The failure of the League of Nations and the war

Read the PDF edition (2 pages)

The League of Nations did not succeed in halting the march to war. The absence of the United States from the outset, then the withdrawal of Japan, Germany and Italy, its powerlessness in the face of the aggressions of the 1930s and the expulsion of the Soviet Union after the invasion of Finland in 1939 marked its decline.¹ During the Second World War the organisation barely survived, while part of its services left Geneva.² It was dissolved in 1946.

The war put Geneva’s vocation to the test. The International Committee of the Red Cross carried out considerable work on behalf of prisoners of war, but it ran up against the limits that Part D described in the face of persecution and extermination. Switzerland, surrounded, restricted the admission of refugees. International Geneva, silenced by the war, seemed doomed.

This episode recalls a reality that the financial centre knows well: a city’s international vocation depends on the international order within which it operates. When that order collapses, the city loses its function. The Geneva of 1940 was as isolated as the Geneva of the fairs after 1462. Its rebirth would once again depend on decisions taken elsewhere.

Notes

Wikipedia (en), “League of Nations”: “The Senate voted on the ratification on 19 March 1920, and the 49–35 vote fell short of the needed 2/3 majority”; Germany admitted on 8 September 1926, withdrew in 1933; Japan withdrew in 1933; Italy left in 1937; USSR admitted on 18 September 1934 and “expelled on 14 December 1939 for invading Finland”; the League “ceased operations on 18 April 1946”; Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS; Historical Dictionary of Switzerland), art. “Société des Nations (SdN)”: “Legally, the League ceased to exist on 31 July 1947”. ↩
Wikipedia (en), “Economic and Financial Organization of the League of Nations”: “In May 1940 […] Loveday decided to move together with around two-thirds of the EFO staff […] and eventually relocated the organization at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey”; Wikipedia (en), “League of Nations” (relocation of administrative functions during the war). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

English

Contact

Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

Get in touch →

The failure of the League of Nations and the war

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?