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Page
•
enha
nce
your
kno
wled
ge
abou
t the
vario
us
conf
eren
ces
that
creat
ed a
basis
for
the
prese
nt
Unit
ed
•
learn
the
relati
ve
succ
esses
and
mass
ive
failu
res
of
the
Leag
ue of
Nati
ons
•
cont
empl
ate
the
signi
fican
ce of
the
Leag
ue
after
its
demi
se
3.1
Int
rod
ucti
on:
Born
with
the
will
of
the
victo
rs of
the
First
Worl
d
War
to
avoi
d a
repe
at of
a
deva
stati
ng
war,
the
Leag
ueof
Nati
ons
repre
sents
an
impo
rtant
mile
ston
e in
the
direc
tion
of
achie
ving
the
age
old
glob
al
com
muni
tyas
pirat
ion
of a
glob
al
body
. It
was
the
first
signi
fican
t
instit
ution
with
a
clear
obje
ctive
to
main
tainu
niver
sal
peac
e
withi
n the
fram
ewor
k of
the
fund
ame
ntal
princ
iples
of
the
Pact
acce
pted
by
its
Me
mber
s:
tode
velo
p
coop
erati
on
amo
ng
natio
ns
and
to
guar
antee
them
peac
e
and
secur
ity.
The
Leag
ue’s
goal
s
inclu
dedd
isar
mam
ent,
prev
entin
g
war
thro
ugh
colle
ctive
secur
ity,
settli
ng
disp
utes
betw
een
coun
tries
thro
ughn
egoti
ation
diplo
mac
y
and
impr
ovin
g
glob
al
welf
are.
The
diplo
mati
c
philo
soph
y
behi
nd
the
Leag
uere
prese
nted
a
fund
ame
ntal
shift
in
thou
ght
from
the
prec
edin
g
hund
red
years
.
After
a
num
ber
of
nota
bles
ucce
sses
and
som
e
early
failu
res
in
the
1920
s,
the
Leag
ue
ulti
mate
ly
prov
ed
inca
pabl
e of
prev
entin
gagg
ressi
on
by
the
Axis
Pow
ers
in
the
1930
s.
The
onse
t of
the
Seco
nd
Worl
d
War
sugg
ested
that
the
Leag
ueha
d
faile
d in
its
prim
ary
purp
ose
— to
avoi
d
any
futur
e
worl
d
war.
In
spite
of its
polit
ical
failu
re,
the
legac
yof
the
Leag
ue of
Nati
ons
at
the
same
time
appe
ars
clear
ly in
a
num
ber
of
princ
iples
state
d by
the
Char
teran
d in
the
com
pete
ncies
and
expe
rienc
es
deve
lope
d in
the
area
of
tech
nical
coop
erati
on:
the
majo
rity
of
thes
pecia
lized
instit
ution
s of
the
Unit
ed
Nati
ons
syste
m
can
in
fact
be
cons
idere
d the
legac
y of
the
work
initia
ted
by
the
Leag
ue of
Nati
ons.
3.2
Fou
ndi
ng
of
the
Lea
gue
of
Nat
ion
s:
It
was
duri
ng
the
Worl
d
War
I,
num
erou
s
grou
ps
stare
d org
Failure of the League of Nations

The League of Nations was an international organisation set up in 1919

to help keep world peace. It was intended that all countries would be
members of the League and that if there were disputes between
countries they could be settled by negotiation rather than by force. If
this failed then countries would stop trading with the aggressive country
and if that failed then countries would use their armies to fight.

In theory the League of Nations was a good idea and did have some
early successes. But ultimately it was a failure.
The whole world was hit by a depression in the late 1920s. A
depression is when a country's economy falls. Trade is reduced,
businesses lose income, prices fall and unemployment rises.

In 1931, Japan was hit badly by the depression. 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.

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.

In October 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia. The Abyssinians did not have
the strength to withstand an attack by Italy and appealed to the League
of Nations for help.

The League condemned the attack and called on member states to

impose trade restrictions with Italy. However, the trade restrictions were
not carried out because they would have little effect. Italy would be able
to trade with non-member states, particularly America. Furthermore,
Britain and France did not want to risk Italy making an attack on them.

In order to stop Italy's aggression, the leaders of Britain and France

held a meeting and decided that Italy could have two areas of land in
Abyssinia provided that there were no further attacks on the African
country. Although Mussolini accepted the plan, there was a public
outcry in Britain and the plan was dropped.

The main reasons for the failure of the League of Nations can be
summarised into the following points:

1. Not all countries joined the League.

Although the idea for the League of Nations had come from
Woodrow Wilson, there was a change of government in the
United States before the signing of the treaty and the new
Republican government refused to join. As a punishment for
having started World War One, Germany was not allowed to join
and Russia was also excluded due to a growing fear of
Communism. Other countries decided not to join and some joined
 but later left.

2. The League had no power.

The main weapon of the League was to ask member countries to
stop trading with an aggressive country. However, this did not
work because countries could still trade with non-member
countries. When the world was hit by depression in the late 1920s
countries were reluctant to lose trading partners to other non-
member countries.

3. The League had no army.

Soldiers were to be supplied by member countries. However,
countries were reluctant to get involved and risk provoking an
aggressive country into taking direct action against them and
failed to provide troops.

4. Unable to act quickly.

The Council of the League of Nations only met four times a year
and decisions had to be agreed by all nations. When countries
called for the League to intervene, the League had to set up an
emergency meeting, hold discussions and gain the agreement of
all members. This process meant that the League could not act
quickly to stop an act of aggression.

The League of Nations Revision

FOUR AIMS OF THE LEAGUE [memory word: SIDE]
1. Stop war – (Article 10 of the Covenant = ‘collective security’)
2. Improve people's lives and Jobs – Encourage co-operation in trade/ Economic and social
agencies.
3. Disarmament
4. Enforce the Treaty of Versailles

MEMBERSHIP OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

1. 42 countries joined at the start. By the 1930s this had risen to 60.
2. May 1920, the US Senate voted against Versailles.
3. The USSR did not join the League. In 1919 it set up the Comintern to cause
revolution.
4. Germany was not allowed to join the League as a punishment for causing WWI.
5. The leading members were Britain and France, helped by Japan and Italy.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE LEAGUE [memory word: SCACHIRMS]

Secretariat: supposed to co-ordinate the different functions of the League/ too few secretaries
to do the work - slow and inefficient
Council: met 4-5 times a year/ 5 permanent members - Br, Fr, It, Jap & Ger - with a veto.
Assembly: the League’s main meeting, held once a year/ decisions only by unanimous vote
+ the Committees: Court of international justice/ Health committee/ International labour
organization/ Refugees committee/ Mandates commission/ Slavery commission
ALSO Conference of ambassadors (not really part of the League's organisation).

THREE STRENGTHS OF THE LEAGUE [memory Word: SUM]

1. Set up by the Treaty of Versailles
2. Universal membership, all of which had signed the Covenant promising to support the
League.
3. Means of Influence – Covenant (26 promises which every member agreed to follow)/
Moral condemnation (public opinion)/ Arbitration (act as a referee)/ Sanctions (refuse to
trade)/ Military Force (send an army)/ ‘Community of Power’ (acting together).

SIX SUCCESSES OF THE LEAGUE IN THE 1920s [memory word: SAMBOK]

1. Silesia, 1921 – Germany and Poland agreed to paritiion after a plebiscite.
2. Aaland Islands, 1921 – said the islands should belong to Finland; Sweden and Finland
agreed.
3. Mosul, 1924 – the Turks demanded Mosul, Iraq. The League supported Iraq; Turkey
agreed.
4. Bulgaria, 1925 – Greece invaded Bulgaria, but withdrew when Bulgaria appealed to the
League.
5. Other: 400,000 Prisoners of War repatriated/ Turkish refugee camps (1922)/ Leprosy/
Drugs companies closed down/ Attacked slave owners in Sierra Leone and Burma/
Economic advice to Austria and Hungary
6. Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928 – signed by 23 nations and supported by 65, to outlaw war.
SIX FAILURES OF THE LEAGUE IN THE 1920s [memory word: VIMCOD]
1. Vilna, 1920 – Poland refused the League orders to withdraw from Vilna.
2. Invasion of the Ruhr, 1923 – by France; the League was not even consulted, and Britain
disagreed.
3. Memel, 1923 – The League told Lithuania to leave, but the Conference of Ambassadors
agreed.
4. Corfu, 1923 – General Tellini murdered, so Italy occupied Corfu. The Conference of
Ambassadors overruled the League’s order to Mussolini to leave – forced Greece to pay
compensation to Italy.
5. Other Treaties: Washington , 1921/ Dawes Plan, 1924/ Locarno Pact, 1925/ The Geneva
Protocol, 1924 (to support the League of Nations) failed because Britain refused to sign it
6. Disarmament – Britain objected to the 1923 conference/ 1932-1934 conference was
wrecked when Hitler demanded parity with France.

TWO FAILURES OF THE LEAGUE IN THE 1930s

1. Manchuria, 1931: The League sent officials (took a year)/ voted that Japan return
Manchuria (Feb 1933 - Japan resigned from the League)/ could not agree economic
sanctions or arms sales ban.
2. Abyssinia, 1935: Mussolini invaded (October 1935) Haile Selassie’s Abyssinia/ Britain
and France secretly agreed to give Abyssinia to Italy (Hoare-Laval Pact, 1935)/ The
League tried sanctions on arms sales, rubber and metals, but they did not close the Suez
Canal or ban oil sales.
3. These failures killed the League – Mussolini gained prestige/ Britain, France and the
League were weakened - countries decided it was a ‘sham’, left and began to prepare for
war instead.

EIGHT REASONS THE LEAGUE FAILED [memory word: BUSTED UP]

1. Britain and France – were not prepared to use their armies and had other priorities.
2. USA, USSR and Germany – USA was never a member/ USSR not until 1934/ Germany
not until 1926, and Hitler left the League in 1933.
3. Structure – its organisation [SCACHIRMS] was cumbersome so decisions were very
slow.
4. Treaty of Versailles set up the League – so it was hated because the Treaty was hateful.
5. Economic Depression – countries acted to save their own interests, and ignored the
League.
6. Dictators – dictators like Mussolini and Hitler would not compromise.
7. Unsuccessful – the League’s failures damaged its reputation, so members left/ignored it.
8. Powerless: moral condemnation was just ignored by powerful nations/ the League had
no armies/ people found ways round sanctions.