Why did the League of Nations fail in the 1930s?

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Reja Nadeem 10A

Why did the League of Nations fail in the 1930s?

In 1919, when the League of Nations was first created, it specified one of its main objectives as being ‘to ensure a just and lasting peace’. Despite having several successes in the 1920s, it failed to uphold this statement on numerous accounts in the 1930s, eventually leading to its loss of credibility, followed by its collapse and the break out of World War Two. The League of Nations was ineffective in the 1930s for several reasons, and these shall be discussed in this essay.

The root of the League’s failure lies in the Great Depression that struck the world in 1929. The hopes for a lasting peace, evoked by the Kellogg-Briand pact of 1928 and the Young Plan of 1929 were immediately diminished. European businesses that relied so heavily on American loans soon found themselves bankrupt. With unemployment rates soaring to as high as thirty-three percent in countries such as Germany, the idealistic mood of the ‘roaring twenties’ evaporated, leaving people feeling emotionally dejected and disheartened. Distraught, they now turned towards hostile dictators, such as Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany, who promised to regain wealth and glory for their countries. The League’s condemnation or disapproval did not stop these aggressive polices, and thus it can be said that the impact of Depression on international diplomacy caused the Leagues weaknesses to become increasing obvious.

A prime example of this is Japan in the Manchurian Crisis of 1931. In addition to being hit severely by the Depression, tariffs were also placed on Japanese goods, as well as the country being increasingly denied full access to sources of raw materials and markets. Thus, Japanese nationalists felt that Japan could only be revived by new conquests and expansion. Claiming China was in a state of anarchy, she invaded the southern area of Manchuria, hoping to gain prestige, security, raw materials and new markets by increasing her empire in this way. Both countries were members of the League, and China, under Article 11- it stated that in the event of war (or threat of war) the League was to ‘take any action deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations,’ appealed. Whilst the League did set up the Lytton Commission to investigate, it did not submit a report until October 1932: almost a full year after the invasion. This report, although it didn’t suggest sanctions, did criticize Japanese aggression. As a result, Japan simply walked out of the League and continued its Chinese conquests. Although the League offered several reasons for its ineffectiveness; Japan was so on the other side of the world, China was anarchic.  However, the main explanation is blatant: Europe, at the peak of the Depression, simply was not concerned with such a crisis.

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In addition to the Depression- an external factor, there were many ‘internal’ weaknesses within the League’s actual organization. These can be traced back to 1919, when it was first formed. For example, decisions made by the Assembly had to be unanimous; this was problematic, mainly because resolutions took longer to reach;  this was also mirrored by the fact that it met only once a year. There were also problems with the League’s membership; Germany did not join until 1926, and the USSR until 1934, along with the losers of the First World War, who were never invited to join ...

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