Weaknesses and Successes of League of Nation
Essay title: Weaknesses and Successes of League of Nation
The most important and noticeable weakness of League of Nation is limited membership. The US Senate had rejected the Treaty of Versailles and the League as it supported the policy of isolationism. It did not want the USA to become involved in world affairs that might require its young men to fight another war. The USA was the strongest and most powerful country in the world and commanded great respect and political clout. Its inclusive in the League of Nations would have enhanced the league’s credibility, reputation and enforcement power. Its absence was a crucial missing link in the cornerstone of establishing peace in the 1920s. Germany was not allowed to join the League in 1919. As Germany had started the war, according to the Treaty of Versailles, one of her punishments was that she was not considered to be a member of the international community and, therefore, she was not invited to join. This was a great blow to Germany but it also meant that the League could not use whatever strength Germany had to support its campaign against aggressor nations. Russia was also not allowed to join as in 1917; she had a communist government that generated fear in Western Europe. Therefore, three of the world’s most powerful nations played no part in supporting the League. The limited membership resulted in the league being weak because it did not represent the interest of the whole world, and hence it could not enforce actions if it had to on the world community. In other words, the league of Nation was not a united body.
Another weakness of the League was that it did not have an army of its own, and that if it wanted an army to stand up to a troublesome country, it must raise an army from member countries. This became ineffective, as many member countries were very unwilling to raise an army and physically challenge a country, as they were afraid that it would affect their own self-interests. The lack of army resulted in the league being weak because it was unable to stop act of aggression and thus it was seen as powerless. Due to the lack of army forces, no military action could take against the act of aggressor. They only relied on economic sanctions but could not stop act of aggression successfully. In other word, the league was ineffective and was unable to stop a conflict between countries.
The last is there is no political will. When Abyssinia appealed for help to the League about the Italian Invasion, the League delayed its decision to apply trade sanctions, meaning that Italy could stockpile enough resources. Also, in self-interest, France and Britain refused to stop trading in oil with Italy as it could harm their own economies, and refused to shut the Suez Canal, the route Italy used to get things from Italy to Abyssinia, because they were afraid of war with Italy, and they also