Failures of the League of Nation

Question 1

Failure of Disarmament

Answer 1

• The attitudes of the major powers were unwilling to disarm, and they were afraid that they are unable to protect their interests/ territories

Example:
* Washington Naval conference of 1921-1922 was successful in bringing about naval disarmament,
major navies remained suspicious of each other and engaged in a race to build heavier naval
cruisers from 1927-1930s
* US Navy maintained an active building programme to replace obsolete warships with more
advanced ones to ensure its own interests

Impact:
* Major countries saw their own concerns as more important than the League
* Unwillingness to disarm cased the LON unable to enforce decisions to achieve its objective of disarmament
* This meant that countries like Germany could still build up army, becomes aggressive and
risking armed conflicts
* Weakened the ability of LON

Question 2

Membership of the LON

Answer 2

• LON was not as strong – its leaders Britain and France had been devastated by the war and were unwilling to be involved in disputes that did not involve them
• There was also absence of some significant countries

Example:
USA not in League
* USA did not join the LON as it followed a policy of isolationism
* Absence of USA meant that LON was deprived of a powerful member whose presence
would have been beneficial
Germany not in League
* Blamed for WW1 and thus not allowed to be part of LON
Soviet Union
* Viewed as a threat due to communism

Impact:
* Limited membership meant that LON lacked the backup and influence
* Economic sanctions would be difficult to enforce, and USA continued to supply weapons and
goods to aggressor countries even if LON imposed sanctions (rules)
* Given that USA was the most powerful and yet absence from LON, there was not point that
other countries joined
* Made it difficult for LON to achieve aims of collective security and world peace

Question 3

Ability to stop aggressive countries

Answer 3

• No military power – a last resort yet LON could not coerce aggressive nations as they had no armies of their own
• No economic power – sanctions did not work as countries had their own economic reasons and
  members were reluctant to stop trading with aggressive countries
• Ineffective moral persuasion – LON was ignored, and countries withdraw from LON when
  unhappy

Example: Corfu incident (1923)
* 3 Italian officials were killed while surveying the Greece border between Albania and
Greece
* Italy was angered and invaded the Greek island of Corfu
* Greece appealed to LON for help and while the British wanted to stand up to Italy, the
French were involved in a dispute with Germany in the Ruhr region and did not want to
be involved with Italy
* If Britian and France stood together with their military power or economic influence, they could
have stop Italy

Impact:
* Lack of authority and credibility makes it difficult for the LON to enforce any rules or decisions as it was powerless
* Rules were broken by its own members which further affected its credibility
* Allowed stronger nations to take advantage of the LON & continued to be aggressive while LON looked weak