4 How far did the Depression make the work of the League more difficult in the 1930s?
While it can be argued that there were definitely some successes for the League in the 1920s, most historians agree that the 1930s saw the League failing to maintain peace or to resolve key issues resulting from the Peace Treaties. The situation was complicated by the impact of the Great Depression and indeed it could be argued that this global event made the work of the League impossible given the fact that the economic situation encouraged both extremism and also made the democracies less willing and able to focus on international events.
Following the start of the Great Depression after 1929, the League faced three major tests - the invasion of Manchuria by Japan, the invasion of Abyssinia by Mussolini and the question of getting countries to disarm. It can be argued that it failed in all three of these cases.
Click on the key events of the 1930s below which impacted the league and complete the reading and activities on these pages. Then do the summary activities at the bottom of this page to assess the success of the League in the 1930s.
‘[The League was a great success in establishing]the principle not only of nation states meeting to sort issues – but also for economists, scientists, trade unionists, activists of all kinds – first venue of its kind to bring all these people together in a sustained and organised way so there was collaboration, comparison and dissemination on unparalleled level’.
Dr Patricia Clavin.
British prime minister Winston Churchill continued to promote the League during the Second World War asserting to the US government on a trip in 1943 that it had only failed to prevent another global war because it ‘it was abandoned and later on betrayed.’ Indeed, although you have considered the key failures of the League in the 1930s, it did continue with the agency and humanitarian work that it had had success with in the 1920s. Some historians see the most important success of the League in the 1930s was its economic initiatives and some of the leading economists of the 20th century worked for it in the inter-war period – Gottfried Haber, James Mead and Jan Tinbergen.
Watch this summary of the League of Nations in 1920s and 1930s and make notes.
Activity: Summary (AO1 and AO2 - cause and consequence, change and continuity, similarity and difference)
In groups review the material on the League’s actions in the 1930s.
1. Discuss the extent to which the League was a failure in the 1930s
Click on the eye for factors to consider in your discussion - how did each of these impact each of the various crises that took place in the 1930s?
- Self-interest of Britain and France - more concerned with their own interests than promoting the values of the League?
- The impact of the Depression - rise of dictators and also forcing the key countries of the league to prioritise their own interests
- The organisation and structure of the League; were the measures sufficient? Too long to act? Lack of an armed force?
- The problems with economic sanctions
- The absence of the US
2. How similar were the challenges faced by the League in the 1920s and 1930s?
3. Overall, how successful was the League after 1919? Write a paragraph to explain your answer.
In pairs plan out the following part c questions:
1. ‘It was the Great Depression that brought about the failure of the League.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10 marks]
2. Which was more important in causing the weakness of the League: its structure or the Great Depression? Explain your answer. [10 marks]