ABSTRACT
Collective security and disarmament were high priority issues at the League of Nations in the 1920s. Indeed, the League represented the first large-scale attempt historically at collective security, and it had two options it could use in deterring aggression, namely, arbitration by the League Council and economic sanctions. The complexities of the new European states' borders due to the presence of mixed minorities consumed much of the League's time until 1923. Just as any problem was aggravated by the imperfect Versailles order, any solution appeared to challenge it; minuscule territories fueled disproportionate passions. Port cities with mixed populations and important strategic and economic assets received special compromise solutions, while issues of jurisdiction and minority rights in those areas required near constant attention from the League. The promise of collective security as a deterrent to war received a boost in the fall of 1926, when Germany formally entered the League of Nations in 1926 with a permanent seat on the Council.
