UN General Assembly
1962

108. Like the United Nations, the League of Nations was created on the basis of the juridical equality of States, its purpose being the abolition of war and the maintenance of peace and security among nations. 109. The political functions entrusted to the League of Nations had four major purposes; to preserve the independence and territorial integrity of its members; to prevent conflicts by their peaceful settlement; to repel aggression; and to reduce armaments. 110. When the League of Nations held the seventeenth ordinary session of its Assembly, in 1936, it had already, after seventeen years, of existence and work, demonstrated its inability to fulfil any of the above four purposes: the arms race was proceeding at an accelerated pace and the imminent danger of a second world war was looming over the world. 111. Simply in order to show the similarity of that situation with the one now confronting us, we shall venture to compare a few remarks made by the delegation of Panama at that seventeenth Assembly in 1936 and our view of the situation today.