How important was the collapse of collective security in bringing about war in 1939?
The collapse of collective security was of major importance in the coming of the war in 1939. The hopes which had been place in the League of Nations and the Spirit of internationalism proved ill-founded. The growing strength of aggressive nationalism in Europe, the absence of Great Powers from the League and Anglo-French weaknesses ensured collective security would fail. This failure enabled Hitler to pursue his aggressive aims and forced Britain and France to pursue the policy of appeasement.
The League of Nations was established in 1920 on the foundations of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points. The League of Nations aimed to stop wars, improve people’s lives and jobs, encourage disarmament and enforce the Treaty of Versailles. The League focused on the principle of internationalism it was a major flaw as the majority of the world was obsessed with nationalism. The league was also flawed by the fact that it did include all major powers, The US never joined, Germany was only a member from 1926-33, Japan, Italy and the Soviets all left the League after a few years of membership. The League relied on Britain and France who after 1919 became second rate powers in terms of economics and military. A significant part in the failure of collective security was the impact of the Great depression. The depression led to countries to look for more, land, resources and power. Nations were more concerned with their own interest rather than international peace. However the major reason for the failure of the league and the collapse of collective security was due to the weakness of the League to act on disarmament, the league had severe restrictions on Germany but little concessions on Britain and USA. The league failed to act on the axis powers threatening weaker nations such as Abyssinia and Manchuria and they had no army to stand up to troublesome nations.
Another important factor in the... [continues]
The collapse of collective security was of major importance in the coming of the war in 1939. The hopes which had been place in the League of Nations and the Spirit of internationalism proved ill-founded. The growing strength of aggressive nationalism in Europe, the absence of Great Powers from the League and Anglo-French weaknesses ensured collective security would fail. This failure enabled Hitler to pursue his aggressive aims and forced Britain and France to pursue the policy of appeasement.
The League of Nations was established in 1920 on the foundations of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points. The League of Nations aimed to stop wars, improve people’s lives and jobs, encourage disarmament and enforce the Treaty of Versailles. The League focused on the principle of internationalism it was a major flaw as the majority of the world was obsessed with nationalism. The league was also flawed by the fact that it did include all major powers, The US never joined, Germany was only a member from 1926-33, Japan, Italy and the Soviets all left the League after a few years of membership. The League relied on Britain and France who after 1919 became second rate powers in terms of economics and military. A significant part in the failure of collective security was the impact of the Great depression. The depression led to countries to look for more, land, resources and power. Nations were more concerned with their own interest rather than international peace. However the major reason for the failure of the league and the collapse of collective security was due to the weakness of the League to act on disarmament, the league had severe restrictions on Germany but little concessions on Britain and USA. The league failed to act on the axis powers threatening weaker nations such as Abyssinia and Manchuria and they had no army to stand up to troublesome nations.
Another important factor in the... [continues]
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