The Delegation was founded in 1901 by French academics Louis Couturat and Léopold Leau, who had noted the language difficulties arising among international bodies convening during the 1900 World's Fair in Paris.
[1] Working with European esperantists, they gathered support for the Delegation from professional societies, companies, and universities.
Three conditions were laid out for the language to be chosen: In June 1907, the Delegation convened and refused to decide the ultimate issue, but rather, at Couturat's insistence, created a committee to make the decision.
A response was demanded in one month, but this was logistically impossible as members of the Language Committee spread out all over Europe and beyond.
[2] Less than a year later, the Universala Esperanto-Asocio was created to provide stronger leadership within the Esperanto movement, which had not received organizational guidance from its inventor, Dr. Zamenhof.