League of Nations

The League of Nations was an international organization founded after the First World War at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The League's goals included disarmament; preventing war through collective security; settling disputes between countries through negotiation and diplomacy; and improving global welfare. The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift in thought from the preceding hundred years. The old philosophy, growing out of the Congress of Vienna (1815), saw Europe as a shifting map of alliances among nation-states, creating an equilibrium of power maintained by strong armies and secret agreements. Under the new philosophy, the League was a government of governments, with the role of settling disputes between individual nations in an open and legalist forum. The impetus for the founding of the League came from Democratic U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, but, along with many other countries, the United States never joined the League of Nations.

General weaknesses

The League did not, in the long term, succeed. The outbreak of World War II was the immediate cause of the League's demise, but there was also a variety of other, more fundamental, flaws.

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The League, like the modern United Nations, lacked an armed force of its own and depended on the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions, which they were very reluctant to do. Economic sanctions, which were the most severe measure the League could implement short of military action, were difficult to enforce and had no great impact on the target country, because they could simply trade with those outside the League. The problem is exemplified in the following passage, taken from The Essential Facts About the League of Nations, a handbook published in Geneva in 1939:

Related Topics:
Great Powers - Sanction - Geneva - 1939

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:"As regards the military sanctions provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 16, there is no legal obligation to apply them? there may be a political and moral duty incumbent on states? but, once again, there is no obligation on them."

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The League's two most important members, the United Kingdom and France, were reluctant to use sanctions and even more reluctant to resort to military action on behalf of the League. So soon after World War I, the populations and governments of the two countries were pacifist. The British Conservatives were especially tepid on the League and preferred, when in government, to negotiate treaties without the involvement of the organisation. Ultimately, the UK and France both abandoned the concept of collective security in favour of appeasement in the face of growing German militarism under Adolf Hitler.

Related Topics:
Pacifist - British Conservatives - Collective security - Appeasement - Adolf Hitler

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Representation at the League was often a problem. Though it was intended to encompass all nations, many never joined, or their time as part of the League was short. One key weakness of the League was that the United States never joined, which took away much of the League's potential power. Even though President Woodrow Wilson had been a driving force behind the League's formation, the United States Senate voted on January 19, 1919 not to join the League. Wilson's stroke and protracted convalescence prevented him from pursuing the issue.

Related Topics:
Woodrow Wilson - United States Senate - January 19 - 1919 - Stroke

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The League also further weakened when the fascist powers left in the 1930s. Japan began as a permanent member of the Council, but saw the League as Euro-centric and withdrew in 1932. Italy also began as a permanent member of the Council but withdrew in 1937. The League had accepted Germany as a member in 1926, deeming it a "peace-loving country", but Adolf Hitler pulled Germany out when he came to power in 1933. Another major power, the Bolshevik Soviet Union, was only a member from 1934, when it joined to antagonise Germany (which had left the year before), to December 14, 1939, when it was expelled for aggression against Finland.

Related Topics:
1930s - Japan - Euro - 1932 - 1937 - 1926 - Adolf Hitler - 1933 - Bolshevik - Soviet Union - 1934 - December 14 - 1939 - Aggression against Finland

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The League's neutrality tended to manifest itself as indecision. The League required a unanimous vote of its nine (later fifteen) member Council to enact a resolution, so conclusive and effective action was difficult, if not impossible. It was also slow in coming to its decisions. Some decisions also required unanimous consent of the Assembly; that is, agreement by every member of the League.

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Another important weakness of the League was that it tried to represent all nations, but most members protected their own national interests and were not committed to the League or its goals. The reluctance of all League members to use the option of military action showed this to the full. If the League had shown more resolve initially, countries, governments and dictators may have been more wary of risking its wrath in later years. These failings were, in part, among the reasons for the outbreak of World War II.

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Specific failures

The general weaknesses of the League are illustrated by its specific failures.

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Cieszyn

Cieszyn (German Teschen, Czech T??ín) is a small town between Poland and today's Czech Republic, important for its coal mines. Polish and Czechoslovakian troops fought in Cieszyn in 1919 over control of the town. The League intervened, deciding that Poland should take control of most of the town, but that Czechoslovakia should take one of the town's suburbs, which contained the most valuable coal mines and the only railroad connecting Czech lands and Slovakia. The city was divided into Polish Cieszyn and Czech ?eský T??ín. Poland refused to accept this decision; although there was no further violence, the diplomatic dispute continued for another 20 years.

Related Topics:
Cieszyn - German - Czech - Poland - Czech Republic - Coal mine - Czechoslovakia - ?eský T??ín

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Vilna

After World War I, Poland and Lithuania both regained the independence that they had lost during the partitions of Poland in 1795. Though both countries shared centuries of common history in the Polish-Lithuanian Union and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, rising Lithuanian nationalism prevented the recreation of the former federated state. The city of Vilna (Lithuanian Vilnius, Polish Wilno) was made the capital of Lithuania, despite being mainly Polish in ethnicity.

Related Topics:
Lithuania - Partitions of Poland - 1795 - Polish-Lithuanian Union - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Nationalism - Vilna - Lithuanian - Polish

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During the Polish-Soviet War in 1920, a Polish army took control of the city. Despite the Poles' claim to the city, the League chose to ask Poland to withdraw: the Poles did not. The city and its surroundings were proclaimed a separate state of Central Lithuania and on 20 February 1922 the local parliament passed the Unification Act and the city was incorporated into Poland as the capital of the Wilno Voivodship. Theoretically, British and French troops could have been asked to enforce the League's decision; however, France did not wish to antagonise Poland, which was seen as a possible ally in a future war against Germany, while Britain was not prepared to act alone. Both Britain and France also wished to have Poland as a 'buffer zone' between Europe and the possible threat from Communist Russia. Eventually, the League accepted Wilno as a Polish town on March 15 1923. Thus the Poles were able to keep it until Soviet invasion in 1939.

Related Topics:
Polish-Soviet War - 1920 - Central Lithuania - 20 February - 1922 - Wilno Voivodship - March 15 - 1923 - Soviet - 1939

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Lithuanian authorities declined to accept the Polish authority over Wilno and treated it as a constitutional capital. It wasn't until the 1938 ultimatum, when Lithuania resolved diplomatic relations with Poland and thus de facto accepted the borders of its neighbour.

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Ruhr

Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to pay reparations. They could pay in money or in goods at a set value; however, in 1922 Germany was not able to make its payment. The next year, France and Belgium chose to act upon this, and invaded the industrial heartland of Germany, the Ruhr, despite this being in direct contravention of the League's rules. With France being a major League member, and the United Kingdom hesitant to oppose its close ally, nothing was done in the League despite the clear breach of League rules. This set a significant precedent – the League rarely acted against major powers, and occasionally broke its own rules.

Related Topics:
1922 - The next year - Belgium - Ruhr

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Corfu

One major boundary settlement that remained to be made after World War I was that between Greece and Albania. The Conference of Ambassadors, a de facto body of the League, was asked to settle the issue. The Council appointed Italian general Enrico Tellini to oversee this. While examining the Greek side of the border, Tellini and his staff were murdered. Italian leader Benito Mussolini was incensed, and demanded the Greeks pay reparations and execute the murderers. The Greeks, however, did not actually know who the murderers were.

Related Topics:
Greece - Albania - Conference of Ambassadors - De facto - Italian - Enrico Tellini - Benito Mussolini

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On 31 August 1923, Italian forces occupied the island of Corfu, part of Greece, with fifteen people being killed. Initially, the League condemned Mussolini's invasion, but also recommended Greece pay compensation, to be held by the League until Tellini's killers were found. Mussolini, though he initially agreed to the League's terms, set about trying to change them. By working on the Conference of Ambassadors, he managed to make the League change its decision. Greece was forced to apologise and compensation was to be paid directly and immediately. Mussolini was able to leave Corfu in triumph. By bowing to the pressure of a large country, the League again set a dangerous and damaging precedent.

Related Topics:
31 August - 1923 - Corfu

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Manchuria Crisis

The Manchuria Crisis was one of the League's major setbacks and acted as the catalyst for Japan's withdrawal from the organisation. In 1931, the Japanese held control of the South Manchurian Railway in the Chinese region of Manchuria. They claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the railway, which was a major trade route between the two countries in September 1931. In retaliation, the Japanese army, acting contrary to the civilian government's orders, occupied the entire province of Manchuria, which they named Manchukuo. In 1932, Japanese air and sea forces bombarded the Chinese city of Shanghai.

Related Topics:
Japan - 1931 - South Manchurian Railway - Chinese - Manchuria - September - Manchukuo - 1932 - Shanghai

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The Chinese government asked the League for help, but the long voyage around the world for League officials to investigate the matter themselves delayed matters. When they arrived, the officials were confronted with Chinese assertions that the Japanese had invaded unlawfully, while the Japanese claimed they were acting to keep peace in the area. Despite Japan's high standing in the League, the Lytton Report declared Japan to be in the wrong and demanded Manchuria be returned to the Chinese. However, before the report was voted upon by the Assembly, Japan announced intentions to invade more of China. When the report passed 42-1 in the Assembly (only Japan voted against), Japan left the League. Economic sanctions were powerless, since Japan's major trading partner was the U.S., which was not a member of the League, and Britain seemed keen to keep good relations with Japan. Once again, the League bowed to the more powerful, and showed its weakness.

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Chaco War

The League failed to prevent the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay in 1932 over the arid Chaco Boreal region of South America. Although the region was sparsely populated, it gave control of the Paraguay River which would have given one of the two landlocked countries access to the Atlantic Ocean, and there was also speculation, later proved incorrect, that the Chaco would be a rich source of petroleum. Border skirmishes throughout the late 1920s culminated in an all-out war in 1932, when the Bolivian army, following the orders of President Daniel Salamanca Urey, attacked a Paraguayan garrison at Vanguardia. Paraguay appealed to the League of Nations, but the League did not take action when the Pan-American conference offered to mediate instead.

Related Topics:
Bolivia - Paraguay - 1932 - Chaco Boreal - South America - Paraguay River - Atlantic Ocean - Petroleum - 1920s - Daniel Salamanca Urey - Vanguardia

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The war was a disaster for both sides, causing 100,000 casualties and bringing both countries to the brink of economic disaster. By the time a ceasefire was negotiated on 12 June 1935, Paraguay had seized control over most of the region. This was recognized in a 1938 truce by which Paraguay was awarded three-quarters of the Chaco Boreal.

Related Topics:
12 June - 1935 - 1938

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Spanish Civil War

Armed conflict broke out between Republicans and Nationalists in Spain in 1936. Alvarez del Vayo, the Spanish Republican minister of foreign affairs, appealed to the League in September 1936 for arms to defend its territorial integrity and political independence. However, the League could not itself intervene in the Spanish Civil War nor prevent foreign intervention in the conflict. Hitler and Mussolini continued to aid General Franco?s insurrectionists, and the Soviet Union aided the Spanish loyalists. The League did attempt to ban the intervention of foreign national volunteers.

Related Topics:
Alvarez del Vayo - Spanish Civil War - General Franco - Volunteers

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Italian invasion of Abyssinia

Perhaps most famously, in October 1935, Benito Mussolini sent General Pietro Badoglio and 400,000 troops to invade Abyssinia. The modern Italian Army easily defeated the poorly armed Abyssinians, and captured Addis Ababa in May 1936, forcing Emperor Haile Selassie to flee. The Italians used chemical weapons (mustard gas) against the Abyssinians.

Related Topics:
October - 1935 - Pietro Badoglio - Abyssinia - Italian Army - Addis Ababa - May - 1936 - Haile Selassie - Chemical weapons - Mustard gas

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The League of Nations condemned Italy's aggression and imposed economic sanctions in November 1935, but the sanctions were largely ineffective, as the United States (a non-League member) continued to sell oil to Italy. The sanctions were later removed in the summer of 1936.

Related Topics:
November - 1935

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Axis re-armament

The League was powerless and mostly silent in the face of major events leading to World War II such as Hitler's re-militarisation of the Rhineland, occupation of the Sudetenland and annexation of Austria. As with Japan, both Germany in 1933 – using the failure of the World Disarmament Conference to agree to arms parity between France and Germany as a pretext – and Italy in 1937 simply withdrew from the League rather than submit to its judgement. The League commissioner in Danzig was unable to deal with German claims on the city, a significant contributing factor in the outbreak of World War II in 1939. The final significant act of the League was to expel the Soviet Union in December 1939 after it invaded Finland.

Related Topics:
Rhineland - Sudetenland - Austria - 1933 - World Disarmament Conference - 1937 - Danzig - 1939 - Soviet Union - Invaded Finland

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