[BasilBrush]

I have to write an essay explaining all the ways in which the League of Nations failed. I have so far got;
The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria in 1931,
The Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935,
The rearmament of the Rhineland by Hitler in 1936,
The self-interest of leading members,
Economic Sanctions did not work.
The USA and other important countries were absent,
Decisions were slow.

However I haven't got much down for Self Interest, Sanctions, Absence and Decision Speeds. What can write for those?

What else do I need. And how do I go about writing it - it has to be in for Monday and I cannot remember in the slightest anything about writing a GCSE essay to get at least a C!

Can anybody help me?

Thankyou - Basil Brush Boom Boom Babe (I like Basil Brish see!)

[Mrs Faithorn]

What you have listed is a series of events (mostly) when the League of Nations failed. In other words it looks to me as if the essay you plan to write is going to be a (probably) disconnected series of paragraphs saying -- basically - The LON failed when ..... (eg it didn't make Japan withdraw from Manchuria) and it failed when ... (another event) and it failed when ... (another event).

But if you look at the wording of the question you have given in your topic title you don't say when did it fail, but in what ways did it fail.

Do you see the difference?

What you need to consider is HOW it failed to live up to its ideals as laid out in the aims in 1919/20.

It aimed to be a community of all nations. Was it? No. Look at the membership. That's one way in which it failed.
It aimed to encourage disarmament. Did it? Not a lot. (Look at Geneva Disarmament Conference and the failure to deal with Hitler's rearmament.) That's another WAY
It aimed to solve disputes peacefully. Did it? Not in the 1930s (but there were some successes in the 1920s) - that's where you bring in Manchuria, Abyssinia etc.
It aimed to uphold the Treaty of Versailles. Did it? No. (Hitler allowed to rearm, reoccupy the Ruhr)
It aimed to employ different levels of 'sanctions' to bring aggressive nations into line. Did it? No. Economic sanctions were only used once (half heartedly) against Mussolini in 1935/6 and military force was never used.

If you tackle the essay by actually answering the question set, rather than by just plodding through various occasions when the LON failed you should get a lot better than C.

Do you see how you will be using a lot of the same information, but using it to answer the question?

I hope this helps. Post again if you don't understand what I am getting a tor if you need help with factual info.

On 'self interest; you need to think about how Britain and France (in particular) failed to act positively when their interests were/were not at stake. This is especially true of the Manchurian crisis (why bother too much about somewhere so far from Europe?) and the Abyssinian Crisis (why upset Mussolini over Abyssinia when doing so might drive him into Hitler's arms? - which happened anyway!)

[Miss Buxton]

Have you tried this website for information on Modern World GCSE History...it has information that you are looking for:
Modern World History

[Mrs Faithorn]

There is a detailed explanation here:
http://www.johndclar...ations_aims.htm

and a simpler explanation in the first section of this page:
http://www.johndclar...ns_revision.htm

[Azim]

Hi,
Can anyone tell me which one is the main reason the league was weak in the 1920s?

Lack of an army
Usa did not join
All agreeing on decision
Only meating once a year

Safe

[Mrs Faithorn]

No. I am sorry but no one here can tell you that - and this is because the whole point of the task you have been set is that you reach your own view. The answer to the question is a matter of opinion - though that needs to be an opinion based on the facts and evidence.

What you need to do when answering the question I assume you have been set for homework is to consider each of the weaknesses in turn showing how each factor did weaken the League of Nations in the 1920s and giving examples of disputes and/or incidents when the weakness you are considering was significant.

So for example:
* the fact that the L of N had no army of its own made it hard to enforce the decisions that had been reached. They could only rely on the sanctions of (i) condemnation and then (ii) economic sanctions if condemnation had not worked.
* now you need to think of instances when the aggressive action of one country was successful because the L of N was unable to use military force to back up its decision.

When you have worked your way through each of the weaknesses in the same sort of way, then you finally need to reach a conclusion of your own about which one was the most important. You also need to explain your decision.

Your teacher is going to be more interested in your ability to use what you have learned about the L of N in the 1920s and the way in which you try to develop an argument than s/he is in your having a 'right' answer. There is no 'right' answer!

[DeFcon]

Hello,

"A failure from the start, is this a fair comment of the League of Nations?"

We have to write an essay on that question, i know what i have to wriate about its weakenesses, strengths and finnally a judgement but on the judgement can i say that the league was a failure and a success or do i have to choose one of them and say why ?

Thanks For Your Time

[Mrs Faithorn]

It's perfectly Ok when answering this question to conclude by saying that in some respects the League was a success (say how/give examples/refer back to what you have said in the body of your essay), but that in other respects it was a failure (say how/give examples/refer back to what you have said in the body of your essay).

Just make sure that in your conclusion you do answer the question clearly and directly. ie. Directly address the "is this a fair comment" part of the question.

Does that help?

[DeFcon]

Mrs Faithorn, on Nov 14 2005, 09:49 PM, said:

It's perfectly Ok when answering this question to conclude by saying that in some respects the League was a success (say how/give examples/refer back to what you have said in the body of your essay), but that in other respects it was a failure (say how/give examples/refer back to what you have said in the body of your essay).

Just make sure that in your conclusion you do answer the question clearly and directly. ie. Directly address the "is this a fair comment" part of the question.

Does that help?

Thank You very much, it really helped.

[historygenius]

I have a small assignment to do about "Why did the League Of Nations fail to act deceptively"
I'm not sure where to find information, perhaps I'm looking at the wrong pages. Are there any main points to help me along the way?
I know they did not have the suppport of the 3 main powers and had little money but are there any other factors?

Thanks

[Mrs Faithorn]

historygenius, on Mar 11 2006, 06:41 PM, said:

I have a small assignment to do about "Why did the League Of Nations fail to act deceptively"

"Deceptively"???? I'm pretty sure you have the wrong word in your question here. Perhaps you misheard or copied the question down incorrectly. Almost certainly the word should be " decisively"

Quote

I'm not sure where to find information, perhaps I'm looking at the wrong pages.

The search terms you ought to be using are something like "League of Nations" +failure +reasons
See this page of results using those terms in a Google search:
http://tinyurl.com/zafdg

Of those hits, the following should be particularly helpful,
http://www.johndclar...of_nations8.htm
http://www.ousedale.org.uk/cw/ousedalescho...%20Nations7.htm .... this is a very useful summary as long as you already know the main facts. Use the drop down boxes to see further info which develops each main point.
http://www.4freeessa...says/1677.shtml ... a basic essay. Do not just copy this!

Quote

Are there any main points to help me along the way?
I know they did not have the suppport of the 3 main powers and had little money but are there any other factors?

Thanks

See the links above. (there is indeed more to say than the two points you make)

What exactly your answer needs to include rather depends on whether you are just looking at the 1920s/the general weaknesses of the League, or whether you need to refer to specific events especially in the 1930s.

I hope this helps, but do post again if you need to do so.

[historygenius]

sorry typing error
i was concentrating on other things

[poke]

hi can anybody please tell me when the league of nations was set up when was germany allowed to join it

[Mrs Faithorn]

It was set up in 1919, but didn't meet for the first time until 1920.
Germany was allowed to join in 1926 (after they had signed the Locarno Treaties in 1925 which seemd to show that they could now be 'trusted' since Germany had agreed to their boundaries in the west with France and Belgium and had promised not to use force to alter their boundaries in the east)