The Failure of the League of Nations

By: Kid and Ken

The Failure of The League Of Nations

Written by: jonathantimms

The League of Nations, a former international organization, was formed after World War I to promote international peace and security. The basis of the League, also called the Covenant, was written into the Treaty of Versailles and other peace treaties and provided for an assembly, a council, and a secretariat. Because the peace treaties had created the League of Nations, the League was bound to uphold their principles. but however, it became apparent that some of the terms of the treaties were harsh and unjust and needed amending. This undermined the league. Woodrow Wilson hoped however, by including it in the treaties that this would ensure that the League was accepted by all nations. However, from the start, the League shared many of the weaknesses of the treaties themselves. The defeated powers were not consulted about the league and were not invited to join. The victorious powers did not really agree among themselves about the League.

A system of colonial commands was also set up. Based in Geneva, the League proved useful in settling minor international disputes, but they had a hard time stopping aggression involving major powers such as, Japan's occupation of Manchuria in 1931, Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935-36, and Germany's seizure of Austria in 1938. It collapsed early in World War II and ended in 1946.

Its ending in 1946 was because it had some basic and fundamental problems such as dealing with aggression involving major powers. Countries like Japan and Italy were able to just walk over the League of Nations because it had no armed forces of its own and it relied upon the co-operation of its members. This problem was inter-linked with the fact that the League was very slow at making decisions. With no armed forces this made it difficult to impose decisions. Therefore when a crisis occurred the league was supposed to act fast with resoluteness. Although, often the League met too infrequently and took far too long to make critical decisions. This need for all members to agree on a course of action undermined the strength of the League. The League was too indecisive they needed some influential countries. The absence of the powerful USA and, until 1934, the USSR were felt, this could have been the answer to the League's problems. However these countries did not join and again this contributed the failure of the league, as non-members, they could and did trade with countries facing League sanctions and therefore to a certain extent it was in their own interests to remain detached from such a commitment as the League. Another problem for the League however, was that it was being too closely linked to the victors of the First World War and the Peace Treaties.

Another reason why the league failed was that because one their aims, 'To keep collective security…' failed. Britain and France along with other members were more concerned about their own interests. As a result they were reluctant to get involved in collective security (one of the reasons why Britain and France were reluctant to commit troops to fight for the League of Nations) and their League could not make powerful countries obey their rulings.

The League also failed because there was a lack of unity between Britain and France. They often disagreed and they did not trust each other. With this and the fact decisions had to be unanimous made it almost impossible for the League to make a decision.

The League was also weakened by the Great Depression that hit the world in the years following the Wall Street Crash. At a time of economic crises it meant that the League had trouble imposing sanctions especially at this time. This meant that countries like Japan and Italy were able to annex other countries without effective punishment.

All these reasons did not fear the likes of Hitler and Mussolini; in fact they gained in confidence. Therefore the failure of the League was really a vicious circle as the basic problems led to other problems and encouraged the rise of powerful nationalist dictators and militaristic governments prepared to ignore the League and to use force.

The Failure of The League Of Nations

The League of Nations, a former international organization, was formed after World War I to promote international peace and security. The basis of the League, also called the Covenant, was written into the Treaty of Versailles and other peace treaties and provided for an assembly, a council, and a secretariat. Because the peace treaties had created the League of Nations, the League was bound to uphold their principles. but however, it became apparent that some of the terms of the treaties were harsh and unjust and needed amending. This undermined the league. Woodrow Wilson hoped however, by including it in the treaties that this would ensure that the League was accepted by all nations. However, from the start, the League shared many of the weaknesses of the treaties themselves. The defeated powers were not consulted about the league and were not invited to join. The victorious powers did not really agree among themselves about the League.

A system of colonial commands was also set up. Based in Geneva, the League proved useful in settling minor international disputes, but they had a hard time stopping aggression involving major powers such as, Japan's occupation of Manchuria in 1931, Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935-36, and Germany's seizure of Austria in 1938. It collapsed early in World War II and ended in 1946.

Its ending in 1946 was because it had some basic and fundamental problems such as dealing with aggression involving major powers. Countries like Japan and Italy were able to just walk over the League of Nations because it had no armed forces of its own and it relied upon the co-operation of its members. This problem was inter-linked with the fact that the League was very slow at making decisions. With no armed forces this made it difficult to impose decisions. Therefore when a crisis occurred the league was supposed to act fast with resoluteness. Although, often the League met too infrequently and took far too long to make critical decisions. This need for all members to agree on a course of action undermined the strength of the League. The League was too indecisive they needed some influential countries. The absence of the powerful USA and, until 1934, the USSR were felt, this could have been the answer to the League's problems. However these countries did not join and again this contributed the failure of the league, as non-members, they could and did trade with countries facing League sanctions and therefore to a certain extent it was in their own interests to remain detached from such a commitment as the League. Another problem for the League however, was that it was being too closely linked to the victors of the First World War and the Peace Treaties.

Another reason why the league failed was that because one their aims, 'To keep collective security...' failed. Britain and France along with other members were more concerned about their own interests. As a result they were reluctant to get involved in collective security (one of the reasons why Britain and France were reluctant to commit troops to fight for the League of Nations) and their League could not make powerful countries obey their rulings.

The League also failed because there was a lack of unity between Britain and France. They often disagreed and they did not trust each other. With this and the fact decisions had to be unanimous made it almost impossible for the League to make a decision.
The League was also weakened by the Great Depression that hit the world in the years following the Wall Street Crash. At a time of economic crises it meant that the League had trouble imposing sanctions especially at this time. This meant that countries like Japan and Italy were able to annex other countries without effective punishment.
All these reasons did not fear the likes of Hitler and Mussolini; in fact they gained in confidence. Therefore the failure of the League was really a vicious circle as the basic problems led to other problems and encouraged the rise of powerful nationalist dictators and militaristic governments prepared to ignore the League and to use force.

The Failure of the League of Nations

The League of Nations a former international organization was formed after World War I to promote international peace and security The basis of the League was a written term of the Treaty of Versailles and other peace treaties and provided for an assembly a council and a secretariat Because the peace treaties had created the League of Nations one of the League’s short-tem purposes was making sure surrendered and victorious countries stuck to the term of the treaties

However it became clear that some of the terms of the treaties were harsh and unjust and needed amending Woodrow Wilson hoped by including it in the treaties that this would ensure that the League was accepted by all nations however his own country swore off European Affairs The League of Nations and the treaties were far from perfect but one could not survive without the other The victorious countries could not agree amongst themselves as there was a power struggle and the defeated countries were not invited to join which only created more hostility in Europe.

Bibliography

http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/12976.html

http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=23501

http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/1677.php

Questions About Nazi Germany

1. Which group ran the districts organized by the Nazis?
A. Gauleiter
B. SA
C. Nationalists
D. City Gangs

2. Who was the leader of the Nazis in berlin in 1926?
A. Joseph Goebbels
B. Adolf Hitler
C. Paul von Hindenburg
D. Reynhard Heydrich

3. By 1928, what biggest rank of German polical was the Nazis?
A. 1st, The Biggest
B. 5th Biggest
C. 7th Biggest
D. 17th Biggest

4. Who were allowed to join the Hitler Jugend (HJ, Hitler Youth)?
A. Boys aged 14-18
B. Boys aged 10-14
C. Girls and Boys aged 14-18
D. Girls and Boys aged 10-14

5. Who were killed in the Night of the Long Knives? and what year?
A. SS, 1934
B. SA, 1934
C. HJ, 1932
D. SS, 1935

Russian Propaganda Posters

"Russian

"Russian Propaganda Posters." 28 Oct. 2008 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2pa2hosl9gg/sp86xvkt8ui/aaaaaaaaabc/wjwiclvxrz0/s1600-h/s0347b.jpg.

"Russian Propaganda Posters." 28 Oct. 2008 ."."Russian Propaganda Posters." 28 Oct. 2008 http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ocenhsl7u8/sqrgs6e2v1i/aaaaaaaaaac/m2sp-trzfq4/s1600-h/s1261.jpg.

Propaganda Posters." Http://www.russianlegacy.com/catalog/images/soviet_collection/postcards/C960.jpg. 28 Oct. 2008.

Propaganda posters are posters that expressed ideas, information, opinion, and rumors either to promote or threaten a certain group or organization. Propaganda posters are the most affective media for communicating in the past. Propaganda posters have been used all over the country at that time. Propaganda poster will help us learn about people’s thoughts, opinion, and what has happened in the event which the propaganda poster was made for.

The poster on the far right is a poster of a Russian peasant kissing a Russian soldier. The color of the poster is mostly white, black, and red. The black and white is just the common, and cheapest ink color at the time, but it also makes the red stand out. The red color represents communism. I think that this poster is trying to say that under communism and Lenin's control, the peasants and soldiers will unite and become one as a greater nation.

The middle poster is a picture of Lenin holding the Pravda newspaper. The poster states “All power to soviets! Peace to all nations! Land to peasants! Factories to workers!” as a caption. What I learned from the poster is that Lenin will make peace with all nations, give power to the soviets, give land and factory to the peasants, and i think the newspaper also represents "No Censorship."

The left most poster is a red poster of Lenin. The poster states “We should strive to raise the name and importance of a [communist] party higher, higher and higher.” I think the red color of the poster resembles the color of the soviets, and Lenin represents the one as their leader, and it would be a great sucess if he was to become leader of the soviets and would make a great nation.

The main purposes of these propaganda posters is to persuade the people and make them think that if they wanted to have better life they must supported the Bolsheviks, and or the Soviets. There are only three colors on the posters. The red color represents the soviets, Red Guards, or the Red Army(not MUFC). The result is that the Bolsheviks are recommending and advising the people to support the revolution and help the Bolsheviks rise to power.

*(I am unable to seperate the paragraphs and sources)

History of Aerial Dogfight

"Word War I:Dogfight." 18 Sept. 2008 http://updatecenter.britannica.com/eb/image?binaryid=92036&rendtypeid=4.

Did you know that there are Dogfights in WWI? Dogfight is a term used to called a close-range aerial combat between war planes. The term "Dogfight" is most likely to come from the most preferred way of fighting; to position themselves behind the enemy and attack them from behind, it seemed like a dog chasing another dog's tail. Another possibility is that they usually fight very noisily, and fight in a large number. I chose this topic because I found Dogfighting interesting, the way they were able to kill many enemies, spy on enemies, and were one of World War I's most high-tech weapons at the time, and still has effect on today's military tactics.

The origin of planes in wars started as scouts; to collect information for the army about the position of enemy soldiers and guns. When enemies noticed that the opposing soldiers are using planes to spy on them, they need something to take out the planes, so they fitted machine guns onto scouting airplanes. Then both sides soon had all their scouting plane with machine guns.
Dogfighting pilots were called Dogfighters. Dogfighters are usually respected by their ranks, the ones with the most kills are usually titled "Aces." The most famous Dogfighter was probably Manfred von Richthofen, a German pilot, also known as "The Red Baron", he was the most famous flying ace of WWI, with a record of at least 80 confirmed victories against enemy aces.

The most preferred tactic used by Dogfighters is something called "the 6 o'clock", it involved getting behind the enemy pilot and shooting at them. During the war, a German ace pilot named Oswald Boelcke was the first person to ever write a book about dogfighting and tactics. He wrote about the basic rules and physics of aerial combat maneuvering, he wrote about fighting with your back towards the sun and with your enemy facing you, its is a smart tactic because the enemy wouldn't be able to see you, or a way to attack from above. The lessons the taught were called Dicta Boelcke, it is still used to teach in military schools today and are very valuable to fighter pilots today, same as they were almost a century ago.

Dogfighting is one of the most important tool for victory in a war. Dogfighting has inspired people to make more faster and stronger weapons, and has since changed the history of warfare.

"Dogfight." History Channel. 18 Sept. 2008 http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=minisite_generic&content_type_id=52089&display_order=10&mini_id=51833.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBm86lrCq2c