The Failure of the League of Nations
In the beginning of the 1930's, there was a world-wide economic depression. This lead to the creation of expansive policies of strong countries, such as Japan and Italy, in order to overcome the depression by building strong empires. The League of Nations dependent on the obedience of the Covenant by its members in order to succeed. However, in 1930's the League failed in stopping dictators deliberately breaking the Covenant. Already in 1931, Japan controlled most of the economy in Manchuria, part of China. It owned the most important assets in Manchuria, such as the Manchurian Railway. As the world-wide depression hit Japan hardly, the Japanese saw the invasion as the only way how to get out of depression. During the night of 28th September, an explosion of the Manchurian Railway, gave the Japanese an excuse to occupy the city of Shenyang. Instantly, China asked for the help of the League of Nations. After having a close look at the case, the League ordered the Japanese troops to leave Manchuria. The Japanese government agreed with the League's decision. However, the Japanese troops were already settled in Manchuria and refused to withdraw. The government no longer had control over its army and the army continued to advance
Overall, we can conclude that the League was unable to stop the aggressive policies of Japan and Italy due to the fact that the League's strength was determined by the Covenant of all its members. In December 1935, a "Hoare-Laval Pact" was secretly created by Britain and France, which offered Mussolini two-thirds of Abyssinia if he would stop his invasion in Abyssinia. Italy demanded an apology from Abyssinia, however, Abyssinia asked the League for help. However, personal interest played a major role in the failure of applying economical sanctions on Japan. However, Mussolini rejected it and the secret treaty was reveal in the press, which created outrage among the people. The Manchurian crisis of 1931-33 showed the world the weaknesses of the League of Nations. This was considered as an embarrassment to Italian power and Mussolini wanted to revenge. Failing to apply economical or military sanctions, the League gained a reputation of being powerless in front of strong countries that chose to defy it. In October 1932, the "Lytton Commission" came to the conclusion that the Japanese should leave Manchuria and a "semi-independent" country should be created. In my opinion, the League was simply too weak to oppose strong nations, as the self-interest of its leading members was greater than their sense of fairness. In 1936 Italy managed to defeat Abyssinia and in June 1936 Britain ended its economic sanctions imposed on Italy. This enabled Mussolini to continue his invasion in Abyssinia. Thus, this meant that if persuasion did not work then the League had to use economical sanctions. The dispute between Italy and Abyssinia over watering holes and resulting with the death of several Italian soldiers made Mussolini prepare for war.
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