Fatigue Of Nations

Option B: 20th Century topic DID THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS HAVE A CHANCE OF SUCCEEDING?

Study the Background Information and the sources carefully, and then answer all the questions. Background Information

The last of President Wilson’s Fourteen Points was that ‘a general association of nations’ should be set up to ensure the ‘political independence and territorial integrity of great and small nations alike’. In 1920 the League of Nations was established. Its members agreed to protect all members against aggression and to try and resolve disputes peacefully through the League. During the 1920s, the League had to deal with several disputes, including ones over the Aaland Islands and

French interests demanded a League with teeth. They made several attempts to create a military force at the League’s disposal, but failed to persuade the British.When Wilson failed to push American membership of the League through Congress, much of theLeague’s deterrent value slipped away.The League was certainly not unimportant; it provided an international forum for discussion, it was a source of influence, and helped tackle the kinds of problems – like the refugee crisis – where a coordinated international response was desirable. Even though it had very limited powers to intervene in the internal affairs of member states, it could help publicise abuses of minority groups and expose governments to the pressure of world opinion. Nevertheless, its influence depended on its members’ willingness to work through it. They were not bound by it, and could conduct diplomacy through other channels. Great Power politics was far from dead. Other more traditional, diplomatic forums remained important: the Conference of Ambassadors was chosen in preference to the League to settle crises in 1923 over Corfu and Vilna. Between 1934 and 1936 the European balance swung away from France and Britain. The British could not afford military commitments

Of sixty-six international disputes it had to deal with, it successfully resolved thirty-five and quite sensibly passed back twenty to the channels of traditional diplomacy. It failed to resolve just eleven conflicts. After the First World War Great Britain and France still laid down the law to all Europe. However, everything was soon overtaken in importance by the new institution which came out of the peace conference: the League of Nations. It is true that there was a deep, underlying divergence between Britain and France as to the nature of the League. The French wanted the League to develop into a system of security directed against Germany; the British regarded it as a system of conciliation which would include Germany. The British and French governments were both too distracted by difficulties, domestic and foreign, to have a clear and consistent policy. When Abyssinia was attacked in October 1935, the members of the League responded. The impact of the League’s sanctions was weakened by Germany and the United States, the two Great Powers outside the League. But this was not serious. The real weakness was within the League. France applied sanctions but assured Mussolini that Italy’s oil supplies would not be interfered with. On 1 May 1936, the Emperor Haile Selassie left Abyssinia. A week later Mussolini proclaimed the foundation of a new Roman empire. This was a serious blow