The League of Nations

Why did the League of Nations frequently fail in its aims to keep peace?

The League of Nations

The league was set up to be an organisation which would solve international problems without resulting to war.

America wanted it to be a world parliament where representatives of the nations would meet regularly and decide on matters. Britain wanted it to be a simple organisation which would work together only in emergencies. France had proposed a strong league with its own army.

America won and the aims were:

• All major nations would join
• All would disarm
• Any disputes with other countries would be taken to the league
• The countries promised to accept the decision made by the league
• Promised to protect each other if invaded
• If any member breaks the Covenant and go to war, other members have to stop trading with them and troops can be sent to stop the fighting

America itself was not part of the League when it started in January 1920. In the 1920 election the republic candidate campaigned for America to be isolationist.

Reasons for this decision include:

• The league was linked to (and meant to enforce) the Treaty of Versailles which many Americans disagreed with.
• Americans wanted the USA to be out of conflict (didn’t want a repeat of WW1) and assumed troops would be sent out to settle every little conflict around the world.
• Economic cost. America would be obliged to solve all international problems regardless of cost and trade may be suspended due to sanctions from the LON.
• Many Americans were anti-French or anti-British and therefore don’t like the idea of being dragged into fighting for them. The Americans also believed in freedom and were against colonisation so why would they agree to safe guard all the colonial possessions of Britain and France?

How did the League work?

Aims:

• Discourage aggression from any nation
• Encourage countries to cooperate especially in trade and business
• Encourage countries to disarm
• Improve living and working conditions of the people in all parts of the world

Concerns

• America was the only nation with sufficient resources or influence to make the work. Especially as trade sanctions would only work if America applied them.
• Both France and Britain had other priorities (fixing their own countries) and looking over the British empire
• France was worried that the League without an army of its own would be too weak to protect France from Germany. It also doubted Britain would send an army, they were therefore willing to bypass the League in order to strengthen Frances position against Germany.

League's successes and failures in the 1920s

Vilna (1920):

Failure. Polish invade Vilna (capital of Lithuania). The League order Poland to withdraw but they don’t and the League can’t do anything about it. The French did not want to upset Poland as they could be an ally against Germany.

Upper Silesia (1921):

Success. Upper Silesia was an industrial region on the border between Germany and Poland. It was inhabited by both Polish and German people and both sides wanted it, partly due to the rich iron and steel industry. A plebiscite was held in 1920 to see who should be in charge. French and British troops oversaw the voting. Rural areas wanted Poland, industrial wanted Germany so the country was split between them.

Aaland Islands (1921):

Success. Sweden and Finland wanted the islands which were in the middle of the two countries. Both sides were threatening to fight for it. The League, after investigating said the islands should go to Finland. Sweden accepted.

Corfu (1923):

An Italian General is killed whilst doing work for the league sorting out the border between Greece and Albania. Mussolini was furious and blamed the Greek government. He then invades the Greek island of Corfu, killing 15 people. This was serious as it was similar to what had triggered the First World War. The league condemned Mussolini and told him to leave Corfu, and the Greeks gave some money to the League which would be passed to Italy if the murderers were found. Mussolini refused to accept the decision and therefore the League changed its decision and told Greece to apologise to Mussolini and pay the money to Italy. Mussolini accepted and gave Corfu back to Greece.

Bulgaria (1925):

An incident on the border meant that Greek soldiers were killed and Greece therefore invaded Bulgaria. The league condemned Greek actions, told them to pull out and pay compensation. The Greek obeyed but complained that they there seemed to be a different rule for large states such as Italy.

Pacts and treaties

Disarmament in the 1920’s:

Washington Conference in 1921- USA, Japan, Britain and France agreed to limit the size of their Navies.
Overall disarmament failed. Germany were forced to disarm but no other country had disarmed to the same extent as they were not prepared to give up their own army.

The Locarno treaties (1925):

In October 1925, representatives met in Locarno, Switzerland.

Agreed that:

• Germany accepts borders with France and Belgium borders. Britain and Italy guaranteed to protect France if Germany violated the borders.
• Germany accepts Rhineland to remain demilitarised
• France and Germany to settle any future disputes through the League of Nations

Kellogg Brand pact (1928):

The states all agreed that they would keep their armies for self-defence. However it was not stated what would happen if you broke the terms of the agreement.

Why did the League fail in the 1930’s

The League failed due to:

• Manchurian Crisis (1931-1933)
• Disarmament (1932-1934)
• Abyssinian Crisis (1935-1936)

Economic depression:

Wall Street crash (1929) meant the Dawes plan failed:

Less American loans to Europe > Industry contracts > Decreased employment > Countries charge tariffs to protect industry > Decreased international trade > Decreased profits

This led to:

• Britain having high unemployment and therefore not willing to get involved sorting out international disputes
• USA unwilling to support economic sanctions when its own trade was in a mess
• Japans economic depression led to the takeover of Manchuria to avoid the countries industry collapsing
• Germany’s unemployment and poverty led to people voting Nazi
• Mussolini building an overseas empire in order to distract people’s attention away from the difficulties the government faced

Manchuria (1931)

Why did they do it?

By 1920 Japan was a major power with an economy and population which had grown rapidly. The depression his them badly as both China and USA put up tariffs against Japanese goods. Japan had no choice but to build up a Japanese empire by force in order to feed its people.

How did it start?

In September 1931, Japan claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the South Manchurian Railway which the Japanese army controlled. Japan then overran Manchuria and threw out all Chinese forces. In February 1932, a puppet government was set up which was controlled by the Japanese army. Later in the year, Japanese airships and gunships bombed Shanghai. The civilian government in Japan told the army to withdraw but instructions were ignored.

China appealed to the League but Japan claimed it was not the aggressor but were sorting out a local difficulty. The Japanese argued that China was in such a state of Anarchy that they had to invade in self-defence to keep peace in the area.

What did the League do?

One whole year later (September 1932), the Lynton report was released which said that Japan had acted unlawfully and Manchuria had to be returned to China. In February 1933, the Japanese announced that they intended to invade more of China in self-defence. Japan withdrew from the League on March 1933 after being the only one voting against the report.

Economic sanctions could not be placed on Japan as without USA, Japans main trading partner, it would be useless. Britain also seemed to be more interested in keeping good relationships with Japan as opposed to placing sanctions. Britain and France did not want to come to any conclusion on sanctions in case Japan retaliated. Britain and France would not risk their army or navy in war and only the USA and USSR had the resources to remove Japan from Manchuria. However they were both not members.

Why did it weaken the League?

It showed that the League was powerless when a strong nation decides to pursue and aggressive policy and invade its neighbours.

Disarmament

Germany were annoyed that they were forced to disarm after WW1 but no other country did. The disarmament conference got under way in February 1932. Resolutions to prohibit civilian bombing were passed. However others resolutions such as banning chemical weapon manufacture and abolishing planes capable of dropping bombs were not passed.

Events in 1933 about Germany:

Germany proposed for all countries to disarm to its level, they refused and Germany walked out (1932) > Britain sent the Germans a note that suggested equality however the superior tone angered Germany > An agreement was reached to treat Germany correctly and Germany returned > Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and started to secretly re arm Germany > Hitler promised not to re arm Germany if all other countries destroyed their weapons in 5 years > Britain made an ambitious disarmament plan> Hitler withdrew from the Disarmament conference and took Germany out the league (October 1933)

Why did it weaken the League?

By 1922, many British people believed the TOV was unfair. In 1935, the British signed an agreement allowing Germany to build up its Navy up to 35% of Britain’s. Britain had not consulted its allies or the league about this and it was a violation of the TOV and made it seem like Britain was looking after itself and ignoring the league.

Abyssinia (1934)

Why did they do it?

In 1896 Italy had tried to invade Abysinnia and were defeated by a poorly equipped army of tribesmen. Mussolini wanted revenge for this and also wanted the fertile land and mineral wealth of Abyssinia, despite this he also wanted glory and conquest.

How did it start?

In December 1934, there was a dispute between Italian and Ethiopian soldiers at the Wal-Wal oasis which was 80km in Abyssinia. Mussolini claimed it was Italian territory, demanded an apology and prepared the Italian army for invasion. The Abyssinian emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the League for help.

What did the League do?

First the League attempted to kill time. Britain and France wanted to keep a good relationship with Mussolini as he seemed to be the strongest ally against Germany. In 1935, an agreement was signed with Mussolini (Stresa Pact) which formalised a protest at Germany’s rearmament and also a commitment to stay united against Germany. A ballot was taken by the LON in Britain during 1934-1935. It showed that majority of Britain believed in the use of military support to defend Abyssinia if necessary. As it was near Autumn election, the British politicians started to “get tough”. Negotiating was discussed however the League never did anything to discourage Mussolini. In September the League decided that neither side could be blamed for the incident in Wal Wal and the League put forward a plan that would give Mussolini a part of Abyssinia. Mussolini rejected.

In 1935, Mussolini launched a full scaled invasion. The modern Italian army with tanks, aeroplanes and poison gas were clearly more powerful than Abyssinia. A larger powerful state was clearly attacking a smaller state. The League had to quickly decide on sanctions and impose them as all time wasted meant Mussolini could build up his stock pile of raw materials. The league imposed an immediate ban on arm sales to Italy whilst allowing them to Abyssinia. All loans to Italy were banned. The export of rubber tin and metals to Abyssinia were also banned. The league delayed decisions on prohibiting oil exports as they feared America would not support the sanctions and also feared that the members’ economic interests would be further damaged. 30,000 coal miners were about to lose their jobs because of the ban of coal exports to Italy.

The Suez Canal, owned by Britain and France, being Italy’s main supply route, was not closed to Mussolini’s supply ships. Both Britain and France were worried that closing the canal could have resulted in war with Italy.

British and French foreign ministers- Hoare and Laval planned to give Mussolini two thirds of Abysinnia to Mussolini in return for him calling off the invasion. The plan was not showed to either the League or Haile Selassie. Laval had threatened the British that if they did not agree to the plan. The French would stop supporting sanctions against Italy. America was disgusted by the acts of Britain and France and therefore blocked a move to support the Leagues sanctions and also stepped up their oil exports to Italy.

May 1936- Mussolini had annexed the entire country. 

Causes of the League's failure:

• The self-interest of the leading members
• USA and other important countries were absent
• Economic sanctions did not work
• Lack of troops
• The treaties it had to uphold were seen as unfair
• Decisions were slow.