MR SPENCE HISTORY
TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS A SUCCESS?
Key ideas to be covered
-
How far did weaknesses in the League’s organisation and membership make failure inevitable?
-
How successful were the League’s attempts at peacekeeping in the 1920s?
-
How important was the League’s humanitarian work?
-
How far did the Depression make the work of the League more difficult in the 1930s?
The League of Nations first met in January 1920 in London. In November of that year, it moved to its permanent home in Geneva. A key debate is whether, from its inception, the League was resigned to failure. An argument is that the League's membership and covenant (rules about the functions) meant that it never could have succeeded. You need to understand the arguments that support that argument along with the League's aims, and how it would deal with members who did not abide by the rules. The flaws in the League's structure need to be considered against whether it was actually the attitude of its leading members that ensured its eventual collapse.
Structure and Membership of the League of Nations
A common question is: "How Successful Was the League of Nations at Peacekeeping in the 1920's?". This is a straightforward question as there are examples of successes and failures (although you should notice the pattern of the failures).
Previously students were required to know all of the case studies below. Under the new syllabus, a detailed understanding is only required for:
* Vilna
* Aaland Islands
* Corfu
* Bulgaria
Still, we will continue to study all of them as any could be worthwhile evidence if you were asked to evaluate the success of League peacekeeping efforts in the 1920s. As we go through the case studies you will take on the responsibility of representing one country. When debating the perspectives of the nations involved in each dispute, you will put forward the view of your country. There will be a tally taken of the representative who has made the most valid points. There will be a pizza party at the end for the top five participants. Your summative assessment will be to work in pairs to find out how exactly the disputes were solved.
Peacekeeping in the 1920s
Alongside the League's efforts at maintaining peace it also maintained a number of agencies and committees that aimed to improve the lives of the world's peoples. Previously, knowing about these was restricted to four mark questions. However, the new syllabus has placed new emphasis on evaluating the success of these institutions, so they may be a six or even ten mark question. Alongside spending extra time on the comittees we will examine in detail the League aim of Disarmament. While the League had some success in improving living and working conditions, redusing defense spending amongst its members proved far more difficult, and you will need to explain why.
Non-Peacekeeping League Initiatives
As we have seen the League of Nations was far from an overwhelming success in the 1920s - although it did solve some of the minor incidents, Britain and France were less than committed to the League principles when dealing with strong powers. The shock of the Great Depression would really test the League of Nations. You will need to understand why it would pose so many challenges to the existing world order and why when it was facing challenges in the 1930s it would be so much more difficult to respond with any strength.
The Depression and the League
In September 1931, the Japanese invaded the Northern Chinese territory of Manchuria. Although, the area had long been a Japanese sphere of influence the occupation represented the most serious act of aggression by one member of the League of Nations against another. The complete disinterest of the League in resolving the crisis or fulfilling the articles of its constitution set a precedent in demonstrating its ineffectiveness in dealing with world affairs. You will need to understand why the response was so tepid and how this would be an event that the League would never recover from. You also need to consider whether the League's response was the reason for the collapse of the League. You need to compare the Manchurian Crisis to issues with the League's structure and membership along with the subsequent Abyssinian crisis.
In October 1935 Italy invaded the African nation of Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia). Unlike Manchuria, this was a crisis that had built slowly following a border clash between the two nations in December 1934. Britain and France could no longer use the Depression or distance from events as a reason for their lack of intervention. However, their reaction was just as ineffectual, both before the invasion and after. Indeed, they tried to negotiate with Italy outside the League of Nations. When public outcry following the news of this pact forced them to take action, they were still so weak that it killed any international belief in the League. Despite Anglo-French pusillanimity, they still alienated Mussolini to the extent that he moved closer to Germany (the very thing their soft reaction was designed to prevent). You will need to understand the causes of this crisis, the actions that the League took and why this would be the last crisis that the League would deal with.
