<P> The League would be made up of a General Assembly (representing all member states), an Executive Council (with membership limited to major powers), and a permanent secretariat . Member states were expected to "respect and preserve as against external aggression" the territorial integrity of other members and to disarm "to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety ." All states were required to submit complaints for arbitration or judicial inquiry before going to war . The Executive Council would create a Permanent Court of International Justice to make judgements on the disputes . </P> <P> Despite Wilson's efforts to establish and promote the League, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1919, the United States never joined . Senate Republicans led by Henry Cabot Lodge wanted a League with the reservation that only Congress could take the U.S. into war . Lodge gained a majority of Senators . Wilson refused to allow a compromise and the needed 2 / 3 majority was lacking . </P> <P> The League held its first council meeting in Paris on 16 January 1920, six days after the Versailles Treaty and the Covenant of the League of Nations came into force . On 1 November 1920, the headquarters of the League was moved from London to Geneva, where the first General Assembly was held on 15 November 1920 . The Palais Wilson on Geneva's western lakeshore, named after US President Woodrow Wilson in recognition of his efforts towards the establishment of the League, was the League's first permanent home . </P> <P> The official languages of the League of Nations were French, English, and Spanish . The League rejected adopting Esperanto as its working language . China and Japan wanted Esperanto but France was strongly opposed . </P>

The institution of international order from the league of nations to the united nations