The Council. The Council was a smaller group which met more often, usually about five times a year (and more if there was an emergency). It included 4 permanent members; Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan. Later Germany (1926) joined and the USSR (1934) - as permanent members of the Council. Each permanent member of the Council had a veto. This meant that one of the permanent member could stop any decision even if all other members supported it. It also included some temporary members that were elected by the Assembly over a period of three years. The number of temporary members varied between 4 and 9 at different times in the League's history.

The Council: The League Council acted as a type of executive body directing the Assembly's business. The Council began with four permanent members (Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan) and four non-permanent members which were elected by the Assembly for a three year period. The first four non-permanent members were Belgium, Brazil, Greece and Spain. The United States was meant to be the fifth permanent member, but the US Senate voted on 19 March 1920 against the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, thus preventing American participation in the League.
The composition of the Council was subsequently changed a number of times. The number of non-permanent members was first increased to six on 22 September 1922, and then to nine on 8 September 1926. Werner Dankwort of Germany pushed for his home country to join the league which they eventually did in 1926. Germany became the fifth permanent member of the Council, giving the Council a total of fifteen members. Later, after Germany and Japan both left the League, the number of non-permanent seats was increased from nine to eleven.
The Council met, on average, five times a year and in extraordinary sessions when required. In total, 107 public sessions were held between 1920 and 1939. (Wikipedia March 2010)