"The main reason for the failure of the League of Nations was that the United States did not join

Authors Avatar

Charles de Carvalho JMN

“The main reason for the failure of the League of Nations was that the United States did not join.” How far do you agree with this view?

In theory the League of Nations was a good idea and did have some early successes in the 1920’s. But ultimately it was a failure, when it hit a crisis in the 1930’s.

The whole world was hit by a depression in the late 1920s. When a countries economy falls, this is called a depression. Businesses lose income, trade is reduced, and unemployment rises and prices fall.

In 1931, Japan was affected badly by this sort of thing. People lost faith in the government and turned to the army to find a solution. The army invaded Manchuria in China, an area rich in minerals and resources. China appealed to the League for help. The Japanese government were told to order the army to leave Manchuria immediately. However, the army took no notice of the government and continued its conquest of Manchuria.

Join now!

The League then called for countries to stop trading with Japan but because of the depression many countries did not want to risk losing trade and did not agree to the request. The League then made a further call for Japan to withdraw from Manchuria but Japan's response was to leave the League of Nations.

        By 1935, most countries did not think that the League could keep the peace.

When Hitler began to break the Treaty of Versailles in the 1930s, the League was powerless to stop him (this is the next topic you will study).

        The league failed, ...

This is a preview of the whole essay