Which statement best describes the League of Nations?

• A. A secret alliance among Allied powers during World War II.
• B. An international organization formed to maintain peace and collective security after World War I.
• C. A conference held in 1919 to redraw Europe's borders.
• D. A military alliance established by the United States after WWI to deter aggression.

Answer: (B)

The main idea being tested is that the League of Nations was an international organization formed after World War I to maintain peace through collective security and diplomacy. It grew out of the postwar settlement and the Covenant of the League, linked to Wilson’s Fourteen Points, and was meant to prevent aggression by coordinating peaceful measures—negotiation, sanctions, and collective action—rather than relying on a standing army. It was not a secret alliance among Allied powers during World War II, nor a conference to redraw Europe’s borders—that description fits the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. It also wasn’t a United States military alliance, since the U.S. never joined the League. While ambitious in its aim to secure lasting peace, its effectiveness was limited by weak enforcement mechanisms and uneven participation by major powers, a weakness that contributed to its replacement by the United Nations after World War II.