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The League of Nations

The League of Nations was formed after World War 1 to prevent future wars. However, it failed due to structural weaknesses and the post-war attitudes of major powers. The League's General Assembly was ineffective as it required unanimity, while the Council was dominated by Britain and France. Additionally, the United States did not join and pursued isolationism, while Britain and France prioritized appeasement over collective security. As a result, the League was unable to stop Japan and Italy from invading Manchuria and Abyssinia, contributing to its decline.

Education◦
League of Nations (LON)  Aims of the LON  Reasons for the failure of the LON
 Formed after WWI  Woodrow Wilson’s idea  Platform for countries to negotiate their differences instead of turning to war  Was formed to prevent wars from ever breaking out again …but was it successful?
The League of Nations had two aims: Collective security  Everybody decides not to fight each other  Everybody gangs up on someone who decides to declare war Disarmament  Reduction of a country’s weapons  Reduce country’s ability to wage war
Are these good ideas? Do you think they would work? What are some of the problems that the LON would face?
 Structural weakness  Post-war attitudes of the major powers
Sub-factors (for SEQ elaboration)  Lack of authority and credibility  Limited membership of the League But first, an introduction to the complicated structure of the LON…
Structure of the LON (see p.20)  General Assembly Representatives from all member countries  The Council 4 permanent members (UK, France, Italy, Japan)  Conference of Ambassadors  informal meeting of permanent members
How did this structure lead to weakness?  General Assembly needed a unanimous vote to pass a resolution (i.e. 100% vote) Basically made the Assembly ineffective  Council + Conference of Ambassadors Controlled most of the LON’s decisions LON dominated by Britain and France
 Lack of authority and credibility ◦ General Assembly was basically useless ◦ Britain and France controlled the LON through the Council and Conference of Ambassadors  Limited membership of the League ◦ Mostly made up of the victorious powers after WWI ◦ Germany was excluded until 1926 ◦ Soviet Union excluded until 1936
 Structural weakness  Post-war attitudes of the major powers
Sub-factors (for elaboration)  American isolationism  British and French policy of appeasement
 America’s policy of isolationism ◦ America never joined the League ◦ Didn’t want to be involved in European affairs
 British and French self-interest ◦ Unwilling to risk any conflict after WWI (pacifist policy) ◦ In the 1930s, Britain and France pursued a policy of appeasement towards aggressive countries
‘Why should we take a stand about someone pushing someone else when we are so far away…’
 Structural weakness  Post-war attitudes of the major powers
 Manchuria (1931) ◦ Japan invaded Manchuria (part of China) ◦ League of Nations couldn’t force them to withdraw ◦ Japan resigned from the League  Abyssinia (1935) ◦ Italy invaded Abyssinia (now known as Ethiopia) ◦ League of Nations couldn’t force them to withdraw ◦ Italy resigned from the League Japan and Italy were permanent members of the League of Nations Council!!! 