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Assess The Effectiveness Of The League Of Nations

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Assess the effectiveness of the League of Nations to the maintenance of peace in Europe to 1939.The League of Nations was severely ineffective to the maintenance of peace within Europe up to 1939. The failures of the League of Nations in world affairs such as at Manchuria, Abyssinia and during the Spanish Civil War lead to the collapse of collective security, as the concept of internationalism was not realized amongst the members of the League of Nations, which was essential if the was ever to be a successful peace keeping mechanism. The nationalistic way in which countries thought and acted, counter-¬‐argued against such an internationalist ideal such as the League of Nations, and it was these factors that prevented the League of Nations from …show more content…

The League could not agree on sanctions or even a ban on weapons sales and so Britain and France not wanting another war did nothing. Japan refusing to leave Manchuria, instead left the League of Nations, as if they left, it would hold no power over them, however limited that power was in the first place. The League of Nations failed in its objective of peace keeping and international equality, and the actions of Japan’s leader Hirohito showed both Hitler and Mussolini that the core doctrine of the League; collective security, was not realistic as no country was willing to rally behind the League. Japan showed the inadequacy of ‘collective security’ and so the League’s ineffectiveness in regards to maintaining peace in Europe to 1939 is highlighted. The League of Nation’s actions or lack thereof in Abyssinia showed the ineffectiveness of its power and influence in regards to maintaining peace in …show more content…

Therefore, the League’s actions in Abyssinia show its ineffectiveness in maintaining peace to 1939.The Spanish Civil War served to highlight the divisions within Europe prior to the outbreak of war in 1939, and again show the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations in maintaining peace within Europe to 1939. The Civil War began in July 1936, in Spanish Morocco when military officers revolted against the government with General Franco taking charge with his fascist ideology and sever hatred of the communists. The Civil War saw the committing of atrocities with torture, massacres and civilian killings taking place as seen clearly by the bombing of Guernica in 1937. The League of Nations could do nothing to maintain peace in this situation and so was forced to adopt an approach of non-¬‐intervention into the

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