Woodrow Wilson's Failure

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

The United states should not have joined the league of nations in 1919. The United States shouldn’t have joined the league of nations because we would be supplying the troops and food a lot and not getting anything out of it, and we were in no danger of an attack.

Throughout the interwar period, the U.s. Government over and again picked non-snare over support or mediation as the fitting reaction to universal inquiries. Promptly taking after the First World War, Congress rejected U.s. participation in the League of Nations. A few parts of Congress restricted participation in the League out of worry that it might draw the United States into European clashes, despite the fact that eventually the group security provision sank the likelihood of U.s. support. Throughout the 1930s, the League demonstrated insufficient despite developing militarism, mostly because of the U.s. choice not to take part.

In reference to source B, the league of nations showed an inability to handle the Manchurian crises. Japan wanted space for their people and taking Manchuria, provided lots of land along with raw materials. This made other nations question the integrity of the league who, according to source B, was trying to keep a good image. The league failure to take action meant that japan was able to continue their expansion; it also meant that Mussolini could invade Abyssinia in 1935 without any consequences.

As it was built on the unrealistic premise that nations would overlook their own interests in order to look after other members, the League of Nations and Collective Security was destined to fail. Nations were required to turn over their right to make decisions and foreign policies over to an international body so as to establish ‘internationalism.’ The requirements of the league are described by historian E.H Carr as being, overly optimistic, ‘hollow and without substance.’ The invasion of Abyssinia by Mussolini was the embodiment of the failure of Collective Security. Upon hearing of Mussolini’s intent to invade the smaller country, Britain and France decided to refrain from intervening as they hoped to make an ally of Italy and did not want Mussolini to break the Stresa Front and side with Hitler. Of course Italy did side with Hitler and through their idleness, set a precedent of inaction that encouraged Hitler and the axis powers to act. Similar examples of the failure of the League can also be seen in its response to Italy and Germany’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War and Japan’s invasion of Manchuria.

Then on January 10, 1920 The League of Nations is established with the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, ending the hostilities of the first World War. Nine days later the United States Senate votes against joining the League.

“We cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose,” declared President Woodrow Wilson, “We (must) stand together until the end” (Wilson 2). These powerful proclamations were voiced by Wilson in one of his most famous addresses, the “Fourteen Points” on January 8, 1918. As the world was in the midst of the Great War, violence, starvation, and the beginnings of communism plagued Europe. The question that kept lingering in the minds of everyone affected was what was to come in the future. President Wilson wanted to offer relief to the crumbling world. He realized that if war was to end, and lasting peace was to work, “the victors must swallow their pride and offer relief to the vanquished” (Lodge 1). In an effort to get this notion going, he outlined a plan that sought to “make the world fit and safe to live in” (Lodge 1). It included everything from freedom of the seas to creating an international organization that would help mediate any upcoming disputes between member nations. Wilson presented his innovative formula with a confident, high moral tone to his European counterparts using logical and ethical appeal, as well as repetition, to accentuate a thesis that carried a theme of freedom and democracy throughout. In the long run, he could not convince his opposition entirely, however, his work established a foundation for today’s system of peaceful negotiating.

In addition, Hitler learnt that the League of Nations, itself a creation of the Treaty of Versailles failed to ensure collective security, and could possibly do nothing to impede his actions. The most crucial factor is that Woodrow Wilson himself, the creator of the League of Nations, was not allowed to join it by the Congress. Also, it proved to be ineffective at various occasions. It was first unsuccessful in 1931 during the Manchurian Crisis. The League of Nations sent a committee to investigate the situation and concluded that Japan had violated China’s security. Although they condemned Japan’s actions, there was not much Britain or

Most of the World’s major Nations were in a state of turmoil from the year 1914-1918, during the conflict of World War I. The first World War began with the German’s pushing other European Nation’s buttons, including the progression of militarism, imperialism, nationalism, and the creation of alliances among all of the nations. After the course of three years of grueling trench warfare the tide of the Germans was receding, and President Woodrow Wilson presented his famous Fourteen Points, in hope that he would direct all Nations to aspire for the establishment of world peace.

The League of Nations had no military muscle of its own, hence one of the reasons of its failure. Created at the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I, the League’s Covenant was embedded in the text of the Versailles Treaty at the insistence of Woodrow Wilson. But when the U.S. Senate proposed reservations to the Covenant, to protect U.S. sovereignty and freedom of action, the president rejected them all. The Senate then rejected the treaty, and the United States never joined the League. When the United States refused to join, it took much of the sting out of the League’s dictates and left enforcement to war-weary Britain and France. The Depression was world-wide and it left nations working to accumulate land and power while clinging to whatever wealth they could garner for themselves. There were deemed to be more pressing problems to individual nations than world peace. (Greenfield History Site,

After the war, our former president Woodrow Wilson brings forth the idea of the League of Nations which begins to split the countries population depending on their political views of the super pact. This would set the stage for the 1920s U.S and its endeavor to

The establishment of the UN followed the demise of the League of Nations, which was established after World War I (WWI). However, the League of Nations hardly had any authority to do so, since they had no military power and nations who were a part of the League of Nations were not required to provide one. In addition, USA, USSR and Germany were not members of the League of Nations, meaning that three of the world's most powerful nations then played no part in supporting the league. Britain and France were the two most powerful members of the League of Nations, however both nations had suffered much economic and military losses during WWI and hence were unwilling to contribute to issues that did not regard Western Europe.

Although the League should have placed economic and military sanctions upon Japan as the aggressive state, the problem was that the League was seriously weakened by the non-membership of the USA and Russia.21

After the First World War, Europe was left in turmoil; tensions between nations were high and desperation for peace was growing. On January 10, 1920, the League of Nations was officially created as the Treaty of Versailles was generated. It was created with essentially two main goals: to keep peace via collective security, and to encourage international co-operation. It was produced with the idea that if one nation was attacked by another, the members of the League would act together to stop the assailant. Members of the League desired to begin a new arrangement of international relations that would assure an enduring state of peace based on a true mindset of forgiveness and compromise. Although member states were originally

In this essay, I am going to look at the successes and failures of the League of Nations (LofN) in its struggle for peace throughout the 1920’s. The LofN was the ‘brain child’ of American president Woodrow Wilson. The four other main powers (Britain, France, Japan and Italy) joined along with approximately 60 other countries from around the world. The U.S.A then abandoned its ‘child’ as to social and economic unrest led to a more isolationist foreign policy. Yet the other four main countries continued to support the LofN and formed the council, consisting to the ‘most powerful countries’. The LofN was set up to enforce peace in Europe and the world. It created various