Among the factors leading to the outbreak of WWII in Europe,

which is more significant?Weakness of the League of Nations

Hitler’s expansionist policyPolicy of appeasement

Weakness of the League of Nations Hitler’s expansionist policy Policy of Appeasement

Factors leading to WWII

Formed at the end of WW1 Aims

◦ Collective Security◦ Disarmament

Recall – League of Nations

After WW1, there was nobody/ no country in dominance in Europe

Peace in Europe was built on the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations

By 1935, the League had suffered many blows to its credibility

Although it was officially dissolved in 1946, it had become useless long before that

Reasons of the Weakness of the League◦ Structural Weakness

Seen as a league for victors Ineffective against strong nations No army Economic sanctions unenforced

◦ Limited membership USA not in USSR not in until 1934

◦ Post-war attitudes of major powers Pacifist mentality (“nua”/slack mode) USA isolationism policy

Recall Chapter 1

Manchuria in 1931 Failure of Disarmament Abyssinian Crisis 1935 - 6

Examples of the failures

The problem with talks of disarmament was that it was too vague (unclear).

o Article 8 (of LON): “The members of the League recognize that the maintenance of peace required that reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations.”

Failure of Disarmamento The agreement said that countries could keep a minimum level of arms needed for self-defence…

o BUT, it was not at all clear what this level was.

o A Disarmament Commission was set up to persuade countries to get rid of their weapons…

o BUT, the Commission had no way of forcing countries to disarm.

Failure of DisarmamentOrganised by the League?

Success? Details

Washington Naval Conference (1921)

NO YES Set a ratio for tonnage of capital ships among major powers

Locarno Treaties (1925)

NO Y/N Terms of the Treaty of Versailles accepted by the Weimar government

League Commission to prepare for World Disarmament Conference (1926)

YES NO Britain and France refused to cooperate

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

NO NO Agreement that conflicts should be resolved in a peaceable manner. However, no clear way to enforce pact.

World Disarmament Conference (1932-1934)

YES NO Germany insisted other powers should match its disarmament level.France, Britain and USA refused.Germany resigned from the Conference and the League.

Success achieved in disarmament were achieved through the efforts of individual major powers

Powerful countries had the military capacity for war, and the League could not stop them from engaging in conflicts

Major powers refused to cooperate when the League organised major disarmament conferences in 1926 and the 1930s

Major powers did not trust each other and placed own national interests above international peace

Failure at Disarmament

Abyssinia Crisis

A most spectacular failure

Example of Failures

Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935 for its natural resources

The League imposed sanctions, banning all Italian exports and stopping loans

The League however did not stop the export of oil to Italy◦ Oil is perhaps the most important raw material to

have◦ Did not want to hurt economic interests of

important members

Abyssinian Crisis A most spectacular failure

Were allies with Italy under Stresa Front, so did not want to offend Mussolini.

Did not close the Suez Canal to Italian ships—Italy could ship war supplies to Abyssinia

Hoare-Laval Plan: to secretly give two-thirds of Abyssinia to Italy to stop invasion

Measures taken by Britain & France:

THE AWFUL WARNINGWe don’t want you to fight,

But, by jingo if you do, We shall probably issue a joint

memorandumSuggesting a mild disapproval of you.

• It was slow to react• A country could get its own way if it ignored

the LON• Collective security' was useless against big

countries• Great powers within the League were happy

to ignore it• Even Britain and France would betray the

League

Why was the League ‘useless’ in Abyssinia?

Was the LON too weak to maintain peace in the 1930s?

Reasons for the failure of the LON

Which one of these

reasons do you think

illustrates the

League’s greatest

weakness?

So the League was weak… Have we actually learnt from its weakness?

We learnt that in Chapter 1.

What is important in this Chapter is the examples which showcased why the LON was weak.

Failure of Disarmament Abyssinia Crisis

Why was the League weak?

Or was it other factors?

So…. did the failure of the LON lead to the outbreak

of WWII in Europe?