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Weakness of the League of Nations - Coggle Diagram

- - - - The League of Nations lacked authority and credibility to enforce its will due to its close association with the Treaty of Versailles
      - Most of the members were on the side of the Allies
      - League peacekeeping measures
        
        Moral persuasion
        
        Ineffective against strong offending nations, ignoring the criticisms and condemnations
        
        Military sanctions
        
        The League did not have an army to enforce military sanctions
        
        League members were not willing to get involved militarily
        
        Economic sanctions
        
        League members did not want their economy to be affected
        
        Offending League members could withdraw from the League
      - These peacekeeping measures methods were ineffective and did not stop the axis powers from their expansionist goals in the 1930s
    - - Initially 42 countries joined the League, with France, Britain, Italy, and Japan as pernament members
      - However, many of the European countries were facing economic problems and were militarily weak from their efforts in WW1
      - Hence, each country sought to rebuild its own strength and did not want to get involved in other conflicts
      - The USA, despite being the world’s largest national economy at that time, and having her status as a military power confirmed in WW1, also did not join the League
      - Despite Wilson’s best efforts, the American government refused to rallify the Treaty of Versailles
      - They preferred to engage in foregin affairs on their own terms at their own pace, rather than commit themselves to the League
      - Due to their non-interventionist policy, the League did not have the necessary economic and military backup of the USA to enforce its will
      - Certain countries were not allowed to join the League as they were seen as threats. Germany was not allowed to join as it started WW1, the Soviet Union was not allowed to join being a communist country. This meant that three major world powers were not in the League
- - - - The post-war attitudes of the major powers affected their willingness to help maintain world peace and security
      - Since most of the member countries of the League suffered from the impact of WW1. Therefore they did not have sufficient military power to apply sanctions or deal with military threats from powerful countries
      - Despite their losses in WW1, only Britan’s Royal Navy and the French army would have been strong enough to deal with a military threat
      - Yet, both were unwilling to use sanctions or be involved in military conflict
      - Even in the face of military threat from Hitler’s Germany, France and Britain chose a policy of appeasement
      - In addition, the League aimed to achieve disarmament, reducing the military capabilities of all nations
      - However, the League members were unwilling to disarm as it would mean they would be unable to protect interests and territories
      - Hence there was an atmosphere of distrust that remained after the war, affecting tensions between powers, hence contributing to the League’s weakness
- - - - The Japanese army occupied large areas of Manchuria. Japan set up a puppet government in Manchuria, renaming it Manchukuo
      - The League refused to recognise Manchuko and asked that it be returned to China
      - Japan resigned from the League and pushed further into China, and the League failed to come to an agreement on sanctions
    - - Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935, hence the League attempted to ban the sale of arms, rubber and some metals to Italy
      - However, the sanctions were not very harsh and had little effect
      - Britain and France entered secret negotiations to resolve the conflict. In May 1936, the Emperor appealed to the League as he was forced to flee
      - However, Britain and France were unwilling to get involved militarily
      - Abyssinia was conquered by Italy and Italy left the League in 1937