Introduction
After the end of World War One, countries decided to come together, and this led to the creation of the League of Nations. Among the leaders who called for its formation was the American President Woodrow Wilson who believed such a body would bring peace to the world. It was headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and was given the mandate of resolving international disputes that might arise between member countries. The main function of this organization was to avoid a recurrence of the disturbing war that had just been witnessed. It was to ensure universal peace within the basis of the fundamental principles of the Agreement accepted by all member states. The main aim of this body was “to develop cooperation among nations and to guarantee them peace and security.”
The organization of the League of Nations
It was created on 28 June 1919, after 44 states came together to sign a pact. This included 31 nations that had participated in the war either from the start or joined during the conflict. The headquarters for this organization was to be set up in Geneva, Switzerland. The main reasons for this were because Switzerland did not participate in the World War One and this mad it a neutral member. To back this up was the fact that Switzerland was also the headquarters to the Red Cross organization another neutral organization.
It was agreed among members that, in case of any dispute, three actions would be taken on those responsible for the dispute. These actions also known as sanctions included:
- It was given the mandate to call on the countries in disagreement for a sit down and discussion of the problem in an orderly and peaceful manner. All these were to be done at the League’s Assembly. This assembly was to listen to disputes and after weighing on all options come up with an amicable and inclusive decision on how to continue. In case a country was found out to be an offender, the League had the right to issue a verbal sanction with a warning to the offender that it should another nation’s territory or consequences shall be taken against it. However, it was still very difficult for the League to act on aggressors who defied their orders in case of a dispute. These are some of the reasons why most nations lacked faith on the body to keep the world together.
- In cases where the states in dispute disagreed with the decision of the Assembly, the League had the liberty to impose economic sanctions on such nations. This was to be done by the League’s Council after thorough consultation. The main aim of this action was to hit the aggressor economically thus forcing it to follow the decisions made. It had the basic logic of pushing the aggressor nation towards bankruptcy if it could not follow the decisions reached. The end result would be the people of that state ganging up against the government forcing them to accept the League’s decision. The league would advise the members not to engage in trade with the aggressor nation as this would eventually bring the aggressor to heel. However some organizations would openly rebel against advice from the League of Nations making it difficult to control world peace.
- In case all these did not achieve any success, the League had the last option of imposing physical sanctions on the aggressor state. This would mean a military force being used by the League to ensure the decision made is followed. However, carrying out this task became a problem as the League did not have any military force of its own. This was because there was no term of joining that each member has to produce a military force as is with the current United Nations. This made it impossible to carry out any threats and the countries that defied its orders did so knowing it had no military teeth to act. It was only Britain and France that had the capability of providing troops to the League of Nations, however, they were both nursing the wounds of the First World War and this would lead to the eventual collapse of the organization.
Failures of the League of Nations
The obvious letdown of this organization was seen when the Second World War broke up. There were several reasons attributed to this failure. The power of this organization was also limited because the US had refused to join in.
Origins and structure
The origin of this organization was among the first reasons why it would not be successful. The involvement by the Allied powers on its creation did not go down well with most players as they viewed it as a “League of Victors.” The neutrality of the League was also in question among different quarters. The looser nations like Germany were not involved in its planning making it an organization for the allied powers only.
Global representation
As much as the organization was created for all nations of the world, many states did not join thus reducing its powers. The nonattendance of the US from the League of Nations was a major blow to the much needed peace. This was coupled up by Germany and Russia that were not allowed to join. The only notable members were France and Britain that were already feeling the adverse effects of the First World War. England and France for example chose to redevelop and improve their own structures at the expense of the organization. This noncommittal by the major members was another reason for its eventual collapse.
Pacifism and disarmament
One of the major challenges that faced this body was that it had no armed force to effect its decisions. The dependence on the Great Powers to offer their forces in times of need was not successful as each nation was busy rebuilding all that had been destroyed from the war. The Major players, Britain and France specifically were unwilling to apply sanctions or offer military action at the request of the organization. Pacifism was a major challenge to the league too as these two major players preferred to negotiate treaties with other nations without involving the organization. The other challenge was the League's encouragement to disarm Britain, France, and other members while also calling for collective security.
Conclusion
All these factors together with several others contributed to the fall of this body. The league’s inability to bring on board all countries of the world proved fatal as it greatly reduced its powers. The lack of a military force of its own was also catastrophic as it meant the League could not act on aggressor states that went against the decisions made by the League. In the end, it was not able to stop the Second World War that broke thereafter. It took the whole world to go back to the drawing board to come up with the current United Nations that has been able to keep the world together on one page till now.
Works Cited
Henig, Ruth B, ed. (1973). The League of Nations. Oliver and Boyd. ISBN 978-0-05-002592-5.
'The Evolution of United Nations Peacekeeping' by Marrack Goulding, in International
Affairs vol.69 (1993)
The Rise of the International Organisation. A Short History by David Armstrong
(Palgrave Macmillan, 1982)
The US Department of State, Office of the Historian “The league of Nations, 1920”
Retrieved from https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/league Accessed on March, 14th 2014
