Foundation of the League of Nations - Research Paper Example

Foundation of the League of Nations In the year 1918, after quite a few years of establishment of the first peace societies in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, the idea of a ‘League of Nations’ developed with the assurance to avert the future wars. One of its most powerful advocates was the President Woodrow Wilson of the US and it was in the same year he took in charge of the Peace Conference that was held in Paris (UNOG, “Organization and Establishment”). Open Diplomacy and Global Consensus were the two sources that were identified as a tool by Mr. Wilson to establish the rules and regulations for the international organization (League of Nations) in order to preserve world peace and prevent conflicts. This technique was accepted by different nations and this agreement led to the formation of the League of Nations officially in the year of 1920 on 10th of January (UNOG, “Organization and Establishment”). The agreement outlined certain objectives for the League of Nations which was to be followed by the members. According to UNOG there were basically three objectives: “to ensure collective security, to assure functional cooperation, and to execute the mandates of peace treaties” (UNOG, “Organization and Establishment”). After the ‘Peace Treaty of Versailles’, the League of Nations was appropriately functioning. There were 32 members of the League of Nations who were signatories of the Versailles Treaty as well as member of the treaty. In addition to this, there were 13 States invited to be in agreement with the League of Nations. The policy of this league was open to all the states provided they maintained and fulfilled a few requirements that were set by the league (UNOG, “Organization and Establishment”). Covenant of the League of Nations The Covenant of the League of Nations consisted of short preambles that were developed for the major three objectives and it was drafted in Article 26 of the League of Nations. There were several articles drafted by the League of Nations to address the members regarding the conditions of members, admission and withdrawal, power, nature of the Council and Assembly (Institute for International Law and Justice, “The Covenant of the League of Nations”). In case of the disputes between the members and the obligations, rules and regulations were amended and new articles were introduced. To practically apply the peace policy and maintain security, articles were drafted (Tufts University, “The Covenant of the League Of Nations”). Success of the League There were no set standards in Europe before the World War I relating to the management of employed individuals. The League of Nations, in order to develop labor conditions globally with International Labor Organization, fixed maximum working hours per day and week. The member countries were specified to mention the minimum wages, benefits of employees and pensions. This step was known to be of great success for the League of Nations. The League was successful in resettling the former prisoners of World War I, who were forbidden to enter in Russia. The League was also successful in providing the first passport for the stateless refugees. This was known as the Nansen passport that was the identification of these people (Bowen, “Understanding International Relations”). The dispute between Finland and Sweden in 1920 regarding the Aaland Island was solved by the League. There were many islands between Sweden and Finland mid-way that generated conflicts between them. Germany and Poland had conflicts between them regarding the industrial area of Upper Silesia. In 1921, the League was successful in solving the conflict and distributed the zone between the two. The League settled the dispute between Greece and Bulgaria in 1925 when there were gunfire incident on the frontier. There were clashes between the troops, but the League of Nations intervened in between and members were called and the dispute between them was settled. In the year 1926, the League intervened in Iraq - Turkey conflict regarding the control over the Ottoman province of Mosul. The intervention was successful and the conflict between the two nations was solved with the help of League of Nations. After the World War I, Hungry and Austria were suffering from financial crises. The League of Nations arranged the financial assistance for them that helped them to recover from economic turmoil. Failure of the League The League did not function properly as the organization was developed in the advantage of the victorious powers. It had close relations with the Versailles Treaty that was reviled by many countries. The league was not that much effective due to lack of its own armed forces as there were dispute among the member nations. The nations that held major power did not join the League of Nations. Russia and the US did not take the membership of the League. Italy and Japan withdrew its membership by denying its financial and psychological assistance. The members of the League met once in a year to decide and this resulted in lesser effect. It was not able to work effectively with the issues that arose before or after the meeting. There was failure in maintaining co-operation among the member states. Britain and France did not assist the League in taking decisions regarding the war and huge economic measures. Being initiated by the President of the US, Mr. Woodrow Wilson, the Senate of the US rejected both the Versailles Settlement and the League Contract in 1920. The American Congress (Parliament) did not allow Mr. Wilson to join the League of Nations. It wanted separation from the problems of Europe. Russia was also not permitted to join the League of Nations because it was a communist country and expected itself to be a powerful nation in future. In the year 1932, Japan took control of Manuchuria that was the zone of China. They took control over its natural resources such as iron and coal. The League of Nations had suggested Japan to leave the area, but Japan did not leave as they were trading with the USA (not a member of the League of Nations). This was a major problem that the league faced and it became incapable to stop Japan (Slideshare, “The League of Nations”). Infrastructure of League of Nations and Reasons for the League of Nations’ Death The League of Nations had a Council that began with four members and they were permanent in nature. These members were Great Britain, Italy, France and Japan. Along with the permanent members, there were non-permanent members too. It had an Assembly in which every member was represented. Unanimous votes were required by both the permanent and non-permanent members, for any action to be taken regarding the issues related to peace and security of the world. Apart from this, in many other agencies the League of Nations was involved too. The Permanent Court of International Justice that was developed by the League of Nations is now known as the International Court of Justice (Union County College, “Structure of the League”). The League of Nations Secretariat Units are described below in a tabular form to illustrate the Secretariat units in different periods. Source: (UNOG, “League of Nations Secretariat Units”). The Secretariat coordinates the different function of the League of Nations. There were few Secretariats to do the work and this led to slow down of the process and it was inefficient. The Council met once in a year and due to reasons such as war related apprehension, the members met 4 to 5 times in a year. But the League’s meeting was once in a year. There were six committees in the League of Nations. These committees were: Court of International Justice, Health Committee, International Labor Organization, Refugees Committee, Mandates Commission and Slavery Commission. These committees performed the activities based upon the rules and regulations that are set up by the members of League of Nations. The committee was regulated and influenced by the members who had greater power and control in the League. Forty-two countries had joined the League at the initial phase. The members were increased to 60 countries in the 1930s. But the most powerful countries did not join the League of Nations. The US and the Russians did not consent to the agreement of the League and refused to be the members. The main reason was the revulsion of the Russians against France and Britain. The absence of the big powerful countries in the Nation of Leagues did not make the League strong (Dhahran British School, “History”). There were multifarious reasons for the failure of the League of Nations. The absence of powerful countries made the League weak. The other members who were present at certain period refused to provide financial and psychological assistance in certain conflicts between countries. The League did not have its own army and it was a problem for the League to influence the wars. The biggest failure or weakness of the League of Nations was its structure. It was not properly coordinated and there was lack of cooperation among the members of the League of Nations. The League of Nations Assembly, Council, Agencies and Secretariat were supposed to act together but in times of crisis they did not have a unanimous decision. This increased the complications between the members. The confidence of the League started to decline when the League tried to solve the conflict between Japan and China regarding Manchuria Zone issues in 1931. Japan had refused to leave Manchuria and the League was unable to do anything that weakened the organization (Dhahran British School, “History”). The League’s powers were less compared to the power of big countries such as the USA and the Russia. The League was not able to control bigger conflicts and interests when the USA and Russians were in conflicts. The Sanctions Department of the League could not function appropriately as there was lack of armed force within the League of Nations. The structure of the League of Nations was not strong enough and it took ample of time in settling conflicts. The decisions of the members were unanimous due to the disagreement between the members. This paralyzed the League of Nations and it started to enter in the declining phase. The depression that was spread worldwide forced countries to acquire more land, power and other resources. These countries were concerned more about their interest rather than that of world peace. This did not assist the League of Nations to maintain their prime objectives with the help of member and non-member countries (Clare, “The League of Nations Revision”). The League of Nations was further declined when the members did not agree to the League. The key members of the League, Japan and Italy let down the League by not being loyal. France and Britain also did not assist the league in this matter and most importantly, in certain cases where their assistance was required (Clare, “The League of Nations Revision”). During the period of 1920s, the League of Nations dealt with the weak countries and solved the conflicts between them and those have been discussed in the successes of the League. But during the period of 1930s, powerful nations such as Japan, Italy and Germany attacked the weaker nations and the League of Nations was not powerful enough to prevent these events and failed to sustain its influence upon all the nations in order to maintain the world peace (Clare, “The League of Nations Revision”). The treaty that was followed by the League of Nations was the Treaty of Versailles. It was hated by most of the countries and due to this the nations did not prefer the League of Nations. The League’s failures in maintaining world peace and other prime objectives damaged its status and value that forced the members to ignore the decisions and leave the League of Nations (Clare, “The League of Nations Revision”). References Bowen, Gorden L. “Understanding International Relations”. January 27, 2011. The League of Nations, 2010. Clare, John. “The League of Nations Revision”. January 27, 2011. League of Nations, 2010. Dhahran British School. “History”. January 27, 2011. The League of Nations, 2005. Institute for International Law and Justice. “The Covenant of the League of Nations”. January 27, 2011. New York University School of Law, No Date. Slideshare. “The League of Nations”. January 27, 2011. Overview, 2007. Tufts University. “The Covenant of the League Of Nations”. January 27, 2011. Amendments, 2010. UNOG. “Organization and Establishment”. January 27, 2011. The United Nations in the Heart of Europe, 2010. Union County College. “Structure of the League”. January 27, 2011. League of Nations, 2011. UNOG. “League of Nations Secretariat Units”. January 27, 2011. League of Nations, No Date. Read More