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Failure Of The League Of Nations: United States Refused To Join

Decent Essays

I. Failure of the League of Nations
1. United States Refused to Join
A. In 1918, Woodrow Wilson, the president at the time, wrote an open letter suggesting that if the Republicans were to gain control of congress they would give ease to Germany. This accusation was false as the Republicans had backed World War I and because of this they won the 1918 elections and gained control of the Senate and the House. Lodge became the majority leader and demanded compromise on the League of Nations charter before having it passed. Wilson refused any compromise and eventually had a stroke in 1919 that incapacitated him for the remainder of his life. Warren Harding then became president in 1920, pledged opposition to the League of Nations, and it was ultimately rejected. Without the United States in the League, it suffered a major blow to the power it had as the United States was a burgeoning power.
2. Unable to Stop Aggression
A. In 1931, a civil war between communists and nationalists in China was waging with Stalin backing the communists. Japan, obviously nervous at this, desired to establish a buffer state in Manchuria and promptly sent its armies in to do so. The League of Nations investigated the incident and found that Japan was guilty of aggression. In the League, the only two members that had the power to intervene were France and Britain, and they had little interest in challenging Japan. So, Japan was given a verbal punishment by the League. Naturally, Japan was angry at this,

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