The League of Nations

Organisation, Membership and Powers

Strengths and Weaknesses

The main strength of the League was that it had been set up by the Treaty of Versailles, and agreed by everybody at the conference.  When, later, many people started to criticise and attack the Treaty, this was also a major weakness. 

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

The Court of International Justice - in more detail.

The International Labour Organisation - in more detail. 

How did the League's membership affect its strength - in more detail.

- Giles Hill on the establishment of the League

  Simple Essay: Describe the organisation of the League of Nations.

  Simple Essay: What were the strengths and weaknesses of the League of Nations in the 1920s?

1.  Organisation

One of the biggest weaknesses was that the Organisation of the League was a muddle. 
The different parts of the League were supposed to act together; but in a crisis, no-one could agree.

The main elements of the League's structure were:

2.  How the League kept peace

The League hoped that it could influence countries to 'do the right thing' by:

   •  Collective Security - the countries of the League agreeing, together, to defend each other

   •  Community of Power - the League acting, togther, to enforce its principles

   •  Moral Persuasion - the 'moral power' of the League lay in the League's Covenant, especially Articles 10-17, in which members promised to keep the peace; the belief that no nation wants the collective international disapproval of other nations.  Many writers have pointed out that this is not an effective deterrent against a powerful country which was determined to disobey the League.

If these moral influences failed, the League had THREE POWERS it could use to make countries do as it wanted:

   1.  Condemnation (the League could tell a country it was doing wrong).

   2.  Arbitration (the League could offer to decide between two countries).

   3.  Sanctions (stopping trade).

Theoretically, the League was able to use military force, but the League did not have an army of its own – so if a country ignored it, in the end, there was nothing the League could do..

3.  Membership

Forty-two countries joined the League at the start.  In the 1930s about 60 countries were members .  This made the League seem strong.

Britain and France were the main members, helped by Italy and Japan; they were quite powerful countries.

A critical weakness was that the most powerful countries in the world were not members.  The USA did not want to join (see below)  The Russians refused to join – they were Communists and hated Britain and France.  Germany was not allowed to join.  Without these three big powers, the League was weak.

  Source B

‘Moral Persuasion'– a Punch cartoon of 1920.
The rabbit is saying: "My offensive equipment being practically nil, it remains for me to fascinate him with the power of my eye."

Click here for the interpretation

America Pulls Out

Perhaps the greatest weakness of the League was that, when Wilson got back home to the United States, the American Senate refused to join the League.

Americans did not want to get dragged into other countries’ problems.

This damaged the League a lot.  It did not have access to the prestige, influence, wealth or military power of the United States.  It was forced to rely on Britain and France, who had both been weakened by the First World War.

Timeline

Should America join the League? - a brilliant explanation by Ben Walsh of why America refused to join.

Sources on why America refused to join

Speeches by American politicians

◄  Source C

‘The Gap in the Bridge’ – a cartoon of 1919 by Leonard Ravenhill in the British magazine Punch.
This cartoon is critical of America.  Although President Wilson had been the originator the the idea of a League (see the sign), now - although the USA is the 'keystone' (essential to stop the League collapsing) - America (represened by the sleeping figure of 'Uncle Sam') is refusing to join..

Click here for the interpretation