The fact that so many countries joined then left is a point to show that the League of nations failed – because it was weak, however, this isn’t true for France and Britain because they never left the League which may suggest that it was a success.
The machinery of the league consisted of an assembly, a council, and a secretariat. Before World War II, the assembly convened regularly at Geneva in September; it was composed of three representatives for every member state, each state having one vote. The council met at least three times each year to consider political disputes and reduction of armaments; it was composed of several permanent members (France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and later Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and several not permanent members elected by the assembly. The decisions of the council had to be unanimous. The secretariat was the administrative branch of the league and consisted of a secretary-general and a staff of 500 people. Several other bodies were allied with the league, such as the Permanent Court of International Justice, called the World Court, and the International Labour Organization. There were some successes which portrays that it wasn’t a complete failure as areas such as refugees and famine were recognised and worked on.
Benito Mussolini sent naval forces to bombard the town of Kérkira in Corfu ,because an Italian General was shot durin an investigation, and to occupy the island in 1923, but these troops were evacuated later that year. The league was powerless to do anything. In 1926 the Kellogg Pact was signed by 65 countries including Russia and the USA which meant that they will never go to war again. In France there was a terrible event – the devastating Wall of Street Crash in 1929 when millions of dollars in shares were lost which led to a depression, which may have been a cause to World War II. The poor economy meant that the people would spend less money which led to bankruptcy and unemployment.
During a meeting on disarmament, Hitler walked out and wanted to re-arm. The League could only say if you don’t disarm, we will, re-arm
The League of Nations dealt with many problems in the 20s, they were minor problems, but in the 30s, they were basically powerless, this was another point on why it was seen as a joke
Britain and France were the unwilling leaders of the league and that any country that needed military help would come to them. After USA failed to join they were doing their own things in their own interests for the league. The sanction which led to the depression caused unemployment which spread through Europe and led to the emerging of Dictatorships.
Overall, I don’t think the League was a complete failure but I t wasn’t really much of a success since most of the aims failed. Never truly effective as a peacekeeping organization, the lasting importance of the League of Nations lies in the fact that it provided the groundwork for the UN. This international alliance, formed after World War II, not only profited by the mistakes of the League of Nations but borrowed much of the organizational machinery of the league.
