Failure of the League Of Nations
The League of Nations had many 'design' weaknesses; one of which was the absence of the USA. It was a great shock and disappointment for the rest of the world when the American people voted for a 'policy of isolation', and despite all the campaigning of Woodrow Wilson, decided not to join the League of Nations. This can be considered a great weakness because the USA was becoming the most powerful and influential country in the world, and therefore the League would probably be unwilling to make a decision which would go against the USA, and it would also mean that a country inside the League, who had trade sanctions placed upon them would still be free to trade with the USA. The USA could have also supplied the League with much needed troops.The League of Nations also seemed to have a weakness in not accepting Germany in the League when it was first formed. This gave the impression that the League was for the 'winners' of WW1, with Britain and France part of the inner council, and kept the German people bitter and still wanting revenge.Another weakness of the League was that it did not have an army of its own, and that if it wanted an army to stand up to a troublesome
country, it must raise an army from member countries. This became ineffective, as many member countries were very unwilling to raise an army and physically challenge a country, as they were afraid that it would effect their own self-interests, as shown in the Manchurian and the Abyssinian crisis'.The small holes in the League became gaping ones after its failure to do anything significant in the two main 'crisis'' of the early 1930's: The invasion of Manchuria by Japan in '31 and the invasion of Abyssinia by the Italians in '35.In 1929 the world experienced the 'Wall Street collapse', a mass ...
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country, it must raise an army from member countries. This became ineffective, as many member countries were very unwilling to raise an army and physically challenge a country, as they were afraid that it would effect their own self-interests, as shown in the Manchurian and the Abyssinian crisis'.The small holes in the League became gaping ones after its failure to do anything significant in the two main 'crisis'' of the early 1930's: The invasion of Manchuria by Japan in '31 and the invasion of Abyssinia by the Italians in '35.In 1929 the world experienced the 'Wall Street collapse', a mass economic depression that effected many of the countries of the world hard, especially Japan. Therefore, Japan was in desperate need of raw materials such as coal and Iron Ore, which an area of China, named Manchuria, was rich in. Japan already had influence in Manchuria, and so decided to take it over. China appealed to the League, which decided to set up a Commission of Inquiry under Lord Lytton, who was sent to the area to make a report. During the year it took to make the report, Japan tightened its grip on the area. When the League finally 'morally condemned' Japan with the report, Japan simply ignored the report and left the League. Japan continued to make successful trade with the USA, its biggest trading partner, and then announced the intention to invade China itself. This incident showed that if an aggressive dictator wanted to invade neighbouring countries, he could, while the League stood back and watched.This point was underlined 4 years later, when Abyssinia appealed for help to the League about the Italian Invasion. The League took eight months to discuss the matter, and then concluded that Italy could have some of Abyssinia (as Italy had roots in Abyssinia), but Mussolini rejected this offer. The League delayed its decision to apply trade sanctions, meaning that Italy could stockpile enough resources. Also, in self-interest, France and Britain refused to stop trading in oil with Italy as it could harm their own economies, and refused to shut the Suez Canal, the route Italy used to get things from Italy to Abyssinia, because they were afraid of war with Italy, and they also did not want to upset Mussolini, as they hoped he would be their ally with in increasing threat of Hitler. So, this meant that the League did not manage to stop Italy, and showed that the League was actually weak and quite powerless. Hitler saw this, and was able to exploit the League's weakness to rearm and march into the Rhineland.The League of Nations met too infrequently to keep up with the pace of political issues. The league was supposed to act quickly and with determination but they took far too long to reach decisions for example, they took eight months to discuss the Abyssinian crisis. This weakened the authority of the League. The fact that military force was never used mainly because of the difficulties the League had in raising an army. This gave political leaders like Hitler the impression that they could get away with almost anything.Because of the depression, the member countries did not have the money to invest in the League, and therefore the league did not have the resources it needed. Members were more interested with their own financial position then the League’s. It also meant that they didn't have the resources to impose its rulings which helped give the League of Nations a bad reputation.The League of Nations was seen as very biased and its rulings were thought to be very unfair. It was obvious that the league would be in favour of upholding the peace treaties which had created it, but became quite clear that these treaties were too harsh and should have been amended. This undermined the league because it was supporting morals that were quite obviously wrong. The league also seemed to have one rule for larger countries and another for the smaller ones. They appeared to have alterior motives. Britain and France wanted to keep on the right side of Hitler because it was in their own self interest to have allies.Economic sanctions were supposed to be the League’s main weapon, but members of the League did not willingly impose them because they were worried that they would not work without America. When they did impose them, they were flawed. The trade ban on Italy failed miserably because the League did not stop the trade of oil. This was crucial; had they done this, Italy would not have been able to obtain all the resources needed for invasion. The League therefore lacked the muscle to enforce the decisions of its assembly and councilSo, in conclusion, I personally feel that the League's Physical weakness was too great in a world that was still very self-interested. For example, Britain and France were happy for Italy to invade the virtually defenceless country Abyssinia, as long as it meant that they would stay on good terms with Mussolini. Over all I do not think that one reason in particular was more prominent than any others because it was the cumulative effect of all the reasons together that caused the league to fail.
