states in Asia did not join either, including Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, and Yemen. Iceland was given the opportunity to join the League of Nations in 1920, but opted not to, primarily due to limited administrative resources.

Likewise, most of the European microstates such as Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City never sought membership in the organization. Liechtenstein applied for membership in 1920, though unsuccessful.

At the IX Congress of European Nationalities, an organization of the League of Nations, held in Bern, the first three autonomies of Spain (Basque Country, Galicia, and Catalonia), were recognized as a nation. In any case, they were not independent but were represented by the Spanish government.

Map

10 January 1920: founding members

• Argentina (withdrew 4 December 1920 on rejection of an Argentine resolution that all sovereign states would be admitted to the League. It resumed full membership 26 September 1933)
• Australia
• Belgium
• Bolivia
• Brazil (withdrew 14 June 1926)
• British Empire
• Canada
• Chile (withdrew 14 May 1938)
• China
• Colombia
• Cuba
• Czechoslovakia (occupied by Nazi Germany 15 March 1939)
• Denmark (occupied by Nazi Germany 9 April 1940)
• El Salvador (withdrew 11 August 1937)
• France (Free France did not recognize Vichy France's withdrawal)
  • Vichy France (withdrew 18 April 1941)
• Greece
• Guatemala (withdrew 26 May 1936)
• Haiti (withdrew 16 February 1942)
• Honduras (withdrew 10 July 1936)
• India
• Italy (withdrew 11 December 1937)
• Japan (withdrew 27 March 1933)
• Liberia
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua (withdrew 27 June 1936)
• Norway
• Panama
• Paraguay (withdrew 23 February 1935)
• Persia (known as Iran from 1934)
• Peru (withdrew 8 April 1939)
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania (withdrew 11 July 1940)
• Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (known as Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1929)
• Siam (known as Thailand from 1939)
• South Africa
• Spain (withdrew 9 May 1939)
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Uruguay
• Venezuela (withdrew 12 July 1938)

1920

• Austria (joined 15 December 1920; occupied and annexed by Germany 13 March 1938)
• Bulgaria (joined 16 December 1920)
• Costa Rica (joined 16 December 1920; withdrew 22 January 1925)
• Finland (joined 16 December 1920)
• Luxembourg (joined 16 December 1920; occupied by Nazi Germany 30 August 1942)
• Albania (joined 17 December 1920; occupied by Italy 12 April 1939)

1921

• Estonia (joined 22 September 1921; occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union 15 June 1940)
• Latvia (joined 22 September 1921; occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union 15 June 1940)
• Lithuania (joined 22 September 1921; occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union 15 June 1940)

1922

• Hungary (joined 18 September 1922; withdrew 11 April 1939)

1923

• Irish Free State (joined 10 September 1923, known as Ireland from 1937)
• Abyssinia (joined 28 September 1923; occupied by Italy 5 May 1936)

1924

• Dominican Republic (joined 28 September 1924)

1926

• Germany (joined 8 September 1926; withdrew 19 October 1933)

1931

• Mexico (joined 9 September 1931, declared a member 12 September 1931)

1932

• Turkey (joined 18 July 1932)
• Iraq (joined 3 October 1932)

1934

• Soviet Union (joined 18 September 1934; expelled 14 December 1939)
• Afghanistan (joined 27 September 1934)
• Ecuador (joined 28 September 1934)

1937

• Egypt (joined 26 May 1937) (the last country to join before World War II)

1939 expulsion of the Soviet Union

On 14 December 1939, the Soviet Union was expelled for invading Finland in violation of the Covenant of the League of Nations, by a Council vote of 7-0-4-3 (7 in favor, 0 against, 4 abstaining, 3 absent). The British Empire, France, Belgium, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, South Africa, and Egypt voted in favor; the Republic of China, Finland, Greece, and Yugoslavia abstained; and Iran, Peru, and the Soviet Union itself were absent. Three of the votes in favor had been made Council members the day before the vote (South Africa, Bolivia, and Egypt). This was one of the League's final acts before it practically ceased functioning.

It has been disputed whether the expulsion was legally valid. Article 16 paragraph 4 of the Covenant states that the Council may expel a member from the League if all members of the Council other than the to-be-expelled member concur. However, it is unclear if abstentions or absences are permitted for expulsion votes (though it is undisputed that they are allowed for non-expulsion unanimous Council decisions). Even if permitted, it is disputed whether the expulsion could be legally valid without a majority (8 out of 14) of the Council in favor.

Regardless, both the expulsion and dispute had little practical effect. The Soviet Union had already declared nine days earlier that it would be absent from the League until further notice, it acknowledged its expulsion and made no move to challenge it on the disputed grounds, no other member was ever expelled from the League to demonstrate any precedent, and the League took no further significant actions due to the Second World War.

The League of Nations partially did not recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states. In its last session in 1946, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania remained on the list of members of the League. However, two months before the session, the League stated that it would not consider the 1939 documents of any representatives as valid, and required the governments of the League members to furnish new documents naming representatives. When the representatives of the Latvian government-in-exile and Lithuanian government-in-exile attempted to attend the session, a Secretariat staff member denied their 1939 documents as instructed, and explicitly stated that there did not exist any government which could provide them with the necessary credentials. The letter documenting this incident refers to the representatives as the "permanent delegate of Latvia" and "permanent delegate of Lithuania" as titles. The staff member offered the representatives, and their family members and assistants, entry into the League's diplomatic gallery to spectate the session, but the representatives refused the offer for themselves, while accepting it for their family members and assistants. In addition, the offered entry card, and even the envelope containing the card, explicitly omitted a country name and a title.

See also

• Member states of the United Nations

Notes

Citations

References

Further reading

• Hell, Stefan (2019). Siam and The League of Nations; Modernisation, Sovereignty, and Multilateral Diplomacy, 1920-1940. Bangkok: River Books. ISBN 9789749863893. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

External links

• Map of League of Nations members
• worldstatesmen.org
• List of States Members of the League of Nations on 31.XII.1944 from the League of Nations Statistical Yearbook (1942-44) Archived 1 September 2016 at Archive-It