The failure of the League of Nations

When did the League fail and how?

1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War

Why did the League’s lack of an army cause it to fail?

It had to rely on other countries to donate troops to fight wars, which depended on the country’s will

Why were its aims too ambitious?

It wanted to prevent war from breaking out again, which is difficult to manage as some people will always want to cause change through war, disarmament is a challenge as it makes countries feel vulnerable. The League managed to improve working conditions to an extent, although the general consensus was that if the country listened to the advice of the League, it would spend more money unnecessarily in its own eyes. The League also wanted to tackle deadly disease, Which it managed with the Health Organisation

Why was decision making slow?

The structure of the League of Nations was flawed since the Assembly only met once a year and decisions had to be unanimous (with the addition of the possibility of a veto by the Council) and there generally weren’t enough people to carry out the tasks within the complex structure of the League

Why did not having some countries as members cause the League to fail?

Powerful countries such as the US and USSR never joined, which meant that trade sanctions were less effective since the impacted country could trade with any country outside of the League

How did the Great Depression play a role?

Countries were more concerned with their own domestic problems to deal with the League’s struggles, and extremist dictators rose to power during this time, who wanted to invade other countries (ultimately leading to WW2)

How did foreign affairs affect the consequences placed on countries?

Britain and France wanted to keep alliances with powerful countries such as Germany and Italy, causing them to not give support of drastic actions despite these countries acting against the League

When did Germany leave the League and why?

During the unsuccessful Disarmament Conference in 1932-1934 after a heated row about disarmament