Department: Humanities

Cambridge IGCSE & O’ Level

Subject: History (0470)
Topic: TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS A SUCCESS?
FOCUS POINTS
 How successful was the league in the 1920s?

 How far did weakness of the League’s organisation make failure inevitable?

 How far did Depression make the work of the League more difficult?

 How successful was the League in the 1930s?

Background
The League of Nations was set up to prevent another war. It was Woodrow
Wilson’s idea. He saw the League as an institution that help solve international
disputes peacefully. He also believed that if leaders sit down and talk this was
going to eliminate the drawing up of secrete diplomacy/alliances.
HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS THE LEAGUE IN 1920S?
After the First World War everyone wanted to avoid repeating the mass slaughter
of war that had just ended. As we know that everything when it is starting
everyone will be working towards its success this was exactly what everyone in
Europe was working towards.
BLOW TO THE LEAGUE
 Wilson who was so instrumental in the formation of the league had
problems back home.
 Even though he took that leading role in the formation of the league, he
still needed the approval of the Congress.
 In USA the idea of the League was not at all popular. In 1919 the Congress
voted against joining of the League.
 In 1920 Wilson became very sick after a stroke, but he never gave up the
fight. He back to the Congress in March 1920, but they were again
defeated.
 Due to their second set back the democrats never gave up the fight.

 They believed that if the USA was not involved in international affairs
 another world war was inevitable.
 In the end USA never joined the League.
 At the start of business in1920 the seat of USA was empty. This was a big
blow for the league.

AIMS OF THE LEAGUE

 To discourage aggression from any nation.

 To encourage countries to co-operate, 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.
 To supervise mandated territories.

 To prevent secret diplomacy and secret treaties.

 To safeguard the rights of minorities and refugees.

 To assist needy countries economically.

 Respect and preservation of territorial integrity.

 To impose economic sanctions on aggressors

MEMBERSHIP OF LEAGUE
In 1920 it had 42 members. In 1924 it had 55 members.
Major absent members from the League.
USA
 Absence of USA dealt a major blow to the League.

 Never joined the League this badly weakened the League’ authority.

 If joined the League she was going to be one of the permanent member of
the council.
 Woodrow Wilson strongly supported setting up of the league.

 The voted against and prevented USA from join the League.

 USA choose to follow the ISOLATIONIST policy of staying out of European

affairs.
USSR (RUSSIA)
 USSR followed the Communist ideology which was against the other
European powers.
 Made her peace treaty with Germany.

 Russia viewed the League as a club dominated by the rich countries which
opposed Communism.
 The western countries supported the Russian forces (WHITES) against the
Communist (REDS) during the Russian civil war.
 Russia was suspicious of the western countries whilst the western countries
were also suspicious of Russia too.
 Russia was encouraging revolution in other countries.

 She was not invited to join the League until 1934.

GERMANY
 Germany was the defeated power so she was not invited.

 She was forced accept the treaty of Versailles.

 Countries were still bitter against Germany for causing WW1.

 She allowed to join the League in 1926.

NB; the absence of these major powers especially America meant that the Britain
and France were the only powerful countries in the league.
ORGANISATION OF THE LEAGUE
The Covenant laid out the League structure and the rules for each of the
bodies within it;

The Assembly
 It was the League’s Parliament. Every country in the League sent a
representative to the Assembly.
 It was the League’s debating Chamber.

 It met once a year.

 Each member had one vote.
 Each member had equal representation [3 delegates from each].
 All nations in this body were working on basis of equality.
 It discussed any matters relating to the peace or welfare of the world and
 decided on appropriate course of action.
 All decisions had to be unanimous meaning they had to be agreed by all
the members of the Assembly.
 It prepared the League budget.
 It elected non-permanent members of the Council.
 It admitted new members and expelled members.
 It was the League’s parliament.
 It elected the Secretary General.
 It proposed revision of peace treaties.

The Council
 It was the smaller body of four permanent members which became five
after the admission of Germany in 1926.
 The permanent members included Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Germany.
Russia joined the League in 1934 and became a permanent member to
1939.
 It also had non- permanent members, raised to 6 in 1926, to 9 in 1929 and
to 11 in 1936.
 Each of the permanent members of the council had a veto. This meant one
permanent member can stop the council from acting even if all other
members agreed.
 It met more often, at least 3 times a year or whenever it was necessary.

 Decisions were to be unanimous just like in the Assembly to prevent great

powers from imposing their will on smaller states.
 It dealt with problems when the Assembly was not in session.

 It organised sanctions against aggressors.

 It raised peace keeping forces.

 It mediated between conflicting members.

 It enforced decisions of the Assembly.

The Secretariat
 The League was serviced by a permanent Secretariat that worked at the
League’s headquarters in Geneva, in Switzerland.
 It was a sort of a civil service. It was made up of civil servants from member
states.
 It dispatched information or reports to member states.
 It was a permanent body of officials drawn from all member states and
 elected by the Secretary General.
 It implemented the decisions from the council.
 It did most of the work of the League.
 It looked after all paper work of the League.
 It carried out all administrative functions.
 It wrote down resolutions of the League.
 It prepared reports for the Council and Assembly.
 It kept records of league meetings and debates.
 It wrote down minutes during meetings.it carried out day to day activities of
the league.
 It prepared the league agendas.
 It had specialist sections covering areas such as health, disarmament and
economic matters.
 It translated languages [it organised translators].
 It collected information.

International Court of Justice [CIJ]

 This body was meant to be a key part of the League’ job of settling
disputes between countries peacefully.
 It comprised of 15 Judges from different countries at Hague in Holland
[Netherlands] who were to decide all disputes submitted to them.
 It originally had four Judges and eleven deputies who were chosen from
various nations.
 The judges were appointed by the council and assembly.
 It dealt with cases referred to it.
 It had no way of making sure that countries follow its rulings.
 It advised the assembly and country if asked.
 In practise only 32 cases were heard in 22 years as governments were not
willing to have judgements against them.

International Labour Organisation [ILO]

 This body came into being in 1919.
 It distributed information on working conditions.
 Its aim was to improve working conditions of people throughout the world.
 It collected statistics and information about working conditions and it tried
to persuade member countries to adopt its suggestions.
 Each member was to send 4 representatives to its Annual Conference [2
from government, 1 employer and 1 worker].
 Its purpose was to deal with workers’ plight, for example, living conditions,
working hours and compensation.
  It regulated working hours.
 It dealt with industrial and economic problems of the workers of the world.
 Its major task was to frame and apply international rules that governed
conditions of labour.
 It was concerned with such issues as child labour, women labour and rights
of agricultural labourers.
 It discussed wages and work in different parts of the world.
 Where the conditions were bad, the ILO urged the nations concerned to
pass laws to improve them but could apply no pressure if the government
concerned refused.
 It was to create international labour standards.
 It also aimed at enhancing employment opportunities for workers.
 It discouraged forced labour and monitored the situation.
 It helped to bring cooperation between employers and employees.

Describe the work of the League’s International Labour Organisation (ILO).

 The work of the ILO was directed by a Frenchman, Albert Thomas.
 In 1919 there was a convention on employment.
 Its purpose was to improve conditions of labour all over the world.
 It brought together employers, governments and workers’ representatives
once a year.
 It hoped to persuade governments to impose standards.
 It attempted to fix a maximum working day and week.
 It wanted a maximum 48-hour week and an 8-hour day.
 It specified adequate minimum wages.
 It introduced sickness and unemployment benefit.
 It introduced old age pensions.
 It successfully banned poisonous white lead from paint.
 It successfully limited the hour’s small children were allowed to work.
 It collected and published a vast amount of information on working
conditions.
 It hoped to improve the safety of workers.

The League Commissions

The set the commission to deal with problems which were affecting nations
The Mandates Commissions
 After the First World War colonies belonging to Germany and her allies
ended up as the League Mandates under the control of Britain and France
 on behalf of the League.
 This Commission was made up of teams of expert advisers whose job was
to report the League on how people in the in the mandates were being
treated.
 The aim of this Commission was to monitor both Britain and France acted in
the interest of the people of that territory, not their own interests.
 The also took charge of the welfare of the minorities in other states,
especially the newly created states by the Paris Peace Settlement of 1919-
23.
The Refugees Committee
 Hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled from their areas of conflict
during First World War were scattered all over Europe.
 Some of these refugees were trying to back to their homes; others had no
homes to go to.
 The most pressing problem were the former Russian territories; the Balkans,
Greece, Armenia, and Turkey.
 In 1927 the League reported that there 750 00 refugees from former
Russian territories and 168 000 Armenians.
 The League appointed the famous explorer Fridtjof Nansen to oversee the
efforts of returning the refugees to their homes or help them to settle and
find jobs in their countries.
The Slavery Commission
 This Commission worked to abolish slavery around the globe.

 Slavery was a particular issue in East Africa but it was a major concern in
many other parts of world.
 Many workers were not slaves but were treated as slaves.

The Health Committee

 This it dealt with the problem of dangerous diseases and to educate people
about health and sanitation.
 The First World War had brought about rapid developments in medicines
and ideas about public health disease prevention.
  It worked with major charitable organisations and many other independent
agencies to collect statistics about health issues, to spread the new ideas
and to develop programmes to fight disease.

The league and boarder disputes in the 1920s

The main aim of the League of Nations was to stop wars. In the 1920s, there
were many small disputes between countries, which the League tried to solve -
for example:

Vilna-1920
The Events
 Poland and Lithuania were both new countries that had been (re)created
by the Treaty of Versailles. As a result of being new, their borders and
populations were quite unstable. A city called ‘Vilna’ had been chosen to be
Lithuania’s new capital; however, most of the people living there were
Polish.
 This meant that Poland said that Vilna should really be a part of Poland, and
they claimed the city. As part of this, a Polish army marched into Vilna
in 1920, and said that the city was now a part of Poland.
 The League reacted fairly quickly, and told Poland to leave – using
mitigation and a moral condemnation (the first two powers of the League).
 The League’s effectiveness was hindered, as France thought Poland was an
important ally against Germany. As such, France blocked any attempts from
the League to take action any further than moral condemnation. Britain
weren’t that bothered, and refused to get any more involved if France
weren’t going to.
 As a result, nothing happened. Poland ignored the mediation and moral
condemnation from the League, and kept their army in Vilna. Soon, Vilna
was accepted by all to be a Polish city. Protests from Lithuania fell on deaf
ears.

Success or Failure?
 Definitely a failure! This was the first time that the League had been asked
to do something, and they did almost nothing. In particular, it showed that
 all members of the League were not equal, so Collective Security was not
going to work. Similarly, the idea that the League represented the end of
secret diplomacy was wrong, as France went behind everyone’s backs to
make the deal with Poland.

Aland Islands-1921
The Events
 The Aland Islands sit between Sweden and Finland, in the middle of the
ocean. They are almost exactly halfway between the two countries. Both
Sweden and Finland claimed that they should own the islands, and
threatened war over this.
 The League investigated the claim, as they were called in. They found that
Finland should own the islands, for historic reasons. However, through
mitigation they compromised that they would be demilitarised. This
recognised Sweden’s main fear – that they could be used to invade
Sweden. As such, Finland could not build military bases on the islands.
 Sweden and Finland agreed to these terms, and the League managed to
avert war.
Success or Failure?
 This was definitely a success for the League. They avoided war, and were
able to reach a compromise which basically made both countries happy.
Furthermore, they had again reached this through mediation, which
showed that the League was becoming a good organisation for settling
disputes peacefully, through diplomacy.
The Upper Silesia Plebiscite-1921-25
The Events
 Upper Silesia was land on the new border between Poland and Germany.
Both Polish people and German people were living there. Both countries
wanted the area, because it was industrially rich and had lots of minerals
such as coal and steel. Because both countries claimed it, and citizens of
both countries lived there, the League agreed to decide the ownership
through Plebiscite.
 Britain and France conducted and oversaw the Plebiscite in 1921, which
voted 60% to become German.
  Poland complained, protesting that the vote was inaccurate and
misrepresented the overall area. The League compromised, and split the
area into various regions. Germany got most of the industrial areas, Poland
got more of the farming areas.
 To start with, both Poland and Germany accepted this – neither got
everything they wanted, but accepted that some mediation had produced a
fair compromise. The League put a lot of work into trying to make sure both
sides got an equal share.
 When the final boundaries were drawn, Poland protested again. They
complained that Germany got 2/3 of the land (even though Poland got the
richer part), and that over half a million Polish people would still be stuck
living in German parts. Germany also complained, for they lost ¾ of the coal
mines they had previously owned in the area. This created increased
tension between both sides. They eventually accepted the settlement, but
relations never recovered.
Success or Failure?
 This was certainly an improvement from Vilna, but it was far from a great
day for the League. It turns out that however the League had handled this,
they would have faced complaints. Most historians agree that, in this
situation, the League made the best of a bad situation.
 Crucially, the League were seen to act fairly and impartially. By allowing the
people to decide through Plebiscite, and then adjusting their work to fit the
regional outcome of the vote, showed that the League was trying to
implement self-determination equally. Similarly, Poland received a lot less
preferential treatment than before.
 Therefore, a mild success for the League’s reputation, but one which still
made relationships between Germany and Poland get worse.

Greece and Bulgaria-1925

 Both these nations have a common border.

 In 1925, patrolling border brigades fired on one another and a Greek

soldier was killed.
 The Greek army invaded Bulgaria as a result.

 The Bulgarians asked the League for help and the League ordered both
armies to stop fighting and that the Greeks should pull out of Bulgaria.
  The League then sent experts to the area and decided that Greece was to
blame and fined her £45,000.
 Both nations accepted the decision.

Other Successes
 Successful running of Danzig and Saar.

 Stabilization of the currencies of Austria and Hungary in the 1920s. The

League helped raise loans to save Austria from bankruptcy.
 The League Secretariat also helped revive the world economy, by arranging
world conferences on tariffs and trade agreements.
Name Date Description Outcome
Aaland 1921 Sweden and Finland accepted the League's arbitration to Success
Islands give the Aaland Islands to Finland.
The Poles invaded Vilna (the capital of Lithuania). The
Poland 1921 League ordered Poland to withdraw. Poland refused and Failure
the League could do nothing
Turkey 1922 The League set up camps and fed Turkish refugees. Success
Austria 1923 The League sent economics experts to help Austria when
its government went bankrupt. Success
Bulgaria 1925 Greece
in 1925.
obeyed the League's orders to pull out of Bulgaria Success

The Humanitarian Work of the League

Social problems
Many agencies and commissions worked to reduce social problems. Some of their
successes include:
 Freed more than 200 000 slaves.

 Brought death rate in the construction of the Tanganyika railway in Africa

from 50% to 4%.
  Organized raids against slave owners/traders.
 Blacklisted four large companies involved in illegal drug trading.

Health
 The Health Committee, later renamed to the World Health Organization
(WHO), did lots of work to improve health around the world.
 It provided malaria nets to the most at risk countries. In doing this; it vastly
reduced the number of deaths from malaria per year.
 The league also prevented leprosy. This is considered one of the best
successes that the league had.
Transport
 The League made an international highway code that was adopted by
many member countries.
Refugees
 The Refugees Committee worked to bring refugees back to their homes.
Over 400 000 war prisoners were taken back to their homes by the
Refugees Committee.

Working conditions
 The International Labour Organization campaigned for better working
conditions around the world. Some of its successes include:
 Banned poisonous white lead from paint.

 Limited the hours’ small children could work.

 Resolution for maximum 48-hour week and 8-hour day passed, but lots of
member countries didn't adopt it.

Name Date Description Outcome

Prisoners 1920 The League took home half a million prisoners of war Success
of war from World War One.
Slaves 1926 The League approved the Slavery convention - Success
 Name Date Description Outcome
altogether, the League freed 200,000 slaves.
After more than ten years of work, 26 League nations
Drugs 1936 signed an international convention to combat the drugs Success
trade - a law that is still in force.
Disease 1920s The League worked to prevent malaria and leprosy. Success

Authority of the League undermined by bits own permanent members.

The Genève Protocol, 1924
 Corfu incident highlighted how League could be undermined by own
members Britain & France drew up the Geneva Protocol to strengthen
League Disputing members would have to ask the League to sort out
disagreement & would have to accept Council’s decision.

New Conservative Government refused to sign Protocol

 Worried Britain would be forced to sign something not in its own interests
Geneva Protocol weakened League!

Disarmament Conference
What was the World Disarmament Conference?
 A series of conferences put forward by the League of Nations aimed at
reducing the size of armies around the world. Leaders were keen to avoid
another ‘arms-race’, like the one which had preceded the First World War.
What did Hitler want?
 Hitler demanded that other League of Nation countries should reduce their
armed forces to Germany’s size. Germany argued that as Germany was now
a league member, she should be treated equally – that is either everyone
disarms, or Germany is allowed to re-arm.
Why did France reject this?
 France did not want military parity with Germany - it saw having more
 armed forces as absolutely necessary to defend itself against German
aggression.
How did Hitler react?
 Hitler walked out of the conferences, and pulls Germany out of the League
of Nations. He begins re-arming, and publicly announces this in 1935 at the
Nuremberg rally.

Explain why the events of the World Disarmament Conference worry France
more than any other members in the League.
France had previous of being invaded by Germany (1871 & 1914), and if either
France reduced their armed forces to Germany’s level, or Germany was allowed to
re-arm, it would leave France open to invasion. Britain still had the Royal Navy
and the English Channel to protect it- there was no possibility it could be invaded.
Germany had a population of 60 million to France’s 40 million - it was therefore
essential France had a bigger army.

What does this have to do with ‘revisionist’ attitudes with the Treaty of Versailles?
 By the 1930s, many in Europe felt the Treaty of Versailles had been too
harsh.
 The First World War was still recent, but obviously less so than in the
making of the treaty.
 After Locarno and Germany’s acceptance into the League of Nations, it was
felt that Germany was not a threat, and many of the terms, such as
disarmament, reparations and forbidden Anschluss were unfair.
 This change in opinions explains why in the 1930s Germany was able to
reverse many of the clauses of Versailles - re-armament, Rhineland,
Anschluss etc. without opposition.
 ‘Revisionist’ means to look back at something at a later date, and change
opinion.
Why it fail?
 Tried to persuade countries to disarm but failed.

 Failure of members to agree on organisation of world disarmament

conference.
  Worried disarmament might leave them vulnerable.
 By end of 1920s, countries were rearming.

 Germany angry they had been forced to disarm while other nations had not
done the same.
 Also failed to stop trade in armaments.

 1928, 60 tons of machine gun parts from Italy discovered on border of

Austria & Hungary, disguised as machine parts in railway trucks.
 Failed to even ask Mussolini for explanation.

 Self-interest of a country clashed with the aims of the League.

How far did the Depression make the work of the League more difficult?
Background:
 Depression was the turning point.

 When trade suffers, international relations suffer’.

 Some countries tried to solve their economic problems by invading

neighbours.
 Other countries concentrated on solving problems at home rather than
international problems.
 Will of League members to keep peace by working together was weakened.

 Depression helped cause international problems & made relations between

countries more difficult.
 Goodwill & optimism of late 1920s evaporated.

International trade in the 1920s & 1930s

 USA was world’s biggest economy - world economy depended on USA.
 Problems in the USA could seriously affect the whole of the world’s trade.
 In 1929 American stock market crashed Dramatic slump in the USA
economy collapsed.
 Americans stopped buying goods from other countries. American banks
asked foreign businesses to pay back loans.
 Europe badly hit Banks & factories closed. In 1930 USA raised taxes on
imported goods making it difficult to sell goods to America.
Agricultural prices slump
 World trade fell by70%. Worldwide economic depression followed. Millions
unemployed no government help in many countries resulted to hunger.
Effects of the Depression
 Severe economic effects caused political problems & tensions between
countries.
 USA was a market for many companies in Europe as USA stopped buying,
companies which exported to USA suffered.
 Industrial production in Europe fell by a third. As trade declined, many
countries tried protectionism.
 Charged tariffs & duties on goods imported by foreign countries. Aimed to
make foreign goods more expensive protecting own industries & jobs from
foreign competition.
 Protectionist policies reduced the amount of world trade. Long run –
protectionist policies made effects of Depression worse.
Effects of the Depression on particular countries
 Economic problems led to political problems in some countries. Economic
problems led governments to become more selfish which caused
international tension.

Germany
 American banks wanted loans paid back straight away. Germany simply
could not pay.
 Banks & industries failed. Mass unemployment. In 1929-1933 Germany was
government in crisis. Disillusionment with Weimar Republic.
 People turned to the extremist Nazis & Hitler.

 Depression led to rise of the Nazis whose ideas pushed. Europe into war

• A chance to tear up Treaty of Versailles & retake lost territory?

• Other countries worried about their own problems at home
• German rearmament speeded up
Japan
 Felt abandoned as a result of protectionist policies great strain on
international relations.
 USA was main importer of Japanese good such as silk.
 Depression in USA meant Japan faced economic ruin.
 Vital silk export trade was destroyed. Military leaders believed empire was
needed to be economically secure.
 Wanted to find new markets & raw materials by invading neighbours.
 League showed no sympathy for Japan’s economic troubles. Britain &
France only interested in own problems. Japan began building empire by
invading Manchuria in 1931. Depression caused the Japanese invasion of
China.
Italy
 Under control of Fascist leader, Mussolini, since 1922. Wanted to distract
attention from economic problems by enlarging the Italian empire in Africa.
 Unemployment & other problems caused by Depression influenced decision
to invade Abyssinia in 1935.
 Openly broke international law - Mussolini ignored the League. Depression
brought about the Italian invasion of Abyssinia which forced Italy to resign
from the League & ally with Germany
USA
 Retreated further into isolationism & concentrated on rebuilding own economy. Most
powerful country in world turned back on international problems.
Britain
 Concentrated on economic problems at home.
 Delayed rearming as feared it would further harm economy dramatic reduction in
spending on defence in early 1930s.
 Wanted to avoid conflict which might threaten its empire.

France
 Internal political problems.
 Slump had impact on defence - delayed rearmament.
 Worried about changing situation in Germany, built series of frontier defences on
border with Germany.
USSR
 Depression had little effect on Russia - trade links with rest of world.
 Collapse of world trade suggested capitalism wrong & communism, right.
 Russia became even more suspicious of capitalist countries.
Failure of the League in the 1930s
Why did the League fail over Manchuria?
Historians mostly agree the League was a failure in 1930s. Declining confidence in
the League… its declining influence. By 1935, the League was irrelevant could no
longer keep peace and was largely ignored by the major powers.

The Manchurian crisis, 1931

Why did Japan invade Manchuria?
 Japan was suffering from economic problems (depression) and Manchuria
represented an easy way to expand and gain raw resources.
 Trade in Manchuria was very valuable.

 Also Manchuria was in a state of crisis due to lack of centralised rule in

China.
 Japan had a powerful army & navy; strong industry & a growing empire
Japan had suffered badly during Depression – industries wrecked. China &
USA put up tariffs against Japanese goods.
 Collapse of American market put Japanese economy in crisis. A response to
the economic problems caused by Depression?
 Ambitions of Japan’s powerful military leaders – imperialistic- supported by
Emperor Hirohito.
 Called for military expansion to strengthen the country. Empire could
supply raw materials.
 Japanese aggression led to the Manchuria Crisis Civilian government in
Japan ignored by powerful military leaders China in middle of civil war –
not able to defend Manchuria from Japan.
What was Manchukuo?
 Manchukuo was the puppet state set up in Manchuria by the Japanese.
  It was claimed as an independent state, but its orders came from Tokyo.
 Japan controlled the territory of the South Manchurian Railway1931,
Japanese troop’s invaded Chinese province of Manchuria.
 Used excuse of a disturbance to take Mukden. Claimed Chinese soldiers
had sabotaged railway.
 But really an organised armed clash with Chinese forces - Faked explosion.
Sent troops to overrun rest of Manchuria.
 Japan quickly took control of the province Renamed ‘Manchukuo’.

What did the Chinese do?

The Chinese appealed to the league, and hoped that whey would either
intervene or stop the Japanese invasion.
What was the League’s reaction?
The Lytton enquiry is set up to find out if Japan’s actions are justified. The
report takes one year (they go by boat!) The report lays the blame at Japan,
and says their actions are unlawful.

How did Japan react to the findings of the Lytton inquiry?

At the league, a vote of 42 to 1 (the 1 being Japan) condemn the Japanese
invasion. Japan simply leaves the League, and continues its invasion.
What does this show about the League of Nations?
Who pays attentions to these failings?
Hitler, Mussolini and Japan all realise the league will not act if it is not in their best
interests, or a powerful aggressive nation acts against a smaller or weaker nation.
The democratic countries (France, Britain, and USA) are failing to deal with the
depression, and this makes them weak and unwilling to commit resources and
money to enforcing the league’s laws.
Failure of the League in the 1930s
Why did the League fail over Abyssinia?
  In In December 1934 the Italians and the Abyssinians fought a small battle at Wal Wal.
In September 1935 Italy invaded Abyssinia. Both countries were members of the
League. The League introduced some economic sanctions, but they did not include
petrol and oil - this meant Italy was not hurt by the sanctions and they failed. The
League looked weak and Mussolini looked like a real winner.
Why did Italy Invade?
 Revenge for the Battle of Adowa: In 1896, the Italian Army had tried to take control
of Abyssinia. They were defeated and humiliated. many Italians saw the invasion as an
act of revenge.
 Italy wanted an Empire: Mussolini has a dream of making Italy as great as it was in
the time of the Roman Empire. Italy wanted to become a great power like Britain and
France. He felt Italy needed an empire to achieve this. Taking Abyssinia would be a
way of expanding Italy’s empire and help make Italy great again.
 The Depression: Italy was suffering because of the depression. Italian industry was
not doing well and there was high unemployment. Mussolini needed to distract the
Italian people from these problems and make himself look strong. Invading Abyssinia
would do this.
 The Stressa Front: Italy had signed an agreement with Britain and France called the
Stressa Front. This was an agreement that the three nations would stand up to Hitler.
Britain and France were keen to keep Italy happy and did not try and stop Mussolini
when he mentioned invading Abyssinia.
Why doesn't the League do anything significant?
 Explain these points Wanted Mussolini as an ally - Britain and France hope that they
can make Italy a valuable ally against Germany (remember Italy fought on the Allied
side during WWI.) If they go to war with Italy, they will lose any chance of an alliance,
and push him into an alliance with Hitler. They are prepared to put their own needs
ahead of the needs, and laws, of the League of Nations.
 Trade - America (and to a lesser extent Britain) both had lots of money to lose if they
stopped supplying oil to the Italians. Economists calculated the damage could be
severe at a time when both countries were still in the grip of the depression. Again,
personal needs came first.
 Military logistics - The Italians had a large (although as WWII would prove not
particularly good) navy, and Britain again didn't want to risk sending their trump card,
their navy, to fight. It would be very expensive and with Hitler re-arming Germany, a
dangerous move.
  Timing- the depression and Hitler’s rise to power meant that Britain and France
didn’t want to act, and probably lacked the means to do so. Germany was now
beginning to look like a powerful opponent again, and it was decided it was better to
try and keep Italy as a potential counterbalance (remember Mussolini discourages
Hitler from Anschluss in 1934) than risk war, and Germany and Italy uniting.
What Did The League Do?
 They condemned Italy and imposed economic sanctions. Members of the League
were banned from trading with Italy. However, they did not ban the member nations
from selling oil, coal and steel to Italy - this meant Mussolini could go on making
weapons.
Ineffective economic sanctions
 Also, USA did not have to obey League’s economic sanctions!
 Sanctions only effective if imposed quickly & decisively
 But delayed decision on banning oil exports to Italy for 2 months
 Feared USA would not support sanctions.
 Feared own economic interests would be further damaged
 League did not impose sanctions on oil & other essential supplies
 Oil ban would probably have stopped Mussolini
 Suez Canal – owned by Britain & France – not closed to Mussolini’s supply ships
 Suez Canal was Italy’s main supply route to Abyssinia
 Closing Suez Canal could have ended Abyssinian campaign quickly
 Britain & France afraid closing canal would result in war with Italy
 British self-interest was a factor in League’s failure.

Hoare Laval Pact

 Britain and France did not want to fight Mussolini.
 They did not want to lose him as an ally against Hitler.
 They drew up a secret agreement with Mussolini, called the Hoare-Laval Pact, to
allow him to keep the richer half of Abyssinia.
 They did this in secret without asking the League. However, the plan was leaked to
the newspapers and the public in France and Britain were angry.
 The plan was dropped, but the British and French looked as if they were going
behind the Leagues back - the League looked weak and Britain and France looked as
if they were giving in to Mussolini. By the time the confusion had died down,
Mussolini had won the war and was in control of the whole of Abyssinia.
Weakness of the League: The League was slow to make decisions and it did not have an
army. It simply did not have the powers to stop Japan. It also needed the consent of all
members to take action and some nations, such as Italy would not agree to stop Japan as
they wanted to do the same thing elsewhere.

Who else profits from the invasion of Abyssinia?

Hitler! Sensing that the time was ripe (as Britain and France were busy with
Abyssinia, he marches into the Rhineland in March 1936. This is a gamble, but he
correctly judges no one will oppose him. He sees Britain and France will try and
avoid war at all cost.
Why did the League of Nations Fail?
Weakness of its organisation/Slow Decision Making.
 The League of Nations organisation was very weak and unable to cope with
major problems.
 All decisions had to be unanimous and the League was slow to meet and
make decisions.
 This meant that when the League faced major problems such as Manchuria
and Abyssinia, it simply could not act effectively or with speed and so it
failed.
 In both Abyssinia and Manchuria, Italy and Japan had occupied the
countries before the League could act.
Lack of any Army.
 The League of Nations did not have an army and this made it weak.
 The League was meant to be able to ask member nations for soldiers, but
they would not always help.
 This meant that the League could not use its power of military sanctions
and attack counties such as Japan and Italy when they broke the rules.
 This made the League weak and meant that it failed.

Economic Depression of the 1930s (after the Wall Street Crash of 1929).
 When the depression set in after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 the League
of Nations was much weaker.
 Leading members such as Britain and France were so tied up with their own
problems that they were not always interested in working with the League.
 Also countries were unwilling to take action such as imposing economic
sanctions because this would have cost them money and jobs.
 This meant that Italy and Japan were both allowed to get away with
invading other countries which weakened the League and made it fail.
USA’s refusal to join.
 The USA’s refusal to join the League was a major blow because the League
had been the idea of the American President.
 The fact that the USA would not join made the League look weak.
 Also the fact that the USA was not a member meant that economic
sanctions would not work because the USA would go on trading with
countries such as Italy and Japan if the League imposed sanctions.
 The USA would also have been a good leader of the League and made
decision making and sanctions more effective.
Aggressive nationalism of Germany, Italy and Japan.
 The aggressive nationalism of Italy, Germany and Japan helped destroy the
League because it was just too much for the League to cope with.
 These countries all invaded other countries and then ignored the League
when it tried to stop them. Eventually, when the League failed to stop
Mussolini’s Italy from invading Abyssinia it lost all credibility and was
destroyed as a peacekeeping body.
The self-interest of member nations.
 The member nations of the League were not always willing to act beyond
their own self-interest.
 The British and French for example would not stop Italy invading Abyssinia
because they wanted to trade with Italy and keep it as a friend in any war
with Germany. Britain also refused to act against Japan in Manchuria in
case it caused problems with the British Empire in Asia. All this made the
League weak.