It was headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and designed to be a forum for handling international disputes before they flared up into military action and caused domino effects that pulled ally nations into the conflict (as had happened with the Great War). This paralysed the League in terms of military power which encouraged Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to invade Poland. Some of the causes of its failure are briefly mentioned as follows:— 2. [8] As like before, they were able to march into these lands with an iron fist, thereby, diplomatically dictating the rules, which forced the Germans to abide. This led to the rise of Hitler in Germany and the latter was responsible for the failure of the League. There are many causes for its failure. This is an important topic for the world history segment of the UPSC syllabus. part of a presentation given in January 1918 outlining of his ideas for peace after the carnage of World War Stifled at its birth by the absence of the United States – one might well call it the bastard child Wilsonian liberalism – the seeds of its shortcomings are attributed to a deeper malaise of the ‘new world order’ that emerged after the Great War. Overall, though the League of Nations was proven to be successful in certain areas, the successes were not enough to justify the creation of the League of Nations. This failure can be further evaluated through the League’s results in attempt to deal with the Invasion of Manchuria. George Stewart provides no less than thirteen reasons for the League’s failure, foremost among them the United States’ refusal to join, despite President Wilson’s labors as the prime architect. Dismissed by many former members, the League had nowhere to turn to except to as a placeholder in history, depicted as an inept object in a time of instability. [v], As an effect, the council carried out the partition of the disputed territory with hope of another plebiscite, and attempted at permanent peace in that part of Europe, through a special convention. The birth of the League of Nations on the ruins of the First World War was welcomed. [4] As arbitration was the League’s initial strategy for peace-keeping, it was deemed ineffective; instead of acting on the dot, the League took up a painstakingly slow procedure of hearings and evaluations, in that time, the Japanese had already attacked and taken over Manchuria. In addition to failures, successes were also put forth by the League of Nations, though they were not as amounting, they still accounted for a percentage of the overall viewpoint that criticizers and evaluators of the League had to consider when coming to a consensus. It was dominated by Anglo-French imperialism. The League had no troops of its own. In 1932 Hitler demanded equal armament as France, but France declined. The 1935 attack on Ethiopia by Italy 4. Reasons for the failure of the League of Nations were as follows: This apart, the decisions made by the League of Nations were very slow. [iv], Another service to peace that was administered by the League of Nations was the solution to the partition of Upper Silesia led to open hostilities between Poland and Germany as well as problems between the Allies. The Failure of the League of Nations and the Outbreak of War in 1939 There are many causes for the outbreak of the Second World War. Having been humiliated by defeats at two fronts, both in Africa and in Japan, by the Abyssinian and Manchurian Crises, there was no hope left for the League to ever regain its quivering reputation. Because the League posed no real threat or possessed any real dominance in the battle for world peace, it was ultimately ignored by most aggressors and characterized as a failure. © Copyright 2009-2019 GKToday | All Rights Reserved, Current Affairs MCQs PDF - December, 2020, Current Affairs [PDF] - December 16-31, 2020, Current Affairs [PDF] - December 1-15, 2020. The ultimate goal of League of Nation was achieving disarmament. Topics discussed in this video are: Background, Powers, Organizations, Successes, Failures & Causes of Failure of League of Nations. e.g It was formed in 1920 on the same day as the treaty of Versailles was signed. The conflict escalated and led to the League of Ambassadors and in the end, it was settled by the League of Ambassadors. [xi], Another crucial function to the successes of the League was the establishment of Mandates to bring all territories that were liberated from German and Turkish rule, at the end of the Great War, to self-determination, However, there were "weak links spread across everywhere" as mentioned by Lloyd George, the British prime minister at the time. The League never represented the world balance of forces. [i], Ultimately, the plebiscite was carried through with the help of an international police force. Reasons why the League of Nations Failed. The League has been successful in bringing about the conclusion of more than 10 multi-lateral conventions in these fields. Causes for the Failure of League of Nations . [viii], As a result, Italy resulted to military operations and occupied the island of Corfu. [ix]. [vii], Italy sent a strongly worded message to the Greek Government demanding instant satisfaction but the Greek Government refused all responsibility for the incident and rejected some of the Italian demands. Nicosia 1065 The Italian government resolved the situation by bombarding the port of Fiume and forcing a surrender. For example, the League of Nations proved to be successful in solving peacefully the conflict of the Saar Valley. 5. This failure was the main reason for heavy destruction caused during the World War-II. Failure of the League of Nations While the League of Nations had some success, it ultimately suffered many failures before its demise during World War II. The 1931 attack on Manchuria by Japan. The ineffectiveness of the League to enforce its mandates and decisions was regarded as its primary failure ultimately leading to the outbreak of the Second World War. But, the domestic forces were hostile to disarmament and League failed to achieve its major objective. The 1923 attack on Corfu (a suburb in Greece) by the Italians. The League of Nations aimed at preventing wars forever, maintaining world peace and promoting the feeling of security and co-operation amongst its members. The League of Nations was the first major attempt as an international organization of state to maintain peace and promote international co-operation. Thus we see that League of Nations was an expression of Eurocentric world and this was also because of the fa… These failures, especially in the 1930’s, cruelly exposed the weaknesses of the League of Nations and played a part in … Italy was one of the four permanent members of the Council and so the League trod carefully. The League of Nations, abbreviated as LON (French: Société des Nations [sɔsjete de nɑsjɔ̃], abbreviated as SDN or SdN), was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. This document is highly rated by UPSC students and has been viewed 2 times. 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