The failure of the League of Nations

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The failure of the League of Nations

In this essay I am going to explain whether I agree or disagree with the following statement: ‘The league failed in the 1930’s simply because it faced greater challenges than it had faced in the 1920’s.’

The League of Nations was formed in 1919 just after the First World War. It was the initial idea of Woodrow Wilson, the president of the USA, and was formed as an international police force to keep the peace and to make sure such world atrocities like the First World War never happened again. 

 When the league first started everyone had different ideas of what organisation it should be and what aims it should have. The league was based on the covenant (a set of 26 articles or rules which all members had to agree to) and the covenant set out the aims of the League of Nations. These were:

  • To discourage aggression from any nation.
  • To encourage countries to cooperate, especially in business and trade.
  • To encourage nations to disarm.
  • To improve the living and working conditions of people in all parts of the world.

Before I make my decision I am going to look at the main weaknesses of the league.

When the league started for business in January 1920 the American chair was empty. America never joined the league even though it had been the idea of the American President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson needed the approval of his congress and in America the idea of the League was not popular at all. To many Americans plans for the League of Nations suggested that America was promising to send its troops to settle every little conflict around the world. Others thought that joining the league would be as if the USA were signing a blank cheque. The league was also linked to the treaty of Versailles and many Americans hated the treaty. Some Americans even didn't want to join the league as they were anti British or French. They thought that the League would be under the control of France or Britain and why should they fight for them. America not joining the league was the first major blow to the league.

America was not the only important country absent from the league Germany was not a member until 1926 and left in 1937.The USSR did not join until 1934 whilst Japan left in 1933 and Italy in 1937. Without such important powers the league lacked the power to enforce it decisions and sanctions.

Another weakness of the league was that it had no army. Therefore if economic sanctions failed military force was the next option. As the league had no armed forces of its own it relied upon its members. France and Britain, however, were reluctant to supply troops. Without an army the league could not enforce sanctions and could not make sure that members followed its order.

Decisions made by the League were too slow. When a crisis occurred, the League was supposed to act quickly. However the League met too infrequently and took too long to make decisions. It’s democratic approach meant that it took a long time to reach a decision and often a decision would not be reached until it was pointless. Also some decisions made by the League had to be unanimous and this took an especially long time as members often disagreed with each other.

The league was bound to uphold the peace treaties that had created it. However many hated these treaties as some of the terms were harsh and unjust and needed amending. This further undermined the league.

A big weakness of the league was the self-interest of its leading members. The League depended upon Britain and France to provide firm support in times of crisis. However these countries were too nationalistic and when conflicts did occur neither Britain or France was willing to abandon their own self-interests to support the league. An example of this is in 1923 when the ‘Corfu incident’ occurred. No investigation was made into this incident and Italy got what they wanted in the end. Britain and France did nothing because they wanted to keep friendly with Italy as it was in their best interests.

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One of the main tasks of the League was to sort out any disputes that arose among its members, the members brought the problem to the League and the problem was sorted out through discussion before matters got out of hand. However, if this did not work the League could use a moral, economic or military sanction. Economic sanctions were supposed to be the Leagues main weapon but members of the League did not impose them willingly because they were worried that without America they wouldn’t work. When they did impose them they were easily broken. The league lacked the ...

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