The League Of Nations Was Doomed To Failure

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The League of Nations was Doomed To Failure From the Start

Many may believe that the League of Nations was doomed to failure as soon as the doors of their Geneva headquarters were opened; many may say that it was built on unstable foundations; that the very idea of it was a grave misjudgement by the powers that were. Indeed it is true that the League of Nations, when it was set up was marred with many fundamental flaws. In January 1920 when the League officially began work, it was not sufficiently complete in that all the foundations were not yet in place for it to be built up properly, however is started.

The League had a Geneva headquarters, in Switzerland, which has had a long history …show more content…

And also the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which tried to improve international standards of work. Both of these organisations were influential in improving the standards of life in some of the poorest stretches of the world.

These early success in the setting up of the leagues showed it as being committed to improving standards in the world' on the political stage and on the humanitarian stage also, for the time being this merely glossed over the fundamental flaws that were yet to appear in the League which was at this point still in its infancy.

However if one looks carefully enough it is possible to pinpoint the very earliest failings of the league, right at the beginning it is clear that the people who joined or rather did not join are the people who cracked the foundations before they were put into place each of the countries had differing reasons for not joining, but their lack of membership inflicted massive harm to the League.

America

The first of these countries and possibly the most influential was America's lack of attendance. Although the previous President had thought the league up in the first place the current U.S president …show more content…

Now most of these countries had vast imperial assets in Africa and elsewhere, also they were white Christian countries, which ruled over their colonies with and air of superiority. This meant that it would not be in their interest to criticise either Racism or Imperialism.

Throughout the 1920's the league faced many border disputes, which the league treated with varying levels of success. The first major dispute was over Silesia an Industrial region on the Polish/German border; both Germans and Poles inhabited it. An election was held over which country it should go to. The voting was split and in the end so was the region; it was a success for the league. Another success for the league came in the same year and was over the Aaland Islands; which both Sweden and Finland claimed as their own, again the land was split.

Two years later, Mussolini wanting to flex his political muscles. With the excuse of a disagreement between Greece and Albania, he invaded the Island of Corfu killing 15. Although he was forced to pull out, this showed Mussolini the inconsistency of the League. This led to Mussolini looking to gain power in the world; he dreamed of a

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