AAHow can we assess the League of Nations' performance from

the period of its establishment (1920) till its collapse (1946?)?

World War 1 had an appalling impact on everyone who has been a part of it. The
affected people had many requests to the government that they need a complete
resolution to the war. The resolution should put a stop to everything that’s
happening in and around Europe. The Three big leaders also called the ‘’Big Three’’
- Georges Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of Great Britain and Woodrow
Wilson of the United States of America were the countries that made important
decisions at that time. France was harsh on Germany, Britain wanted to go a bit
easy with Germany, but the USA was different from Britain and France. They wanted
peace for them as well as for Europe. The Formation of the League was an idea of
USA’s president Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points. He mentioned the formation of the
League of Nations in his 14 points which he created for the Treaty of Versailles. But
Wilson faced big opposition from congress for entering the League of nations and he
even faced opposition from Georges Clemenceau and David Lloyd George for his
point of view. The league was then formed on January 10, 1920.

This international organization had three main parts they were:

 Secretariat
 Assembly
 Council.
All the above were working to bring a solution to all the war-like problems that are
faced by countries. With these, some agencies help to make the world a safer and
better place to live. For this to become reality the League’s and some commissions
helped the world on the social and economic front. The Council was the decision-
making part of the League. When a crisis developed it had to decide on an action
based on a unanimous decision. It meets four times a year and often during a crisis
but the assembly is different; they met only once a year. The secretariat is the one
that handled all the administrational administrative work. The agencies and
commissions to take care of different sectors like- The Disarmament Commission,
The International Labor Organization (ILO), The Mandates Commission, The
International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation, The Permanent Central
Opium Board, The Commission for Refugees, and the Slavery Commission, The
International Labor Organization. All these agencies work for the league to improve
poor countries and sustain peace in the world, so these agencies work on different
issues that are faced by the world.

The League’s main cause of failure was that it wasn’t supported by any big powers.
Then some big nations had aggressive thoughts of occupying other countries.
During this time these big nations didn’t support the oppressed country which is
facing the problem and they didn’t fund the League of nations. It even faced a hard
time as Germany started to follow nationalism, Japan followed military dictatorship
and Italy followed fascism which made the people follow what the country is
following. The League of Nations like the current united nation didn’t have a
separate army this was another major point for the failure of the League. The idea
of forming the League of Nations was Woodrow Wilson's but he wasn’t part of the
members who drafted the points for the League.
The sanctions vary from each country. There are three types of sanctions:
 Verbal sanctions
 Economic sanctions
 Physical sanctions.
These were the three sanctions that were followed by the League of Nations. Verbal
sanction is when the league sends a piece of advice to the aggressive nation to
leave the country or face the consequences. Economic sanctions are used when the
aggressive country doesn’t accept the verbal sanction the league takes the next
step which is the Economic Sanction the purpose of this is to economically weaken
the aggressive country and push it to bankruptcy so the people will start to protest
against the ruling government. Physical sanction is when the military will be under
the league’s control.

The League tried to keep a peaceful scenario between nations but after two
decades the World again met a war. The territorial problems were tireless after the
territorial segregation in the treaty of Versailles. But other conflicts erupted
between the two countries and most of the time League tried to stop but failed to
stop two of those which included Japan and Italy. Japan’s invasion of Manchuria and
the Abyssinian crisis was a big problem for the league to handle as they started to
decline and they weren’t funded during that time as Britain and France were facing
problems in their country.

Due to the Great Depression, Japanese exports were finding fewer customers, which
would lead to less income. Now, Japan wasn’t self-sufficient to produce their food
for their own country. Since 1905, the Japanese had control over Korea and had
trading rights till the interiors of Manchuria. This area is rich in minerals, farmland
and forestry. If Japan takes over Manchuria it would help Japan’s economy because
it had a source of food, raw materials and land for people to settle. To protect their
trading rights Japanese soldiers were allowed along the route of the South
Manchurian railway. Then China approached the League of Nations and the League
told the Japanese to withdraw from the railway zone. By 1930, Japan fully captured
Manchuria and named it Manchukuo. The League appointed a commission under
Lord Lytton. The commission spent six whole weeks in Manchuria investigating all
the problems. The report was released on 2 October 1932 and the results were that
nd

both sides have done equal mistakes. The League said that Manchuria should be
handed over to China, but Japan didn’t accept the decision made by the League so
they came out of the League. In this issue, the League’s reaction period was slow
which led to the invasion of the whole country.

The Abyssinian crisis started when the leadership changed in Italy. Benito Mussolini
was the prime minister from 1922 till World War 2 started. He is a fascist and a
dictator. Italy always had an eye on Abyssinia. In 1896, Italy attempted to invade
Abyssinia but failed. When Mussolini came to power, again the interest in Abyssinia
was back. One of Abyssinia’s neighbours is an Italian colony. In early December of
1934, Wal-Wal was starting the invasion. During the invasion, there was a fight in
which Thirty Italians were killed and ninety Abyssinians were dead. Mussolini
imposed compensation for the loss of life. To counter Germany’s power France and
Britain took sides with Mussolini which was against the policy of the league. The
league-imposed sanctions on Italy for its unprovoked aggression. One
representative told the assembly that “great or small, strong or weak, near or far,
white or colored let us never forget that one day we may be somebody’s Abyssinia”.
There were sanctions-imposed by League on Italy were the supply of armistice

The Spanish war was another problem but this was a war, this is different from
other problems. This was specifically due to the ideological difference. Hitler and
Mussolini used this opportunity to test all the weapons. Germany and Italy support
the Nationalists, the Soviet Union supported the Republicans. The Nationalists won
and they were ruled by General Franco he introduced a fascist dictatorship that
lasted till his death.

League of Nations came into existence due to the suffering and misery people had
to experience due to countries entering into wars. It was bought to put an end to
the destruction of life and properties. It was based on branding any country as
fighting a war. The idea behind its emergence was that “aggressive war is a crime
not only against the immediate victim but against the whole human community”.
Unfortunately, the League of Nations failed to stop the emergence of aggressive
fascist countries which laid the foundation for the Second World war, it was clear
that the League had failed in its purpose – to avoid any future world war.
The main reasons for the failure of the League of Nations are as follows:
1. The constant failure was funding issues.
2. Indecision on the part of the council was an inbuilt failure since it required a
unanimous vote of member Council to enact a resolution, which was next to
impossible.
3. Representation of countries in the league was an issue as many never joined,
specifically the United States of America was not a member, though it was
instrumental in the formation,
4. Though options were there for Military sanctions against violating countries,
there was no legal obligation to apply them.
5. Representation of countries in the league was an issue as many never joined,
specifically the United States of America was not a member, though it was
instrumental in the formation,
6. League insistence on disarmament was contradictory to the use of British and
French forces to maintain international law
7. Invasion of other countries by Germany, Italy and Japan were not restrained.

The League of Nations failed was the Second World War. The main goal of the
League of Nations was to prevent the recurrence of a World War. The various
reasons mentioned above justify reiterates why the League of Nations failed.

Biliography:
League of Nations: Enforcement of Treaties & Sanctions | SchoolWorkHelper
https://www.britannica.com/topic/League-of-Nations
League of Nations (1919–1946) Summary & Facts (totallyhistory.com)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_the_League_of_Nations#:~:text=The%20League
%20of%20Nations%20was,and%20the%20International%20Labour%20Organization.