League+of+Nations+Creation

³Nellie Sanderson December 8, 2009 IB History/ Mr. Hinze Research Paper In the aftermath of World War I, people across the globe grew terrified of the horrors of war. The destructiveness of the First World War was observed up close and personal, and there was no desire for any sort of repeat performance. This collective dread of conflict created a desire for international institutions that would prevent war from breaking out again. Those fears also allowed for the institutions to find success in the fifteen year period following their creation. The League of Nations was founded because of global desires to secure peace and deter war; and it is that desire for institutions and the small conflicts between minor powers that led to legitimate successes for the League of Nations between the years 1920-1935. After the damage done by World War I, people all over the world were fearful of another great war; because of this, governments were encouraged by their people to find ways of avoiding war in the future. The world lost millions of people and economies all over suffered greatly in the aftermath. World War I damaged the people of the world socially, but the governments of the world were affected in a different way. The Treaty of Versailles placed a mandate on all of Germany’s colonies and refused its right to self-determination, which some many others were promised. Similarly, treaties such as St. Germain, Trianon, and Neuilly forced the Successor States into many reparations and also limitations on their armies. Because the countries of the world were collectively weak, they had a “new vision of international co-operation” ¹. The plan for a League of Nations was outlined in President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points. Wilson was determined to have democracy spread across the world, and he outlined his goals in his Fourteen Points, which were “the basis of the Paris peace discussions”. ² The fourteenth point specifically outlined an idea which would later become the League of Nations. It stated “a general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike”. ³ The League of Nations was set up for the sole purpose of maintaining peace through international discussion. The League of Nations was a form of institutionalism which was an idea that was very present after WWI. Institutions have been defined as “a set of rules that stipulate the ways in which states should cooperate and compete with each other”. ] The opposite of institutionalism is realism which is an everyman for himself philosophy, whereas institutionalism incorporates working together to solve issues. People prefer to believe in institutionalism because its opposite “is a pessimistic theory” [v] and goes against certain morals. The League of Nations embodied the institutionalist desire of mutual cooperation. The League of Nations was based on President Wilson’s Fourteen Points, as explained above; but because the U.S. failed to sign the Treaty of Versailles, the other major powers were left to structure the League. The League was run by The Assembly which only met once a year and had to be unanimous in its voting. They were backed by The Council that stayed in session all year long and could “take immediate action in a crisis”. [vi] The Assembly and The Council are linked by The Secretariat. The Secretariat is in charge of keeping information and records. There were also smaller sections called Special Departments that were “dealt with particular problems or topics” [vii], such as a the International Labour Organisation. Members had to sign the Covenant (League of Nations constitution) and agree to Article 10 when committing to join. The League of Nations was able to find early success after its founding because of the minimal problems that the League had to face. In the beginning, the League did not have to face major powers as aggressor countries. It was able to focus on relations between certain countries, disarmament talks, and peace talks, which were the original goals of the League. Germany’s cooperation with the League was a significant reason for its early successes, and it even entered the League in 1926. Germany being pulled back into international relations proved to be an accomplishment for the League. Three major agreements of peace were the Geneva Protocol, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and the Litvinov Protocol. They all pushed for “an end to war as the means for solving disputes”. [viii] These peace talks were definite successes for the League but they did not require it to take action in any way When the League of Nations was forced to go head to head with more major powers, it proved to be less of a force than it appeared. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, and the League set up a commission to deal with it. The League demanded that Japan withdraw; and when Japan refused and “withdrew from the League” [ix], the League did nothing to interfere. A similar incident occurred when Mussolini’s Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935. Although the League acted to take away some of Italy’s amenities, it did little else to stop them. This acts as evidence that it was not a flawless structure that allowed the League to find success but the kind of difficulties or lack of difficulties it was facing. At the same time that the League of Nations was getting underway, other international institutions were forming which created a surge of optimism around the globe. In 1925, the Locarno Treaties were signed by Belgium, Germany, Britain, Italy and France. They were meant to strengthen borders and strengthen Franco-German ties. It also affected Germany, in that it was “no longer treated differently from the other powers”. [x] Earlier in 1921, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Romania set up The Little Entente which was a promise to protect each other’s security. These agreements, which supported the idea of institutionalism, made people believe in mutual cooperation between countries. This faith in institutions was also a faith in the League of Nations and that support allowed it to progress for fifteen years. Though the League of Nations is generally thought of as a complete failure, it had some minor successes that promoted the idea of institutionalism. Because of the aftermath of World War I, people were disheartened and wanted a time of peace. After being originally promoted by the United States, the League of Nations seemed like a perfect solution to the problems that governments were facing. The League’s sole purpose was to prevent war from breaking out. When the League had only smaller countries to deal with, it found success, and it was also able to make headway in talks of peace. However, the League of Nations only found that success for a small period of time and was shortly overpowered by major powers looking to find their own way.

¹ Cannon et al. 20th Century World History: Course Companion. Oxford University Press, 2009 p. 1 ² ibid p. 1 ³ Duffy, Michael. “Woodrow Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ Speech 8 January 1918.” First World War. August 22, 2009. www.firstworld war.com/source/fourteenpoints.htm [iv] Mearsheimer, John J. “The False Promise of International Institutions.” Essential Readings in World Politics. p. 346 [v] ibid p. 352 [vi] Wolfson, Robert and Laver, John. “International Relations and Crises.” Years of Change, European History 1890-1990. Hodder Murray p.285 [vii] ibid p.286 [viii] ibid p.288 [ix] Ibid p.293 [x] ibid p.289