League Of Nations: 1930’s

How did the rise of extremism affect international relations

Impact of the Great Depression on political ideologies

  • The US economy collapsed in 1929, american industries were dependent on the export market, The USA practised protectionism, imposing high taxes on imports to protect its own industries, preventing other countries making profits in the USA

  • In retaliation these countries began taxing american goods, causing a drop in demand for american products so investors sold their shares, causing financial ruin across the country, closing businesses and causing unemployment to reach an all time high

  • Other countries were soon affected, as many countries post world war 1 were dependent on American loans, which were recalled as the crash happened, Germany was one of them whos economy collapsed immediately, which meant no reparations

  • There was high unemployment leading to social unrest and threat of revolution, with many adopting extremist political ideals

  • In countries with established culture in constitutional government, democracy still held up but in countries like Japan and Germany and Spain, it collapsed


Impact of rise of dictatorships on relations between powers

  • By 1933, Japan, Germany, The USSR and Italy were governed by dictatorships, ruling via propaganda and censorship, these dictatorships had undone much of the progress made in the 1920s towards peace


Nazism in Germany

  • Hitlers rise to power caused concern across germany as he had no intent of following the policies agreed in the 1920’s that made reparations payments easier, he wanted the Treaty of Versailles destroyed which was a popular view in Germany

  • Hitlers views were popular in Germany, but they caused great alarm in other countries like France, who had tried to keep Germany weak as a safeguard against a possible attack in the future

  • Italy also feared Hitlers intentions, particularly Anschluss, as Mussolini viewed a weakened post ww1 Austria as a buffer zone from a revitalised Germany, as a result a German invasion of Austria would provide no protection to italy, so Mussolini, upon the assassination of the Pro Italian Chancellor of Austria, sent troops to the Italy-Austrian border

  • The USSR also feared Hitler, as the only communist power in the world, Russia felt isolated and vulnerable, its only alliance was with Germany, and now a heavily anti communist government was in power threatening that alliance, and one of the main points of Hitlers power was Lebensraum, which actively included taking large parts of western Russia.


Military dictatorship in Japan

  • In Japan, democracy had only existed since 1889, the Japanese people were accustomed to authoritarianism and believed politicians were weak

  • As unemployment Grew after the crash, the people blamed the elected government for their problems, with rising social unrest, Martial law was declared

  • In september 1931, against the wishes of the elected government, the military invaded and occupied Manchuria, leading to the collapse of Democracy in Japan

  • In March 1933 Japan withdrew from the League of Nations and cancelled its arms limitations agreements from the Washington Naval Conference in 1922

  • In Nov 1936, Japan signed the anti comintern pact w Germany, which went against the Comintern

    • In theory it was a defensive alliance between the two countries, however the union of these 2 dictatorships raised eyebrows worldwide

  • The citation got more frightening when italy joined the pact in 1937, with the USSR obviously concerned, but the international community viewing the pact as a threat to international peace.


Fascism in Italy

  • By 1934 Mussolini was a widely respected political figure, fostering good relations with Britain and France by playing a role in the Locarno treaties and helped against unification of Germany and Austria

  • However Mussolini in 1934, had made little progress to his goals of Italy becoming ‘Great’ or ‘Feared’, and as a result of the depression, Italy was facing severe economic and social problems, with mussolini's popularity declining, so he needed a propaganda boost

  • Mussolini admired how Hitler went against the Treaty of Versailles with his foreign policy, and he also noticed the League’s and particularly Britain and France’s ineptitude to stop him, so he moved closer diplomatically to Germany rather than UK or FR

  • Mussolini began imitating Hitlers aggressive foreign policy, as in 1935 he invaded independent Abyssinia, Germany was the only country uncritical of this action

  • In 1936, the Rome-Berlin Axis was signed, which was extended to a war binding Pact of Steel in 1939

  • The Pact of Steel was interpreted as the Fascists gearing for war, and the USSR began to seek alliance with the west, however Britain and France, fearing communism were not ready to undergo a formal alliance with the USSR


Spanish Civil War

  • Democracy was a victim of the Great Depression in Spain, as it caused major political divisions in spain

    • Monarchists wanted the King and the Catholic Church to hold Authority 

    • Liberals wanted reform to create a modern western democracy, and for the King and Church’s power to be reduced

    • Socialists wanted more socioeconomic reform than liberals, arguing that industry should be state owned so not only the wealthy benefitted

    • Communists wanted a revolution involving the seizure of property and a classless society

    • Anarchists rejected all forms of authority

    • Separatists wanted independence for their individual regions like basque, catalonia and Castilla

  • With so many different political ideas, it was impossible for an elected government to suffice for everyone, so army officers, led by Miguel de Rivera, carried out a bloodless coup in 1923, to establish himself as a dictator

  • As the depression hit, the stability of Rivera's government collapsed, and he lost support of the army and had to resign, King Alfonso also resigned in 1931, forming the Republic of Spain, leading to a power vacuum between Right and Left wing groups in a period of striking, ritos and acts of violence

  • In July 1936, a right wing political Calvo Soleto was killed by police, covincing right wingers that a military dictatorship was the only way to end violence

  • In July 1936, a Right wing revolt began in Spanish Morrocco quickly spreading to the mainland, General Francisco was flown in to lead them, sparking the Civil War

  • Many Spaniards had resisted the Nationalist army, but by the end of 1936, Francos men controlled much of Northern spain, however fearing a difficult long war, he appealed to Hitler and Mussolini to support, which they accepted as they wanted another Fascist government in Europe

  • Britain and France saw Franco as a vital bulwark against the spread of communism, so they established a Non Intervention committee, of which the USSR ignored and sent supplies to the Republicans

  • The USSR grew concerned about its own security, and stopped sending Arms to the Republicans, just as Franco received additional support from Hitler, as a result, in Jan 1939, Barcelona and Madrid had fallen, ending the Civil War, with Franco becoming Caudillo and setting up a gov similar to Hitler and Mussolinis.


Interference in the Spanish Civil war

Italy

  • Mussolini was seeking glory and wanted to see Italy as a country who could play a leading role in European affairs

  • While Italy was part of the Non intervention Committee it was impossible to hide the 50,000 troops and over 750 Italian planes

  • As well as Mussolini himself boasting about Italian involvement, and saying how he is leading the fight against Communism

Germany

  • The Civil War provided hitler an opportunity to test the efficiency of the rearmament programme, as well as Hitler encouraging Mussolini to become involved to overshadow his plans to unify with Austria

  • So to prolong the war, Hitler sent Franco men and equipment

USSR

  • Stalin also wanted to prolong the Civil War, as he saw Germany as the biggest threat to the Soviet Union

  • Stalin seeked an alliance with Britain and France, and while he certainly did not want Franco to take control, he knew Britain and France would not tolerate another Communist takeover in Europe, so he sent just enough aid to the Republicans to not make it obvious that they were helping, but just to maintain their resistance



Hitlers expansionist policies

  • Hitlers main foreign policy aims were

    • Ending the German commitment to the Treaty made in the 1920’s

    • Recovering all lost territory

    • Developing the Wehrmacht

    • Uniting all German speaking people under one nation

    • Lebensraum

  • In the period from 1934 to 38, Hitler achieved success in most of these aims, without bringing Germany into any war at all, his methods were planned and devious, with his actions being in direct defiance of Versailles, being a serious gamble to play

  • However he managed to wear off the Treaty, by convincing European powers like UK and FR that his actions were honourable and Peaceful

    • For example in 1935, a plebiscite was held in the industrial Saar region, on whether to join Germany or France, they chose the Former, Hitler used this to enhance his rep in Germany, and to diffuse tensions with France


Rearmament

  • Developing the armed forces after the debilitating Treaty had screwed them, was one of Hitlers main objectives

  • In March 1935, he introduced conscription, to bring his army to 600,000 men, claiming to be in response to British air force expansion and French conscription extensions 

  • Hitler then established the Luftwaffe, in direct defiance of the Treaty, then pulling out of the World Disarmament Conference, making his intents of rearmament clear

  • Initailly there was strong concern to German rearmament

    • Britain, France and Italy sent representatives to Stresa, to discuss common concerns about German rearmament

    • In April 1935, Macdonald, Laval and Mussolini signed the Stresa Front, which aimed to maintain the Locarno pact, and protect Austrian Independence, and to resist further German attempts to go against Versailles

  • The terms of the Front however did not specify the action UK FR and IT would take against Germany, making it vague and providing no real deterrent for Germany, the main action that would have to be taken would be a full invasion of Germany, which no country wanted to do

  • Realising the Stresa Front’s weaknesses, Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval agreement, which ensured the Kriegsmarine would remain a maximum of 35% the strength of the Royal Navy, in which Britain was effectively condoning Rearmament

  • With British opposition gone, Hitler developed his Navy quickly, with new Battleships and submarines, as well as a new powerful air force

  • German Rearmament and British incompetence caused alarm in France, which felt vulnerable and isolated, with the USSR feeling similar, leading to the Treaty of Mutual assistance in 1935, which was a war binding pact between France and the USSR


Remilitarisation of the Rhineland (1936)

  • Hitlers foreign policy was based on the pretext that no one would do anything to stop him, this idea was seen most evident in March 1936, when Hitler ordered his troops to enter the Rhineland

  • The ToV had strictly forbidden German military presence in the region, to provide France with security from an invasion, Hitler argued this was sabotaging German security

  • Hitler knew this decision was a gamble, knowing that his army was not ready for a full scale war, so he gave the strict order to retreat upon even a sign of French resistance

  • The gamble was successful, no resistance was met, only protest, he had retaken control of the Rhineland with no bloodshed, and was now convinced of BR and FR’s incompetence

  • Hitler Justified his actions by arguing he was righting the wrongs of the harsh Treaty, and that Germany was defending itself by placing troops in its own country, Britain accepted these views, arguing the treaty was too harsh, and also saw a strong Germany as a bulwark against communism

  • France and the USSR were concerned

    • France were concerned that German troops were now lining the border of the country

    • In the USSR, the increased German military strength was seen as a prelude to an attack on Poland, and the USSR wanted Poland, and a German Poland would greatly undermine Soviet security

    • While both these countries had their mutual concerns, none wanted to confront, or go to war with Hitler without British support


Anschluss (1938)

  • The ToV forbade a union of Germany and Austria, however Hitler wanted to unify all ethnic Germans under one German nation

  • In 1934, with Hitlers encouragement, Austrian Nazis staged a revolt and murdered the Austrian Chancellor, German troops were ready to invade to ‘restore oder’, however Mussolini had moved his troops to the Border, and they were forced to back down, as Hitler knew his country couldn't fight against Italy

  • Later in 1936, Hitler had signed the Rome-Berlin Axis with Italy, removing Mussolini as a hindrance to Anschluss, and in March 1938, after riots organised by Austrian Nazis, the Austrian Gov was unable to restore order, and the Wehrmacht moved in and annexed Austria, as usual this was met with protest from Britain and France, but no action

  • Hitler now had access to Austrian Iron, as well as 7 million additional Germans and a boost to his Army, as well as surrounding his next target, Czechoslovakia, yet again Hitlers instinct proved him correct


Sudetenland (1938) 

  • Hitler was convinced no one was gonna stop him, so he continued on with his plan of unifying ethnic Germans into the Reich, there were 3.5 million German speaking people in the sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, many of whom claimed they were being discriminated against by the Czech government as a minority

  • The Nazis began orchestrating mass demonstrations and riots in the Sudetenland, Edward Benes, the Czech Pres, knew Hitler was setting these disturbances up as a pretext to invade

  • Hitlers instict that the West would do nothing was once again correct, Chamberlain and Deladier, had put pressure on the Czechs to make concessions to Hitler, claiming that Germany’s claim to the region was a reasonable one, an error of the Treaty

  • A 4 power conference was Held in Munich in september 1938, with UK,FR,IT and GR agreeing that Germany would take possession of the Sdetenland, the Czech government was not invited, simply being told that if they were to refuse the verdict of Munich, theyd lose French and British assistance

  • Hitler signed a Document renouncing intentions of War with Britain and claiming he had no more territorial demands in Europe

  • The Czechs were reluctant to give up this industrially vital region, and the Sudeten mountains provided the Czech mainland with protection from a German invasion, despite this the Government had no choice but to accept the Treaty of Munich.


Czechoslovakia (1939)

  • Chamberlain naively believed he had averted war with Germany, and used the media to demonstrate how effective he was at keeping peace

  • However, Hitler had no intentions of honouring Munich, organising riots and disturbances from slovaks in Prague and the whole country for ‘Slovakian independence’

  • Hitler warned that the army may have to take action to preserve order, with the Czechoslovakian president being privately summoned to Berlin and personally warned that Prague would be destroyed if he did not accept German occupation of the whole country

  • With little choice, Hacha invited the Germans to restore order in the country, and on March 15 1939, Czechoslovakia was annexed into the Reich

  • The country ceased to exist, and Hitler in his mind knew that Britain and France would never go to war with Germany, however this time his instincts were wrong, as his earlier actions could be somewhat justified as undoing Harsh terms of a treaty, there was no way to Justify breaking his promises at Munich, Hitler could no longer claim peaceful intent


Poland (1939)

  • In 1939, Hitler demanded the return of Danzig, which was a german speaking port city that split the country into 2

  • The Poles were concerned that Hitlers demands preluded an invasion, and they were right as on September 1st 1939, he invaded poland

LON failure to keep peace in the 1930’s

The Failure of Disarmament

  • The outbreak of WW2 in 1939, highlighted the failure of the League to do its job of maintaining international peace, in truth however, the Leagues failure was recognised before 1939, due to the failure of disarmament

  • Disarmament was one of the 14 points and one of the Leagues most important aims

  • Europe’s leading powers had committed to disarmament, in both the Treaty of Versailles and other Treaties from the PPC as well as the covenant of the League of Nations, with the exception of Germany, all of these countries ignored this by 1930, to address this the League organised the World Disarmament conference, in 1932

  • Over 60 nations represented, and League members were genuinely willing to discuss disarmament, creating optimism

  • However the conference failed to reach any major decisions regarding disarmament, one of the main reasons was that the timing of the conference couldn’t have been worse

    • The depression was having adverse social and economic effects worldwide, with many countries fearing revolution, they needed to maintain armaments to stop this

    • Japan had began an undertaking in Manchuria in September 1931, Japan ignored the League’s instruction to halt hostilities and withdrew completely in 1933, countries noticed the leagues inability to stop the invasion so countries felt as though they must maintain armaments to defend themselves, Japan also went against the Washington Naval conference by expanding the Imperial navy, so the USA maintained their armaments to protect American interests in the far east

    • Hitler posed a threat to all of Europe

      • Hitler pointed out that the Treaty was followed by Germany, and their disarmament was undermined by the fact that no other European country was disarming and as a result Germany was at risk, so Germany should be allowed to rearm on the pretext of self defence

      • This was accepted by most except the French, who saw a revival of Germany as a threat to France, the French were totally unwilling to negotiate this with Germany, leading to Hitler withdrawing from the League of Nations in 1933

  • Germany and Japan were no longer members of the League and were both committed to developing powerful militaries, interpreting this as a threat to their own security, other EU nations and the USA began increasing Armaments, as a result the World Disarmament Conference had done absolutely nothing.


Crisis in Manchuria, Spain and Abyssinia

  • The League in fairness had stopped minor disputes in the 1920’s, however it had failed to deal with events involving major powers


Crisis in Manchuria

  • Japanese expansion in East Asia concerned the USA and EU, which saw Japans interest in China as a threat to their own trading rights there

  • These concerns were confirmed in 1931, when the Japanese army invaded Manchuria

  • China appealed to the League, who ordered Japan to withdraw, upon Japan saying no, the League sent a commission led by Lord Lytton to investigate the causes and form a recommendation, while this was happening Japan continued taking over Manchuria and in 1932, they fully took it, forming Manchukuo as a puppet state

  • The commission finally recommended that Manchuria was to remain under Chinese sovereignty, and after a 42-1 vote, Japan was ordered to Withdraw from Manchuria

  • Japan ignored the Leage and continued its occupation, at this stage, the covenant states that the League was to take action against Japan. However Britain nor France were prepared to impose economic sanctions on Japan, nor were they ready to go to war with Japan, without Anglo-French support, the League was powerless to do anything.


Crisis in Abyssinia

  • The Leagues failure to respond to the invasion of Manchuria was repeated in 1935 with the Italian invasion of Abyssinia

  • The emperor had appealed to the League for assistance, the situation was very clear, a powerful member was displaying unjustified aggression to a weaker member, the League condemned and seeked a solution to this act of aggression

  • Once again the Leagues decision was hampered by the interests of its most powerful members, who didnt want to support Abyssinia as

    • They saw Italy as a growing power against Germany, with the 3 recently joining in the Stresa Front

    • Mussolini stated Italy was ready to go to war with any country that imposed sanctions on it

    • Britain nor France were prepared for war, especially against a country whose alliance they viewed as important for the stability of Europe

    • They didnt want to go to war for a country far away whos independence and security was no interest to them

  • Britain and France wanted to honour their commitment to the League buy also wanted to maintain their relationship with Italy, so they resolved this issue via secret diplomacy

  • Outwardly, UKFR were supporting the idea of sanctioning italy, however these sanctions were futile, as they did not apply to any vital resources and did not affect Italy’s ability to fight Abyssinia

  • At the same time, UKFR and Italian representatives were negotiating a resolve of the conflict without war, Pierre Laval and Samuel Hoare came up with the Hoare-Laval pact, in which Abyssinia was to be partitioned, so that Italy would have effective control of the country

  • When details of the pact became public, both governments received a hostile reaction as the Governments of the countries looked to be rewarding Italy rather than punishing them

  • The Leagues economic sanctions stayed in place but were abandoned, Mussolini got pissed that there were sanctions in the first place and left the League to get closer to Germany


Crisis in Spain

  • The League was equally weak in its response to foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War

  • In 1936, the Republicans appealed to the League against Nationalist aggression, however the League’s covenant forbade action against domestic disputes, at the suggestion of UKFR the League established the Non Intervention Committee that aimed to prevent foreign involvement, signed by 27 nations including Italy and Germany

  • This approach was in line with the covenant, however it soon became strikingly clear that Germany and Italy were breaking the Non intervention agreement by providing assistance to the Nationalists

  • Under the terms of the covenant, the League was to stop Germany and Italy, however the League did nothing, claiming a lack of evidence which was crazy because the evidence was overwhelming, in reality, neither Britain nor France wanted war with Germany and Italy


Japanese invasion of China

  • In 1937, Japan began a full scale invasion into China

  • Chinas appeals to the League were met with sympathy but as always no assistance for 2 reasons

    • With their own economies still in turmoil during the depression, Britain and France didnt want to sanction Japan whom was a trading partner

    • This took place during the period of appeasement in which UKFR didnt want war and did everything to avoid war

  • During the 1930’s as a result, the League had failed to respond to the aggression of the axis powers causing all 3 to leave the league and damaging the reputation of the League and its leading members



Changing attitudes of the major powers to the league

  • For the League to be effective it required full commitment from its members

  • During the 30’s they were not committed, for this reason the League was unable to respond effectively to acts of aggression

  • Italy

    • Mussolinis Italy was never committed to the League, as early as 1923, Mussolini ignored the League command to withdraw from Corfu, it can be argued Italy only stayed in the League for so long to become closer with UKFR

  • Germany

    • Hitler was heavily Critical of the League, as it was a product of the PPC as well as it being a method in which UKFR could maintain their power over Europe

    • Hitler also resented the fact that Germany wasnt allowed to join until they accepted the Harsh ToV, he was quick to withdraw after he witnessed the Leagues failure firsthand in the disarmament conf

  • Japan

    • At the end of the war, Japans democratic government were committed to the league demonstrated by its compliance at the Washington Naval conference

    • However with the collapse of Japanese democracy, the military government viewed membership in the League as a hindrence to expansion

  • USSR

    • The league from the onset was looked on with deep suspicion from the Soviets; it was set up from the PPC in which the Bolshevik government was not invited and Russia wasnt allowed to be a member

    • To the Soviets, it looked as though the league wanted the USSR to be isolated

    • By 1934 things had changed, with the threat of Germany and Japan, and them leaving, it looked like the USSR had to join the League, and they were admitted as a permanent member

  • Britain and France

    • With the absence of the USA, the leadership of the League fell on Britain and France, with their commitment to the League faltering in the 30’s with the depression

    • They viewed their position as a Burden, which was often against their national interests, most evident in the invasion of Abyssinia

    • They avoided collective security due to the threat of war

  • During the 1930s therefore the weakness of the League was fully exposed, failing to achieve everything it was supposed to do.