The Greatest Failures of the LoN
Factor 1: Cooperative action was not valued as much as personal issues in countries in the LoN
Example: Failure to settle the Disarmament Conference in Germany
By Napier and Aditya
When big countries were involved in conflicts with smaller countries the league could not provide justice to the smaller countries even when the big countries were at fault.
Purposes
This was because the league was scared that if they do go against the league they may start a war again and they did not want that which was why they were hesitant for a while to stop the Italians from invading Abyssinia especially with Italy being a powerful country along with it being governed by a great Fascist leader, il Duce Mussolini
To make Germany be treated more equally in terms of the military
Prohibit bombing of civilians
Limit military asset sizes. This was suggested towards the allied powers
Ban chemical warfare
Flaws
Allied powers did not care as much as to Germanys problems and focused on personal issues instead like their country's own economy
Rearmament gave jobs in a way
1933, Jan: Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. Secretly starts to rearm Germany
Impact and Impression
Made the LoN seem separated and divided
Allowed Germany to increase size of navy. Moreover, Britain did so without consulting LoN or France for their opinions
Since Germany was rearming, other countries started rearming too
Helped introduce a revisionist attitude towards the ToV
In Abyssinia ,they failed to stop Italy because they were worried some decisions might effect its members economic interest.
Failed to get USA in the league and this would prove to be painful because when the league wanted to punish countries by imposing sanctions. It was not possible without the US' powerful economy in most cases because it was the major powerhouse of the world so without it approving sanctions have no effect.
Factors 2.1 and 2.2: Actions taken by the LoN were proved ineffective and futile. This was because of decisions having to be unanimous, which was very hard to make. This contributed to why after a long period of decision meaning no decisive action was able to be taken.
The league delayed a decision for two months over whether to ban oil exports to Italy.However,it feared Americans would not support the sanctions.
The Suez Canal which was owned by Britain and France was not closed to Mussolini's supply ships which was their main route to Abyssinia. This was because Britain and France were worried that by closing the canal it might have resulted in war with Italy. This case shows that members were willing to put their own interests above the league's .This proved to be fatal for the league.
Example: Japan's invasion of Manchuria
Reasons
Japan was struggling to feed its population
US stopped importing silk due to Wall Street crash which caused Great Depression
Manchuria was rich in land (agriculture) and resources
Knew that China couldn't defend Manchuria and LoN would do nothing
Back then China was really divided and there were many ineffective leaders who were going against each other (Capitalism vs Communism). Hence the poor economy
Equally damaging to the league was the Hoare Laval Pact.
It was the secret dealing between the French and the British .In December 1935,when discussions of sanctions were being talked about .The British and French foreign minsters Hoare and Laval hatched the plan which was to give Mussolini two thirds of Abyssinia in return for calling of the invasion .However details of this plan was leaked to the French press .
Factor 3: Dishonesty and Mistrust between countries (For more info, go to the right arrow in red)
Example: Hoar-Laval Pact
Purposes
To ease tensions between Britain, France and Italy to prevent war between the three
To give Italy 2/3 of Abyssinia as a sign of respect
Flaws
Did not sort out permission from leader of Abyssinia, Selassie, to give 2/3 of Abyssinia
Flaws
No action taken after a long time
Discussed economic sanctions, but couldn't implement them
Lytton Commission sent to investigate. Took one year due to modern technology not being invented by then.
Japan ignored the LoN
Impact and Impression
Made the League seem weak, ineffective and indecisive, especially towards powerful countries
Could not protect China
Proved that LoN wouldn't stand up to powerful countries
Factor 4: No permanent army
In a crisis, the LoN couldn't quickly deploy military forces
It entirely depended on countries to volunteer for military forces to be deployed
They were gonna take long anyway because Japan and China are literally on the other side of the world
Impact and Impression
Caused Selassie to be exiled, which could mean no stable government in Abyssinia, although Italy might've took over the government there
Made the LoN seem selfish and deceptive
Italy had managed to prove themselves of being a powerful country despited being a newly founded one.
They proved this by successfully invading the only independent country in the continent of Africa
LoN found out and demanded they sort this out, which, in a state of panic, made Britain give Abyssinia to Italy