The LofN proved to be weak from the beginning, and had spectacular failures in two major disputes, that undermined everything the League was supposed to stand for. In 1931, the Japanese, using as an excuse the explosion of a bomb under the South Manchuria railroad initiated a military operation to conquer all of Manchuria, an area rich in natural resources. The League intervened, but did nothing except produce a report blaming Japan as the aggressor; as a result Japan abdicated from the League, joined the Axis powers (Germany and Italy) and fought against the Allies in World War II.
The LofN proved to be weak from the beginning, and had spectacular failures in two major disputes, that undermined everything the League was supposed to stand for. In 1931, the Japanese, using as an excuse the explosion of a bomb under the South Manchuria railroad initiated a military operation to conquer all of Manchuria, an area rich in natural resources. The League intervened, but did nothing except produce a report blaming Japan as the aggressor; as a result Japan abdicated from the League, joined the Axis powers (Germany and Italy) and fought against the Allies in World War II.
- The second dispute involved Italy, and was called the Abyssinian crisis. Abyssinia (now known as Ethiopia) was invaded by the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, who desired Abyssinia as an economic colony. The League did absolutely nothing after British and French efforts to effect a compromise settlement failed, and by 1936 Italy had complete control of Ethiopia.
In 1933 Adolph Hitler rose to power in Germany with the aid of storm troops. The rise of Hitler was a great cause of W.W II; he imbued the German nation with visions of a new fatherland restored to power and prosperity. He used World War II as his own personal battle and intended to fight it as a re-run of the first one, as he did not believe that Germany had lost fairly.
All opposing parties in Germany were silenced and all democratic rights were suspended. Emboldened by the weakness of the League of Nations, he saw fit to break the Treaty of Versailles accurately guessing that the Western powers would not exert pressure to stop him. He continually to flagrantly flout the Treaty of Versailles, and the League let him do it, hoping to appease Germany by giving them what they wanted. Appeasement played a major role in causing the Second World War, and is regarded by many as the main short-term cause of the war. It meant that Germany could have a large army and navy again, and they could do Anschluss with other countries. Yet again another prime example of the League of Nations not fulfilling its aims- they failed to disarm Germany, and this proved to be their downfall. Ultimately, Hitler thought that no one dared to stop him, he went further and further until he went too far.
In the same year that the League allowed Italy to conquer Ethiopia, they allowed Germany to remilitarise the Rhineland. It was a dangerous and daring endeavour for Hitler, for Britain and France could have overwhelmed Germany, but for the sake of peace, they turned a blind eye. Had the League been efficient, the World War could have been entirely avoided, because due to stupid mishandlings, two countries left the league and one didn’t join at all. It would have been so much easier for five countries to subdue Germany, as opposed to just Britain and France struggling along on their own, allowing Adolph Hitler to be left to his own devices in the hope of appeasing him simply because they couldn’t control him. The combined efforts of Britain, France, Japan, Russia, and the USA, would have succeeded marvellously in stemming the flow of a German uprising.
An additional result of appeasement was the fact that, the League allowed Hitler to occupy the Sudetenland foolishly trusting him not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia, which he did in 1939. As a direct result of this, feeling he could no longer trust Britain, Stalin made the surprising Nazi-Soviet pact which allied him with his sworn enemy; Germany. In the same year, Hitler forcibly annexed Austria (which was forbidden by the Treaty), and seized land from Lithuania. He began to make demands from Poland and was met with a staunch resistance, and it became clear to Hitler that he would have to attain his objectives by force. Then on the first of March 1939, Hitler “pressed the button” that started World War 2; he invaded Poland. Britain and France, who had pledged to support Poland in the event of aggression declared war on Germany two days later. World War II had begun.
