In light of these shifts, one is compelled to look back to the era of the League of Nations—the UN’s predecessor—and examine the reasons for its ultimate failure. The birth of the League The League of Nations formally came into existence on January 10, 1920, the same day the Treaty of Versailles came into force. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the League was established with two principal aims. First, it sought to maintain peace through collective security: if one member attacked another, all members were expected to act together to restrain the aggressor through economic sanctions or, if necessary, military force....