Why the League Failed

After the Abyssinian crisis, the League gradually died.  It stopped intervening in international crises (such as the Spanish Civil War or the occupation of Czechoslovakia).  Few countries left the League, but they stopped relying on the League to protect their sovereignty.  Instead they made alliances, re-armed as fast as possible and prepared for war.  Many countries – including Britain – contracted out of Article 16 (ie they let it be known that they would not support sanctions). 

The League, however, did not do nothing:

  1.   In 1936, acknowledging the failure of 'collective security' to stop Italy in Abyssinia, the League set up a Reform Committee, to try to adapt to the new political realities of the 1930s.  Member states were invited to submit suggestions: some wanted to be tougher, others to stop even trying to stop wars, others to be more consultative, others to concentrate on prevention not intervention.  Given the differences, no progress could be made. 

 2.   The League's Agencies did continue their work and, in May-Aug 1939, a committee led by the Australian delegate Stanley Bruce recommended that they be reorganised under a central 'Committee for Economic and Social Questions' ... thus saving the economic and social work of the League whilst its political impact died.  Although the League adopted the Report, war broke out a few days later.  (After the war the Bruce Committee's recommendations were adopted by the United Nations.)

 3.   When war broke out in September 1939, the League closed down; its headquarters in Geneva remained empty throughout the war.

 4.   In 1943 – at a Conference in Tehran – America, Britain and Russia agreed to set up a new international organisation (the 'United Nations') when the war finished.

 5.   On 12 April 1946, the League met in Geneva and formally abolished itself.  The British delegate, Robert Cecil, said: 'The League is dead. Long live the United Nations'.

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

Pupil's essay

UN debate (1946) on the failure and achievements of the League

Impact of the 1930s Depression

Why did the League fail - Sources - essential

The League of Nations - views from the web

- Giles Hill on the League's failure

- BBC debate-podcast on whether the League was a success

75 pupil statements on Mr Clare's History Blog - Why did the League fail?.

This 1920 cartoon by John T. McCutcheon for the Chicago Tribune shows the leading members of the League failing to keep their promise to promote world peace, and instead sowing the seeds of future wars.

Reasons for Failure

The League failed in Manchuria and Abyssinia because it WAS DUMB!

Try to explain how each of the following contributed to the failure of the League; click on the yellow pointers to reveal my suggestions.

•  Weak
  • the League’s ‘powers’ were little more than going ‘tut-tut’.  Sanctions did not work. It had no army.
•  America
  • the strongest nation in the world never joined; Britain and France were not strong enough to impose peace on their own (note, however, that in the 1930s the USA worked closely with the League - eg refusing to acknowledge Manchukuo, helping stop the Chaco War, and opposing Italy in Abyssinia ... it doesn't look as though this is a very important factor).
•  Structure
  • the League's organisation was muddled, so it took ages to do anything; members couldn’t agree, but decisions had to be unanimous – this paralysed the League.
•  Depression
  • the world-wide Depression made countries try to get more land and power; they were worried about themselves, not about world peace.
•  Unsuccessful
  • the more the League failed, the less people trusted it; in the end, everybody just ignored it and nations went back to building up their armies and making alliances.
•  Members
  • the League’s main members let it down – Italy and Japan defied and left the League, France and Britain betrayed it.
•  Big bullies
  • in the 1920s, the League had been quite successful with small, weak countries; in the 1930s, powerful countries like Germany, Italy and Japan defied the League – they were too strong for the League to stop them.

... and a final word: