Why did the League of Nations fail to keep peace in the 1930s?
Why did the League of Nations fail to keep international peace in the 1930s? – Joel Surdhar
The League of Nations was created to avoid international conflicts and maintain peace throughout the world, however the league of nations was not quite as successful as it intended.
One of the main reasons why the League of nations was considered to be a failure was the Manchurian Crisis. The Manchurian Crisis was the invasion of a country in southern China, Manchuria, which was invaded by the Japanese. The Japanese were economically depressed due to the great depression because no one was rich enough to purchase their silk which was their main export. They felt the only way to recover their economy was territorial conquest. The Japanese were interested in Manchuria because China was particularly weak at the time due to civil conflicts. Manchuria was also close to Japan and was rich in coal and iron which were the key recourses which Japan lacked therefore it was an ideal target for Japan to invade.
In September 1931 the Japanese launched an invasion on the South Manchurian railway at Mukden and occupied the local area. China sent an appeal to the League of Nations and the Japanese promised a withdrawal, however they stood their ground as they realised that the League of Nations had little power.
It was a key moment in which the League of Nations was needed when the Chinese appeal but they remained powerless to the situation. The League of Nations had little military empowerment over Japan, as it was extremely hard to transfer their army across the world. Another problem which the Europeans faced was that they could not deny trade with Japanese because they knew the Americans would trade with the Japanese instead because US did not join the League of Nations. The greater powers of Europe, France and Britain were afraid of attacking making an aggressive approach toward Japan because it way threaten their Far Eastern Colonies such as Singapore or Hong Kong.
In
The League of Nations was created to avoid international conflicts and maintain peace throughout the world, however the league of nations was not quite as successful as it intended.
One of the main reasons why the League of nations was considered to be a failure was the Manchurian Crisis. The Manchurian Crisis was the invasion of a country in southern China, Manchuria, which was invaded by the Japanese. The Japanese were economically depressed due to the great depression because no one was rich enough to purchase their silk which was their main export. They felt the only way to recover their economy was territorial conquest. The Japanese were interested in Manchuria because China was particularly weak at the time due to civil conflicts. Manchuria was also close to Japan and was rich in coal and iron which were the key recourses which Japan lacked therefore it was an ideal target for Japan to invade.
In September 1931 the Japanese launched an invasion on the South Manchurian railway at Mukden and occupied the local area. China sent an appeal to the League of Nations and the Japanese promised a withdrawal, however they stood their ground as they realised that the League of Nations had little power.
It was a key moment in which the League of Nations was needed when the Chinese appeal but they remained powerless to the situation. The League of Nations had little military empowerment over Japan, as it was extremely hard to transfer their army across the world. Another problem which the Europeans faced was that they could not deny trade with Japanese because they knew the Americans would trade with the Japanese instead because US did not join the League of Nations. The greater powers of Europe, France and Britain were afraid of attacking making an aggressive approach toward Japan because it way threaten their Far Eastern Colonies such as Singapore or Hong Kong.
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