iGCSE History: 20th Century International Relations - KQ2 League of Nations
The History Revision Guy・2 minutes read
The League of Nations, aiming to promote peace and cooperation, faced significant failures in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Manchuria and Abyssinia incidents, highlighting its ineffectiveness in handling international disputes and major powers, ultimately leading to its collapse due to structural flaws, lack of enforcement mechanisms, and the inability to address substantial conflicts efficiently.
Insights
- The League of Nations aimed to promote global peace, cooperation, and improved living conditions through collective security and international collaboration but faced significant structural flaws, including the lack of enforcement mechanisms and its reliance on member states for military action, ultimately contributing to its inability to handle major conflicts effectively.
- The League's failures in the 1920s and 1930s, highlighted by incidents like the Corfu crisis and the Manchuria invasion by Japan, underscored its ineffectiveness in dealing with aggressive major powers, exacerbated by the Great Depression and major conflicts, ultimately leading to its collapse.
Get key ideas from YouTube videos. It’s free
Recent questions
What was the purpose of the League of Nations?
Promote peace, discourage aggression, improve living conditions globally.
Related videos
Jupiter English Medium School
Class 9 Social Science Chapter 2 First World War And Russian Revolution
Geo-Geschichte
Der Erste Weltkrieg - Zusammenfassung auf einer Karte
Pieter Jan
Oorlog in woord en beeld wereldoorlog 1
CANAL DOCUMENTALES
History of the 20th Century | Chapter 1: The Turn of the Century
RTHS_jeffguilford
AP World: China in the Age of Imperialism
Summary
00:00
League of Nations: Rise and Fall
- The lecture focuses on the collapse of international peace within the interwar period and the failure of the League of Nations.
- The League of Nations aimed to discourage aggression, promote peace, encourage cooperation in business and trade, and improve living conditions globally.
- The League's founding document, the Covenant, emphasized collective security, where member states would protect each other in case of aggression.
- Germany, the USSR, and the USA were notable absences from the League of Nations initially, with Germany joining in 1926, the USSR in 1934, and the USA never joining due to domestic opposition.
- The absence of the USA was a significant blow to the League, as it had the most significant economy and military strength.
- The League's structure included the Council, Assembly, and Permanent Court of Justice, with the Council having veto power and the Assembly requiring unanimous decisions.
- The League could punish aggressive nations with economic or military sanctions, but lacked its own army, relying on member states for military action.
- In the 1920s, the League had some successes in conflict resolution, such as resolving the Greek invasion of Bulgaria and the border dispute between Germany and Poland in Upper Silesia.
- The League also focused on improving living conditions globally, successfully implementing programs to achieve this goal.
- Despite some successes, the League ultimately failed due to structural flaws, lack of enforcement mechanisms, and the inability to handle larger conflicts effectively.
14:28
League of Nations: Rise and Fall
- The League of Nations established the Refugees Commission to handle the return of refugees and prisoners of war to their countries after World War I, facilitating the safe return of around 400,000 individuals using the Nansen passport.
- Through the International Labour Organization, the League set a 48-hour working week with 8 hours per day, banned white lead in paint, and combated slave trade, notably reducing forced labor deaths on the Tanganyika railway from 50% to 4%.
- The World Health Organization, under the League, focused on preventing epidemic diseases like cholera and typhoid, reducing malaria instances through mosquito extermination campaigns.
- The League faced significant failures in the 1920s, notably in handling the Ruhr occupation, showcasing its ineffectiveness against major powers like France and Italy.
- The League's major failure in the 1920s occurred during the Corfu incident, where Mussolini occupied the Greek island demanding excessive reparations, leading to the League's inability to effectively intervene.
- The League's response to the Corfu incident was passed on to the Conference of Ambassadors, which ordered Greece to pay compensation to Italy, showcasing the League's lack of power and effectiveness in peacekeeping.
- The League's failures in the 1920s were exacerbated by the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, leading to increased aggression from countries like Japan, Italy, and Germany, as well as a lack of willpower from major powers like Britain and France to address international conflicts.
- The League's collapse was further accelerated by the Manchuria incident in 1931, where Japan invaded Manchuria under the guise of self-defense, setting up a puppet government and defying the League's recommendations to return the territory to China.
- The League's response to the Manchuria incident through the Lytton Commission's inquiry found Japan's actions baseless and recommended Manchuria's autonomy under Chinese control, leading to Japan's resignation from the League in protest.
- The League's failures in the 1920s and 1930s, exacerbated by the Great Depression and major conflicts like the Manchuria incident, highlighted its ineffectiveness in handling international disputes and major powers, ultimately contributing to its eventual collapse.
28:55
League of Nations fails in Manchuria and Abyssinia.
- The League of Nations fails to take effective action in Manchuria, leading to no consequences for Japan.
- Lack of a military force hinders the League's ability to act against Japan, similar to the later Abyssinia crisis.
- Manchuria's remote location delays the League's response, allowing Japan to establish control before intervention.
- The League's inability to impose economic sanctions without the USA's involvement limits its actions against Japan.
- The invasion of Abyssinia by Italy marks a significant failure for the League of Nations.
- Mussolini's aggressive foreign policy leads to the invasion of Abyssinia in 1935.
- Italy's use of superior technology, including poison gas, leads to the collapse of Abyssinian forces.
- The League enforces some sanctions against Italy but crucially does not impose oil sanctions, which could have crippled Italy's war efforts.
- Haile Selassie's address to the League in 1936 highlights the lack of effective action by the League.
- Britain and France's self-interest, including the Hoare-Laval Pact, undermine the League's authority and contribute to its failure in handling the Abyssinia crisis.
43:13
Reasons for League of Nations' failure explained.
- When analyzing the reasons for the failure of the League of Nations, one must consider both specific events like Manchuria and the Great Depression, as well as more abstract factors such as membership, structure, and blaming specific countries like Britain, France, or Italy. Understanding these various issues allows for a comprehensive argument on why the League of Nations ultimately failed, requiring some lateral thinking to connect different causes and form a coherent explanation.
