In 1935 Germany enforced conscription and started to construct warships. The construction of the Luftwaffe then begun but this was all banned by the Treaty of Versailles. In March 1936 Hitler sent German forces to the Rhineland. Then also in 1936 Hitler sent German forces to fight on the side of General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Hitler used the Spanish Civil war as an opportunity to practice Blitzkrieg tactics which he then used during World War Ι Ι. Finally in 1938 Hitler occupied Austria and united it with Germany claiming that he was protecting Germans within Austria and then held a vote in which 99% of Austrians voted in favour of a union with Germany. All of this was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles but Hitler did this to challenge the League of Nations to see how they would react.
The League of Nations also failed because Mussolini, a dictator from Italy, prepared to invade Abyssinia. Abyssinia then asked the League for help; while the League of Nations talked to Mussolini he used the time to send an army into Africa. The League of Nations then suggested giving Abyssinia to Italy. Mussolini ignored the League of Nations and invaded Abyssinia. In secret however Britain and France agreed to give Abyssinia to Italy, the Hoare-Laval Pact.
Manchuria became a factor or the failure of the League of Nations in 1932 when the Japanese army invaded Manchuria and threw out the Chinese residents. They then set up their own government called the ‘Manchoukuo’. When china asked the League of Nations for help it sent a group of officials led by Lord Lytton to study the problem, this however took a year, but in February 1933 they ordered Japan to leave Manchuria.
However Japan refused to leave Manchuria and instead left the League of Nations. As many countries had important trading links with Japan the League of Nations couldn’t agree on sanctions or even ban weapon sales. Britain and France didn’t want a war therefore nothing was done. This showed the League of Nations as weak and powerless therefore adding to the failures and breakdown of the League of Nations.
The way the League of Nations was structured also contributed to its failure. The council had a total of nine members, five of which were permanent. The five permanent members where; Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Germany (from 1926). However Japan and Germany both left the League of Nations in 1933 and Italy shortly followed in 1937. The two main problems of the council where that the five permanent members could ‘veto’ any ideas they objected to, in the case of Japan in Manchuria. The second main problem was that the council only met once a year therefore between the meetings a war could have started.
The assembly has representatives from all of the other countries which varied between around 40 and 60. America never joined the League of Nations even though it was originally their idea as it featured in Wilson’s 14 points. The assembly had no specific meeting times therefore could meet is any emergency arouse.
When the League of Nations was set up in 1920, Germany wasn’t allowed to join. This made the League of Nations seen like a League of Victors from World War Ι. The League of Nations was weakened even more when the USA refused to join even though it was originally their idea. Another critical weakness was that Russia didn’t join because it was a communist country. Without these three big powers the League of Nations started off weak. The League also didn’t have a secure army therefore if any situations where a immediate army was required the League of Nations had to use parts of different armies. This delayed things significantly and led to a failure within the League of Nations.
From beginning to end the League of Nations failed to keep the peace because it was seen as weak and powerless, from big powers failing to join to not having a significant army therefore the League of Nations would never had succeeded.
