Why Did The League Fail In The 1930s
Uploaded by RyanPeakesGirl on Jul 06, 2006
The League of Nations had been a partially successful organization in the 1920’s. During the 1930’s the situation became worst, and the League had been bypassed and ignored by powerful nations. The long term and short term weaknesses of the League had been exposed.
The League had depended on Britain and France for support in times of crisis. However neither France nor Britain was willing to abandon their self-interests, and spend more of their time supporting the League. During the 1930’s, it became a known fact that Britain and France had other priorities.
Throughout the existence of the League, it always had a problem with its members. Germany had not been allowed to join until 1926 because of the treaty of Versailles, but it left in 1933. Japan also left in 1933 after the Manchurian Crisis, and Italy left in 1937 after the Abyssinian crisis. Russia did not join until 1934. When Italy, Japan, and Germany left the League, Britain and France were left as the only permanent members of the League. Also most importantly, the USA had never been a member. Without the major powers, the Leagues ability to enforce sanctions was almost none existent.
If the trade sanctions failed, the League was left with no choice other than using military force. Yet as in the 1920’s the League did not have an army of its own, and its members were not willing to commit their troops. The League was never able to use this option to enforce its rules.
One of the League’s problems was the way that it had been structured. The League was meant to act quickly, however in many cases the League met infrequently and took a very long time to make decisions.
The first test for the League, during the 1930’s, was when Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931. Japan had been a very powerful nation, and a permanent member of the League. Japan had been seriously weakened due to the 1929 Depression; the country was going through on economic and political crisis.
China appealed to the League, and they ordered Japan to leave but were ignored. Japan told the League that it was there to settle disputes, and not there as an aggressor. The League sent the Lytton committee in the area to assess the problem, and report back to the League....