Effectiveness of League of Nations
Modern Essay. Assessment Task 4
Assess the effectiveness of the League of Nations to the maintenance of peace in Europe to 1939.
The League of Nations, which was created in 1918, was supposed to provide collective security for all members, seek peaceful solutions between conflicting nations, prevent any conflict and ultimately prevent another world war. It failed to do this. The League, which did not have a standing army, could not enforce collective security for its members or any aggressive country against its policies and its economic sanctions proved useless, while League members also valued its own national interest over the Leagues interest. As seen in war between Russia and Poland in 1920-1921, the invasion of the Ruhr in 1923 and the invasion of Abyssinia in 1935. The League was ineffective in preventing conflict and hostilities between these countries and its efforts to stop them were futile.
The League of Nations failed on many accounts to maintain peace in Europe, the League seemed only to back up countries within the League and would not intervene in conflicts its members were not apart of, as seen in the war between Russia and Poland from 1920 to 1921. In 1920, Poland invaded Russian land. The Polish army quickly overwhelmed the Russian army and made a swift advanced into Russia. The Russians had to sign the Treaty of Riga, which handed over nearly 80,000 square kilometers of Russian land over to Poland. The League did nothing, as Russia was seen as a ‘plague from the East’ and was feared by the Western powers such as Britain and France, some of the Leagues senior members. The war between Russia and Poland showed that the League was looking out for its own member’s interest not the good of all nations and was one of its first failures.
The League of Nations would fail to prevent hostilities in 1923 demonstrating that its rules could be broken yet again without consequence but this time by one of its senior members, France, with the aid of
Assess the effectiveness of the League of Nations to the maintenance of peace in Europe to 1939.
The League of Nations, which was created in 1918, was supposed to provide collective security for all members, seek peaceful solutions between conflicting nations, prevent any conflict and ultimately prevent another world war. It failed to do this. The League, which did not have a standing army, could not enforce collective security for its members or any aggressive country against its policies and its economic sanctions proved useless, while League members also valued its own national interest over the Leagues interest. As seen in war between Russia and Poland in 1920-1921, the invasion of the Ruhr in 1923 and the invasion of Abyssinia in 1935. The League was ineffective in preventing conflict and hostilities between these countries and its efforts to stop them were futile.
The League of Nations failed on many accounts to maintain peace in Europe, the League seemed only to back up countries within the League and would not intervene in conflicts its members were not apart of, as seen in the war between Russia and Poland from 1920 to 1921. In 1920, Poland invaded Russian land. The Polish army quickly overwhelmed the Russian army and made a swift advanced into Russia. The Russians had to sign the Treaty of Riga, which handed over nearly 80,000 square kilometers of Russian land over to Poland. The League did nothing, as Russia was seen as a ‘plague from the East’ and was feared by the Western powers such as Britain and France, some of the Leagues senior members. The war between Russia and Poland showed that the League was looking out for its own member’s interest not the good of all nations and was one of its first failures.
The League of Nations would fail to prevent hostilities in 1923 demonstrating that its rules could be broken yet again without consequence but this time by one of its senior members, France, with the aid of