Because America did not join the League, Britain and France were in Charge but they were not strong enough themselves to lead the League as they had both been badly affected by World War One.
Economic sanctions didn’t really work because a powerful country like the USA wasn’t enforcing them, and as a result they were not strictly applied. Economic Sanctions also came at a time when many countries were re-building after the war and because of them, the World Economy was in a mess. It would also cost money to enforce Economic Sanctions – money that could have been spent on other things and money which, at the time, many of the countries didn’t have! Economic and financial sanctions involved refusing to trade with the ‘’aggressor’’
Germany was not allowed to join the League when it first started work in 1920, because the war was still fresh in the minds of the Major Powers, although it was finally admitted in 1926. Russia was a Communist country at the time of the LON and was finally allowed to join in 1934.Germany left the League in October 1932.
The League of Nations had no army of its own, so it was unable to back up any of the threats it made with Military Action, although it could be argued that it was a peace – keeping organisation and therefore did not want to resort to violence in order to solve problems. Another problem was the fact that the Assembly (Parliament) and Council *((a smaller group of leaders) had to agree before anything could be done. The Council also had Non-Permanent Members that were elected for a three year period, so this was very inconsistent.
Abyssinia is an example of when Britain and France were more concerned in their own interests than in running the League. In December 1934, an dispute arose between Italian and Abyssinian Troops and when the Emperor (Haile Sellaisea) appealed to the League, G.B. & Fr applied some sanctions e.g. Imports to Italy band but it did not sanction the important things like shutting the Suez Canal to Italian ships because they did not want to isolate Mussolini because they saw him as a useful allie in the future, against Adolph Hitler.
The League was also slow to act in situations like Manchuria, where Japan invaded China because it was iledged that Chinese Solders Blew up their Railway on 18th September but by the time the Litton Report had been issued in 1932. The report clearly identified Japan as the aggressor but all they did is resign from the League in 1933 and renamed Manchuria.
There is also the Issue that some Leaders were hell bent on causing conflict no matter what! The League also tried Moral Condemnation, which meant that the League said that a particular country was the aggressor and told them to stop. They also tried Collective Action, which involved other countries putting pressure on the aggressor.
Ambitious Members weren’t dealt with strongly enough because the League failed in some of its most important times. The League also let the old system of Alliances creep in, instead of declaring everything to the whole of the League. All of this leads to the rise of Dictators like Adolph Hitler, who came to power in 1933. Because the League failed at the disarmament conference in 1932 when he called for G.B. & Fr to demilitarise to Germany’s level or for Germany to build up its armed forces. This gave Germany the excuse it needed.
You cannot enforce sanctions if no body else wants to do it and this was one of the main problems of the League. Some people say the depression made the political dictation tougher world wide and it was nobody’s fault. Germany, Italy and Japan should of worked for the League instead of against it/. The League had to defend the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed after World War One. Too many didn’t stick to the rules and when they were challenged, they simply left the League. Members who could have apposed opposition to aggression were too worried about another war.
The Corfu Incident of 1923 meant the League was seen to be weak. Mussolini occupied the Greek Island of Corfu in 1923. Italy demanded compensation from Greece because an Italian Diplomat was murdered. The League demanded the money be paid to Greece but Mussolini got the decision overturned and received the money and the apology he wanted.
In conclusion, I will outline the main reasons why the League failed. Firstly, it is because many of the Nations were left out of the League and this caused resentment. With the Council, every country had a ‘’Vito’’ – I forbid a course of action The Assembly met only once a year, which is seen by some people as been too infrequent. It had no army so it couldn’t force countries to obey its orders. It had to uphold The Treaty of Versailles, even though both G.B. & Fr had aspects of it that they did not agree with.
Italy challenged the League on two separate occasions – over Corfu and Abyssinia and on both occasions they failed to act and nobody took the sanctions seriously enough. All of this spelt the end of the League of Nations as it had failed to keep the peace, and nobody even bothered to tell the League when World War Two broke out., and some people say that the League itself did not fail , instead it was countries that were involved in its organisation who were to blame.
