How successful was the league in the 1930’?

Most historians agree that the league of nations during the 1930 was a failure. But others
say that it was the Great Economic Depression that caused the failure of the League of
Nations In the 1930’.
★ The Economic Depression.
➔ In the late 1920s the international trade prospered. The USA, the world
richest nation, was the market for other countries to export to. (It helped
Germany with economic recovery by loans)
➔ But in 1929, The Wall Street Crash in the USA caused a depression that
quickly ended in economic problems.
1. The USA loans dry and businesses in many countries went bankrupt.
This led to unemployment.
2. Some countries were trying to protect their industries so they put
Tariffs on imports. But this meant that their trading partners did the
same so trading became worse.
3. Many countries like Germany, Japan, Italy and Britain started to rearm
(build up their armed forces) as a way of trying to get industries
working and giving jobs to unemployed people. This caused alarm
and tension
● How the depression impacted on different countries.
➔ USA: The only way in which the League could stop a country invading another
one was by economic sanctions. But the depression made the USA unable to
help as economic sanctions will make their economy worse. Their Top priority
was to sort out the US economy and to help sort out international disputes as
a low one.
➔ Japan: The great depression threatened to bankrupt Japan. Japan's main
export was silk, but as the US was buying less silk, Japan didn't have enough
money to buy raw materials or food. So they decided to invade Manchuria,
China in 1931.
➔ Britain: Like the USA, their top priority was to sort out Britain's economic
problems and then sort out international disputes. As when Japan invaded
Manchuria, Britain did nothing. Britain did not apply economic sanctions to
Japan and did not send troops to protect Manchuria.
➔ Germany: As a consequence of the Great Depression, there was
unemployment, poverty and chaos. It seems that the Germany (weak) leaders
were unable to do something. As a result, Germany elected Adolf Hitler to
lead them (problem for international peace). As Hitler openly planned to
attack Germany’s neighbors in order to win the land that they lost in WW1.
➔ Italy: Economic problems encouraged Mussolini to build overseas empires in
order to distract people’s attention to the difficulties that the government
was facing.
 How did the Manchurian Crisis weakened the League?
Problem: Japan invaded Manchuria, China.
Response: After a long delay, no action was taken.
Effect: Made the league seem weak and ineffective.
● Invasion 1:In 1931, an incident in Manchuria gave Japan the ideal opportunity. The
Japanese Army controlled the South Manchurian Railway. And when the Chinese
troops attacked the railway. Japan’s forces used this as an excuse to invade a new
government in Manchukuo.
➔ China Appealed to the league: Japan argued that China was in a state of
anarchy and they had to invade in self defense in order to keep peace in the
area. But Japan was one of the leading members of the league and it needed
careful handling.
➔ The League investigates: Long and frustrating. Finally after the League
officials sailed around the world in order to assess the situation, in September
of 1932 a full year after the invasion they presented the report with a clear
judgment. Japan acted unlawfully and Manchuria should be returned to the
Chinese.
● Invasion 2: However, in 1933, the Japanese instead of retiring from Manchuria, they
tried to invade Manchuria again, as the Japanese still argued that it was necessary for
self defence. and on February of 1933, the report of the league officials was
approved, only Japan voted against. Japan saw this as an insult and quit the League.
Furthermore, they invaded Jehol the next week.
➔ The league responds: The League was powerless. As they discussed
economic sanctions but without the USA main trading partner, Japan, they
would be meaningless. Also Britain seemed more interested in keeping a
good relationship with Japan rather than agreeing to sanctions. The league
also discussed banning arms sales to Japan, But the members of the
Countries could not even agree about that as they were worried that Japan
would take revenge and another outbreak of war could escalate. Only the
USA and the USSR had the resources to remove the Japanese from Manchuria
and they were not even members of the League.
➔ Consequences: The league was powerless if a strong nation decided an
aggressive policy and invaded their neighbors. Japan had committed
aggression and got away with it.
 Why did the disarmament conference fail in the 1930s?
Problem: Germany complained that only they had disarmed
Response: League could not get other members to agree to disarm
Effect: Germany left the league and began to rearm openly. League members like Britain no
longer tried to stop it. League members also began to rearm themselves.
❖ There was increased pressure for the league to do something about disarmament.

● Disarmament Conference: In February of 1932 the long promised Disarmament

Conference finally got under way, and by July it had produced resolutions to prohibit
bombing of civilian populations, limit the size of artillery, limit the tonnage of tanks
and prohibit chemical warfare.
● German Disarmament: There was a big problem facing the conference, What to do
about Germany. Most people thought that they should be treated more equally than
under the Treaty of Versailles. So the Germans should be allowed to rearm to the
same level as the other countries..
➔ Reasons for the failure: As it did not help that Britain and France were
divided on this issue, because by 1933 many British people thought that the
Treaty of Versailles was unfair. The British signed an agreement with Germany
in 1935 that allowed Germany to build up its own navy, but as long as they
stayed under the 35% of the size of the British navy. Britain did not consult
with the allies and the League, even though this violated the Treaty of
Versailles. It seemed that every country was looking after itself and ignoring
the league.
How did Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia damage the League?
Problem: Italy invaded Abyssinia.
Response: League members could not agree with effective sanctions against Italy. Britain
and France made a secret deal to give most of Abyssinia to Italy.
Effect: League was seen as powerless and irrelevant.
The fatal blow to the league came when the dictator Mussoline invaded Abyssinia in 1935.
Similarities with Manchuria
❖ Like Japan: Italy was the leading member of the League, like Japan. And they
wanted to expand their empire by invading another country.
❖ Unlike Japan: this dispute was on the League doorstep. Italy was a European
Power. And the league could not claim that this was in an inaccessible part of
the world.
● Background: In 1896 Italian troops had tried to invade Abyssinia. But they had been
defeated by the poorly equipped army. So Mussolini wanted revenge, and he also
wanted the fertile land and mineral wealth. But most importantly he wanted <glory
and conquest. In December of 1934, Italian and the Abyssinian soldiers had a dispute
at the Wal-Wal oasis.
● Phase 1: The French and the British failed to take this situation seriously as they were
desperate to maintain good relations with Mussolini who seemed to be Hitler’s
strongest ally. They signed an agreement with him known as the Stresa Pact (formal
statement against German rearmament and a commitment to stand united against
Germany. At this meeting they did not even mention Abyssinia. On 4 September,
after eight months deliberation, a committee reported to the League that neither
side could be held responsible for the Wal-Wal incident. The League put forward a
plan that would give Mussolini some of Abyssinia. Mussolini rejected it.
● Phase 2: In October 1935 Mussolini's army was ready. He launched a full-scale
invasion of Abyssinia. Despite brave resistance, the Abyssinians were no match for
the modern Italian army equipped with tanks, airplanes and poison gas. The League
banned arms sales to Italy; banned loans to Italy; banned imports from Italy. It also
banned the export to Italy of rubber, tin and metals. However, the League delayed a
decision for two months over whether to ban oil exports to Italy. It feared the
Americans would not support the sanctions. It also feared that its members'
economic interests would be further damaged. In Britain, the Cabinet was informed
that 30,000 British coal miners were about to lose their jobs because of the ban on
coal exports to Italy. The Suez Canal, which was owned by Britain and France, was
not closed to Mussolini's supply ships. The canal was the Italians' main supply route
to Abyssinia and closing it could have ended the Abyssinian campaign very quickly.
Both Britain and France were afraid that closing the canal could have resulted in war
with Italy. This failure was fatal for Abyssinia.
● Hoare-Laval Pact: In December 1935, while sanctions discussions were still taking
place, the British and French foreign ministers, Hoare and Laval, were hatching a
plan. This aimed to give Mussolini two-thirds of Abyssinia in return for his calling off
his invasion. Details of the plan were leaked to the French press. It proved quite
disastrous for the League. Haile Selassie demanded an immediate League debate
about it.
● Oil sanctions: In February 1936 the committee concluded that if they did stop oil
sales to Italy, the Italians' supplies would be exhausted in two months, even if the
Americans kept on selling oil to them. But by then it was all too late. Mussolini had
already taken over large parts of Abyssinia. And the Americans were even more
disgusted with the gatherings of the French and the British than they had been
before and so blocked a move to support the League's sanctions. American oil
producers actually stepped up their exports to Italy.
● Outcome: On 7 March 1936 the fatal blow was delivered. Hitler, timing his move to
perfection, marched his troops into the RHINELAND, an act prohibited by the Treaty
of Versailles. The French were desperate to gain the support of Italy and were now prepared to pay
the price of giving Abyssinia to Mussolini. The League of Nations had failed. If the British and French
had hoped that their handling of the Abyssinian crisis would help strengthen their position against
Hitler, they were soon proved very wrong. In November 1936 Mussolini and Hitler signed an
agreement of their own called the Rome-Berlin Axis.