Why did the LON Fail?
After the First World War, US president Wilson decided to set up the League of Nations. Because of the death and destruction of the war, the league was supposed to bring together all nations to settle disputes in peace. The league was meant to improve working conditions, living conditions and international trade. Most importantly the league was meant to promote peace throughout the nations. However, as we saw that 20 years later another war broke out so it was proven that the league had failed. There were many reasons why the league failed. The league was formulated in a way that there would be an assembly that would allow all nations to get together and convey their ideas to the rest of the members. However, they would not be allowed to take measures to change what was happening. The league also involved the council which consisted of four "permanent" members; Britain, France, Italy and Japan. When President Wilson went back to the US after promoting the league in Europe, he found that the US had turned against him. Part of the reason why the league failed was because the US never joined. They feared that because over 100000 US citizens had been killed in the First World War, the
league would lead to another war meaning more loses of lives for the US. It owned the important mines, railroads, factories and ports. The League was not destroyed, but it was not consulted throughout the war and disappeared in 1945 when the Allies tried again with the United Nations. In 1922 an agreement was made in the US that Britain, France, Japan, Italy and the US would limit the size of their navies and not build any more battleships for 10 years. This meant that countries found it hard to not put themselves first. After 1935, the League was not taken seriously again. The reparations payments for the war were fixed for Germany in 1921 at L6,600 million that would be paid in instalments. However, in many occasions the league was not involved in decision making and attempts were made outside the league. They did not want to push him into an agreement with Hitler. Finally in 1932 The Japanese commission recommended that Japan should leave Manchuria. The Manchuria affair damaged the reputation of the League. The League's idea of a disarmament conference failed totally and another war seemed to be approaching. The League of Nations was meant to keep peace through "collective security" If persuasion did not work the League was meant to use economic sanctions or military sanctions. Although the League helped in a way in the 1920's by making sure that millions of refugees from the First World War were helped to return to their homes, it was still a failure in more ways than it was successful. The League ordered the troops to withdraw.
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