What were the consequences of the failures of the League in the 1930s?

Question 1

Introduction:

Answer 1

After the First World War, collective security, administered by the League of Nations, was meant to be the main way of preserving world peace. By 1929, the halfway point between the two world wars, there were some grounds for optimism regarding the new organisation. While the League had experienced some early teething problems, it had survived and grown in membership and influence. Yet within six years, the League had shown that it was not fit for purpose. The Great Depression, followed by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, essentially finished off the League. The League’s failure had a major impact on the actions of Japan, Italy, and Germany

Question 2

Manchuria

Answer 2

• When Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, the eyes of the world were focused upon the League. This was the first time it had faced a serious challenge from a great power. If the League was firm and decisive then this would act as a warning to those powers seeking to expand their territory
• When the League failed to take any effective action the very opposite effect was achieved. Japan must have realised that without the membership of either the United States or Soviet Russia, there was little the League could do to prevent her from further expansion at the expense of China
• While Soviet Russia was admitted to the League in 1934, it was clear that Stalin’s immediate concerns lay with agricultural and industrial reform. This meant that there were no obstacles to prevent Japan from doing whatever it wanted and the invasion of China continued in 1937
• For both Italy and Germany, the lessons of Manchuria were certainly encouraging, making them think that their territorial ambitions were feasible. But it would take a successful European challenge to the League, to give Mussolini and Hitler sufficient confidence to take action

Question 3

Abyssinia

Answer 3

• At first, the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in October 1935 appeared to jolt the League into taking firm action as they imposed economic sanctions on Italy. When it became clear, however, that these sanctions excluded certain key commodities such as coal and oil, the League was exposed as guilty of double dealing. The Hoare-Laval Pact of December 1935 confirmed this impression
• Both Mussolini and Hitler were delighted with the outcome; the League appeared to be incapable of effective action and it was proving impossible to put internationalism ahead of national interests. This meant that further aggressive behaviour from Italy was extremely likely and that Hitler would soon be furthering his policy of destroying the Treaty of Versailles

Question 4

The failure of the League and rearmament

Answer 4

The failure of the League also affected the thoughts and actions of Britain and France. Although they had never placed much confidence in the League, it was now obvious to both that collective security was dead and that alternative means had to be found to preserve world peace

This meant both countries needed to rearm to deter Germany and Italy from taking further action. Rearmament had not happened before for a number of reasons:
- Following the world recession, money had been scarce and neither Britain nor France had spent what they should have on their defences
- Both countries had used collective security as an excuse for underspending on arms
- Public opinion was firmly against any major arms spending, partly because the public placed more faith in the League than politicians did

Question 5

The failure of the League and appeasement

Answer 5

By the summer of 1936, it was clear that rearmament was a top priority, but it was unlikely to preserve world peace on its own. This was partly because it would take several years for Britain and France to get rearmament fully underway. Therefore while defences were being repaired and reconstructed, a policy of appeasement was adopted towards the dictators. Both rearmament and appeasement were, to a large extent, the result of the failures of the League of Nations

Question 6

What was appeasement?

Answer 6

• Appeasement was the name given to the foreign policy adopted towards Hitler and Mussolini by Britain and France during the mid to late 1930s
• It involved making pacts and deals with the dictators in order to satisfy their demands without going to war
• Although opposed by a small number of high profile figures such as Churchill, appeasement was supported by the majority of British and French politicians between 1935 and 1939
• The most famous example of appeasement was the Munich Agreement of September 1938