Humanities: History

Unit 2: The World in Crisis

Chapter 1: Impact of WWI on Europe
1.2 League of Nations

Chapter Outline:
1.2: League of Nations
(a) Why was the League of Nations formed?
1. Collective Security
2. Collective Disarmament
(b) Why was the League of Nations weak?
1. Structural Weakness
2. Self-interests of the major powers
3. Impact of the Great Depression
(c) Was the League of Nations successful in handling disputes?
1. Successes
2. Failures

(a) Why was the League of Nations formed?

1. Collective  Before WW1, countries maintained peace by following a

Security complex system of alliances to deter others from attacking her.
This alliance system was known as the balance of power
system.
 This system did not work but instead led to WW1.
 After WW1 there was a need for a new system to maintain
peace.
 Instead of alliances which looked after individual country’s
interests, the League of Nations was set up to maintain world
peace and security together.
 All members of the League of Nations would act collectively to
stop an aggressive country or leader from starting a war
2. Collective  Members of the League would work towards disarmament – the
Disarmament reduction of their military strength as another way to preserve
world peace.
 According to President Wilson, one of the reasons for the
outbreak of World War I was due to the fact that various
countries in Europe were afraid that other countries were better
equipped in ammunition and had better weapons.
 Disarmament meant reducing the size of a country’s military
forces and number of weapons so that countries would be less
likely to fight any wars

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(b) Why was the League of Nations weak?

1. Structural Weakness Organisational Weaknesses

(a) The Secretariat was understaffed and disorganised
(b) The Roles of the Assembly and the Council were not clear
(c) Any action required a unanimous vote by the Council. This
meant that members of the council had veto powers since
any disagreement would mean that the vote was not
unanimous
o This meant that it was hard to make any decisions
o Any decision also required a 2/3 majority vote in the
Assembly which was difficult to achieve since there
were so many nations

Lack of Authority
(a) No military power to stop aggressive countries
o Due to disarmament, the League of Nations had no
army of its own to stop aggressive countries
(b) No economic power to enforce economic sanctions
o League of Nations members were not supposed to
trade with an aggressive country but there was no
way to ensure they would keep to this agreement
o The aggressive country could also trade with non-
League of Nations members
(c) Lack of respect and unpopularity
o League of Nations was seen as a League for the
countries that won WW1, not a neutral and fair
organisation
o This meant that some countries did not respect or
submit to the League of Nations and their decisions

Membership issues
(a) USA refused to join
o USA refused to join the League of Nations because of
their non-interventionist policy.
(b) Some countries were not allowed to join
o Germany was not allowed to join the League of Nations
because it was seen as a threat because it started WW1
o Germany could only allowed join in 1926
o The Soviet Union was not allowed to join because it was
seen as threat because of their communist ideology
o Soviet Union only allowed to join in 1934
This meant that many powerful countries were not part of the
League of Nations which left the League of Nations weakened
and ineffective.
2. Self-interests of the o The major powers viewed their own interests as more
major powers important than the international goal of peace and

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 security. This made it difficult for the League of Nations
to succeed.
o Member countries also refused to disarm because they
distrusted each other and did not want to hinder their own
ability to protect their country via disarmament

USA’s attitude of isolationism and non-intervention

USA did not want to be pulled into the problems of other
countries after WW1
o USA refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles
o USA did not want to commit their resources and people
to the League of Nations
o This was a problem because USA was the strongest
country economically and militarily after WW1 and it was
their president Woodrow Wilson who inspired the
creation of the League of Nations
o Other countries saw USA’s absence as a flaw and
weakness of the League of Nations and did not see much
point in joining or being a part of it

Britain and France’s attitude of pacifism and war weariness

Britain and France were tired of wars and were increasingly
reluctant to be involved in international matters
o Britain and France chose not to use their military force
and pressure to stop Germany and Italy from acting
aggressively when Germany began to remilitarise and
Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935
o Britain and France were more concerned about
protecting their own country
o They also did not want to anger or start another war
which they were not prepared for

Italy and Japan’s dissatisfaction

Italy and Japan were dissatisfied with the rewards that they
received after WW1 and felt unhappy with the League of Nations
as well as the other member countries.
o This meant that they would view the League with
suspicion and distrust, since they were offended by how
insignificantly they were treated
3. Impact of Great Impact on USA
Depression  The Wall Street Crash of 1929 resulted in a severe
economic depression in the United States.
 This meant that the United States did not have any
money to lend to other countries and could not help other
European countries to maintain peace

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  The Great Depression led to decreased trade among
countries and lower employment since USA was the
biggest economy at that time.
 Many companies lost profits and many people were
forced into unemployment which also resulted in mass
poverty.

Impact on Britain and France

 Britain and France were also affected by the economic
problems caused by the Great Depression
 The League of Nations was considered less important
and was given less attention

Impact on Japan
 USA was the main importer of Japanese goods and the
Great Depression meant a decrease in trade profits for
Japan
 The Japanese economy was on the brink of collapse so
in order to save itself; Japan saw the invasion of the fertile
and mineral-rich Manchuria as a solution to her economic
problems

Impact on Italy
 Italy’s economy was also badly affected and their leader-
Mussolini saw the opportunity to use overseas conquests
and invasions as a way to distract his people from the
economy problems

Impact on Germany
 In Germany, with the mass unemployment and poverty,
people turned to Adolf Hitler, who promised an end to all
the shame and poverty Germany had endured over the
years.
 Hitler was very ambitious and was intent on conquering
more land for Germany

(c) Was the League of Nations successful in handling disputes?

YES
1. The Aaland Islands (1921)
 The League settled a dispute
between Sweden and Finland over
the Aaland Islands which were given
to Finland. Both countries accepted
the decision of the League.
NO
1. The Ruhr (1923)
 In 1923, Germany declared it could
not repay its reparation and France
retaliated by invading the industrial
area of Ruhr. The League could not
make France withdraw.

2. Albania (1923) 2. Corfu (1923)

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  The League successfully made
Yugoslavia withdraw from Albania
when it tried to take over Albania.
3. The Greek-Bulgarian border (1925)
 In 1925 Greece invaded Bulgaria
over a border dispute. The League
succeeded in making Greece
withdraw by threatening an
economic sanction.
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 Dispute between Albania and
Greece arose from a boundary
dispute. Italy refused to accept the
authority of the League and went on
to bombard and occupy the Greek
island of Corfu. The League could
not make Italy withdraw until Greece
gave in on the dispute.
3. Vilna (1923)
 Vilna was given to Lithuania after
World War I. But Poland took over
the island instead. The League
could not make Poland withdraw.
4. Manchuria (1931)
 Japan ignored the League when it
seized Manchuria in 1931. When
the League demanded Japan return
Manchuria to China, Japan resigned
from the League and invaded China
in 1937. The League could not
come to an agreement on sanctions
against Japan.
5. Abyssinia (1935-6)
 Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935.
Although the League imposed partial
trade sanctions, it was ineffective.
Instead of using the League to
negotiate with Italy, Britain and
France secretly negotiated with Italy
to resolve the conflict. Abyssinia was
seized by Italy and Italy resigned from
the League.
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