We also went to the Slideshare website and looked at a few "canned" PPT presentations by other people. One point that came out was the idea that the League required unanimous agreement (very difficult to achieve) and nations we directed to NOT interfere with the domestic issues of one another. Hmmm: is this a limitation? We also remembered that there was no "police force" for the League so enforcing its resolutions was difficult.
Please find 5 strengths and 5 weaknesses of the League and bring them to class Monday. Also, read the pp. 34-35 and p. 39 sections of the text that relate to the League crises in Manchuria and Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia).
WE WILL HAVE A TEST ON TUESDAY, NOT ON MONDAY AS FIRST PLANNED.
5 weaknesses.
ReplyDelete- Inability to act - A unanimous decision was needed by the security council in order to take action. This meant that if the aggressor in question was in the security council, they could veto action against themselves (as seen in the Japan - Manchurian crisis).
- Lack of powerful nations. The U.S.A. did not join, due to a general feeling of "isolationism" - most felt Europe's problems had cost them too much already. The U.S.S.R. was also not allowed to join, due to civil unrest and due to it being a communist country (according to a SlideShare slide?).
- Lack of Support. Countries with power often had themselves in concern too much to take action, as seen in the Ethiopia - Italy conflict. France and Britain were too concerned about pushing Italy into a German alliance to take serious action.
- Nations saw no reason to stay. Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan and Italy were only members for part of the time. For more powerful nations, there were often no benefits brought from the League.
- Ineffective sanctions, seen in the Italy - Ethiopia Crisis. The sanctions put on Italy were sanctions on things they already had an abundance to, and the U.S.A. agreed to supply them with anything these sanctions were limiting.
5 strengths.
ReplyDelete- Most successes were in social and humanitarian fields. Quality of life for Women and Children was brought to public eye for the first time.
- Introducing the idea of collective security instead of a balance of power was, in the long run, of great benefit to the world.
- Many focuses on free trade were successful and the League helped rebuild economic strength in Europe.
-It's health campaign was highly successful.
-Though the league was not able to stop terrible war from happening in Turkey, they were able to send doctors and eventually create jobs for 600,000 people.
Thanks, Mitch; shame on the rest of you for not keeping up with your blogging.
ReplyDelete