League of Nations first meeting (10-1-1920)

[Antonio Marques]

This was a very preliminary meeting, held in London. The first General
Assembly was later that year, in Geneva, with 41 nations represented.
French and English were designated "official" [working] languages.
Spanish was added later the same year.
There was a formal motion to include Esperanto, but that was vetoed by
the French. (The league did recommend, in 1922, that Esperanto be
included in the educational curriculum of member countries.)

And I’ve always associated e-o with a certain kind of leftism dear to
France. I figure that in 1920 they hadn’t yet realised the shift to english
in international communication.

[Christian Weisgerber]

This was a very preliminary meeting, held in London. The first General
Assembly was later that year, in Geneva, with 41 nations represented.
French and English were designated "official" [working] languages.

Makes sense. French was still the international (well, Western)
lingua franca, but English was rising rapidly, what with the British
Empire and the ascent of the USA.

Spanish was added later the same year.

Now that's more surprising.

There was a formal motion to include Esperanto, but that was vetoed by
the French. (The league did recommend, in 1922, that Esperanto be
included in the educational curriculum of member countries.)

Esperanto was never attached to any population/culture/etc. that
would have allowed it to achieve critical mass.

[HenHanna]

Post by Christian Weisgerber

This was a very preliminary meeting, held in London. The first General
Assembly was later that year, in Geneva, with 41 nations represented.
French and English were designated "official" [working] languages.

Makes sense. French was still the international (well, Western)
lingua franca, but English was rising rapidly, what with the British
Empire and the ascent of the USA.

Spanish was added later the same year.

Now that's more surprising.

There was a formal motion to include Esperanto, but that was vetoed by
the French. (The league did recommend, in 1922, that Esperanto be
included in the educational curriculum of member countries.)

Esperanto was never attached to any population/culture/etc. that
would have allowed it to achieve critical mass.

is Ross Clark on vacation?