Today’s United Nations assembly takes its inspiration from the League of Nations that formed after WW II. The League came together to make sure there would be no more continent-engulfing wars, by creating an international forum to resolve their conflicts. Symbolizing their neutrality and equal treatment to all members, they chose to base themselves in Geneva, Switzerland, a famously neutral country. At its launch, the League was hailed as a triumph of international relations: 42 nations participated in its first meeting.

On this day, November 15, in 1920 the League of Nations assembled for the first time. The 42 nations in assembly notably excluded some of the major world powers: Germany (barred for their aggression in WW I), The United States (who chose to isolate itself from European politics) and Russia (communism stoked fears across Europe even then).

Like the U.N., the League had a Council, made up of four permanent members and a rotating cast of four nonpermanent ones, that served as an executive committee of sorts. The Assembly comprised delegates from the rest of the nations. The secretariat was the body’s administrative arm, recording proceedings, setting agenda and drafting documents. The League’s goals were laudable, but their main problem was a lack of practical means of enforcing their decisions. They fell apart at the start of WW II and as the next international console, the U.N. body would make sure to have an enforcement mechanism in place.