Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/878

 656 General History of Europe they had established thoroughly stable governments. The League was to have its permanent offices and staff at Geneva, and was to be made up of an Assembly in which each of the members, includ- ing the British dominions, had one vote, and a Council made up of the representatives of the five great powers (the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan), to which others might later be added, and of four states to be selected from time to time by the Assembly. The Assembly and Council were to meet at stated intervals, the Council at least once a year. All impor- tant decisions required a unanimous vote. 1184. Provisions for the Prevention of War. Any war or threat of war, or any matter affecting the peace of the world, is declared in the Covenant a matter of concern to the whole League, and the League is to take any action it may deem wise to safeguard the peace of nations. Members of the League agree to submit any dispute which might lead to war either to arbitration or to investigation by the Council or Assembly. If they submit the dispute to arbitration, they pledge themselves to carry out the award made and not to resort to war. If they submit the dispute to inquiry, the Council or Assembly must fully investigate the matter and, within six months after the submission of the dispute, make a report and recommendations in regard to it. Should this report and recommendations be unanimously agreed to by all the powers except those which are parties to the dispute, the latter agree not to go to war in the matter. If the recommendations are not unanimous, the parties to the dispute pledge themselves in no case to resort to war for three months after the report is made. Should any member resort to war in disregard of these agree- ments, it is deemed to have committed an act of war against all the governments and states which are members of the League, and the latter agree to sever all trade and financial relations with the offending state and to prohibit all intercourse between its citizens and their own. The members of the League also undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and political independence of one another.