Key Question 2: To what extent was
the League of Nations a Success?
Aims of the League
• Discouraging aggression from any nation and promote disarmament
• Encourage nations to co-operate in areas like business trade
• Improve living conditions of people across the world
• Most important principle was Article 10 of League covenant,
essentially called for collective security
League Membership
• Membership of the League was open to all countries, providing they
signed the Covenant of the League – however there were
immediately three high-profile and crucial absences
1. Germany not allowed to join due to WW1 and had to prove they
were peace loving nation, were allowed to join in 1926 however
2. USSR prevented from joining for being communist and didn’t want
to join either, were only allowed to join in 1934
3. USA did not join due to opposition back home, congress votes
against them joining and they NEVER join
League structure
The Council The Assembly The Permanent Court of Justice
Met three times a year. There Had representatives of all Was set up to settle disputes
were four permanent members, the members and it meant between countries, but both sides
Britain, France, Italy and Japan once a year, however had to agree to take a dispute to the
(Germany became the fifth in decision had to be Court; so many issues never reached
1926). They took most of the unanimous. it and could not enforce rulings.
important decisions, however
any decision could be vetoed by
permanent members.
• The League could punish a country which broke the covenant using either
economic sanctions or military sanctions which meant a declaration of war by
each member.
• However, there was no provision for a League army, so individual countries had to
declare war on members that had broken the Covenant.
Early league successes – humanitarian work
• It took charge of the returning refugees and prisoners of war to their
own countries after the Great War. About 400,000 were returned
safely.
• The ILO (International Labour Organisation) set hours of work and
tried to establish trade union rights on an international basis.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) tried to prevent epidemic
diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria.
• Slavery commission helped tackle slavery in east Africa where the
problem had persisted, freed 200,000 slaves in Sierre Leone
Early successes – border disputes
• In the 1920s the League had the support of most major countries and
was successful in settling a series of minor disputes.
• Successful in the 1921 in settling disputes between Finland and
Sweden over the Aaland Islands, awarded islands to Finland, Sweden
accepted the judgement
• Successfully settled border dispute in 1925 where Greece invaded
Bulgarian territory for shooting incident on shared border, Greece
begrudgingly accepted paying £45,000 compensation for the event
League failure in 1920s – Ruhr Occupation
• France responded to Germany refusal to continue reparations
payments by invading Ruhr in 1923 and took control of production
• League took no effective action against France in response
• Supported idea of the League being a victors club from the war who
could simply do as they pleased
League failure in 1920s – Corfu
• Represents biggest League failure during the 1920s
• Mussolini orders occupation of Greek island in 1923 after murder of
Italian general on border. Ordered the invasion after Greece refused
to pay compensation and could not locate culprits
• League condemned the invasion but matter instead went to
Conference of Ambassadors
• They ordered Greece to pay the excessive compensation in exchange
for Italy withdrawing troops – Italian bullying tactics had paid off and
undermined the reputation of the League
Blow to the League by the Depression
• It destroyed the relative prosperity of the 1920s. In Germany it wiped
out the recovery that had taken place since 1924.
• This created massive unemployment and poverty, which in turn led to
desperation and despair.
• This led to increased support for extremist parties, who used violence
and adopted aggressive policies.
• In Japan, Italy and Germany, militarism became more influential.
Manchuria incident - causes
• The population began to grow rapidly and Japan needed more land
and raw materials
• Manchuria had vast resources of coal and iron that Japan lacked
• The price of rice fell and exports of silk were affected by the
Depression
• In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, which was a province of China,
claiming that they were acting in self-defence. It claimed that a
railway had been blown up at Mukden on 18th September. This was
their public reason for invading
Manchuria incident - events
• Japan set up a puppet government in Manchuria with the last
emperor of China as its head
• The League of Nations set up a Commission of Inquiry under the Earl
of Lytton to investigate.
• In October the Lytton Commission reported that there was no
evidence that the Japanese had acted in self-defence and
recommended that Manchuria should be an autonomous region
under Chinese control.
• The Japanese ignored the report and the condemnation from the
League and resigned in 1933.
Manchuria incident – reasons for failure
• The lack of an army meant that countries had to be persuaded to
declare war on Japan.
• Manchuria was remote and military action would be very difficult.
• The League discussed economic sanctions but it was powerless with
USA, main trading partner – League failed to even agree on arms
sanctions on Japan
Invasion of Abyssinia - causes
• In October 1922 Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy.
From 1925 he ruled as a virtual dictator.
• By the mid-1930s Italy was suffering very badly from the effects of the
Depression and Mussolini was becoming very unpopular. His solution
was to begin an aggressive foreign policy.
• Italy had been denied territory in the Balkans in 1919; Mussolini’s
solution was to extend the Italian Empire in East Africa.
Invasion of Abyssinia - Events
• On 3 October 1935, the Italian armed forces invaded the African state
of Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia).
• At first the Italians faced considerable opposition, as the Abyssinians
avoided a pitched battle and retreated slowly.
• In early 1936, however, the Italians began to use poison gas and,
along with their air power, this led to the collapse of the Abyssinian
forces.
• In May 1936 the capital Addis Ababa was occupied and the Emperor
Haile Selassie fled to Britain.
Invasion of Abyssinia – League reaction
• Sanctions were applied to Italy, including an arms embargo, banning
Italian imports and all financial dealings, but oil was not included.
• Mussolini later admitted that that was the one thing that would have
forced him to withdraw.
• In June 1936 Haile Selassie addressed the Assembly of the League of
Nations.
• Throughout he was heckled by Italian journalists, who whistled to try
to stop him being heard. His speech had no effect.
Invasion of Abyssinia – Reasons for failure
• League was undermined in 1935 when Britain and France tried to
arrange a compromise solution to the crisis, the Hoare-Laval Pact. This
would have allowed Mussolini to retain control of most of Abyssinia.
• Both Britain and France were alarmed at events in Germany and
wanted to keep Mussolini on their side against Hitler.
• The three nations had already formed the Stresa Front in 1934. Britain
and France did not want Mussolini to resign from the League of
Nations.
Invasion of Abyssinia – Reasons for failure
• Both countries were invaded by major powers who were Permanent
Members of the Council; there was very little appetite for military
action against either.
• In the case of Abyssinia, Britain and France tried to do a deal with
Mussolini in the Hoare-Laval pact; when this became public, the
moral authority of the League disappeared.
• Britain and France attempted to keep Mussolini ‘onside’ by preventing
oil being added to the economic sanctions.
• Britain also refused to close the Suez Canal; that would have
paralyzed Mussolini
