Strengths and Weaknesses of LON

At present, there are a total of 200 registered treaties testifying to the

extent of the popularity of the new political method of integration
through organisational approach.

Strengths:
As the league was not only created on the basis of political and economic interest, but also on
moral and ethical values; therefore it had vast and diverse implications in the international
system.
From them , few worth mentioning were:

 Resolving Conflicts between smaller nations

 Creating a platform for international dialog
 Resolving long existing conflicts

A few examples are mentioned below;

The Sweden -Finland conflict

A conflict arose between Finland and Sweden over the territory of Aland Island which was
settled by the council in June ,1921 with the aid of legal experts and commissions of inquiry.
Result:
Finland was given sovereignty over the islands and Sweden was guaranteed that it would
never be used as a fortress and would be neutralised.
This solution was accepted by both parties mutually and the tensions were snuffed out before
they could turn into flames of war.

Polish- Lithuanian Dispute

The cause of this dispute was over the town of Vilna and it broke out in the autumn of 1920.
Thus, it fell upon the council to advert war.
Although situations were tense, the council aided by military commission of control established
neutral zones in the disputed territory and in this way, a full scale war was averted.
Aside from territorial, the league also focused on issues falling in other categories . Among them
the most noticeable was the Greek-Italy dispute.

Greek- Italy Conflict

Conflict between these two parties arose in August, 1923 following the assassination of Italian
members of Inter-Allied Boundary Commission on Greek territory.
Italy demanded reparations while Greek denied any responsibility. As a result, Italy occupied
Corfu which was a territory of Greek and this issue was presented to the council on the request of
the Greek.
This issue was very difficult to handle because one member was a great power.
Italy claimed that the territory of Corfu was only occupied provisionally and that there was no
loss of internal security of the citizens.
Result
The outcome of the conflict was given a result which was highly favourable towards Italy
because Italy threatened to leave LON if it arbitrated the crisis.

Weaknesses

 The biggest weakness of LON was that 2 of the biggest nations at that time namely the
U.S and U.S.S.R were not its members.
 There was also a lack of coordination between member states
 The states failed to put international interests above their national interests
 Great powers like Italy and Germany used the league for their own benefit rather than to
promote international coordination or avoid war.
 There was also inequality between the great powers and smaller nations. Both of them
shared a mutual dislike towards each other and neither of them were ready to bow their
heads.
 Trauma from previous wars
 U.S not joining
Conclusion:
The LON was a stepping stone towards peace, cooperation and stability. Although it did not
fulfill all it’s objectives, it would not be wrong to say that without the fundamentals established
by LON, the UN would not have been this successful.