Successes and Failures of the League of Nations

Events:

• Polish troops occupied Vilnius, capital of Lithuania
• Lithuania appealed to the League, who ordered Poland to withdraw
• Poland refused to leave and rejected the Hymans Plan
• Poland occupied Vilnius until 1939

Successes:

• The League responded to a difficult situation with an innovative solution (Hymans Plan)
• No war ensued

Failures:

• The Hymans Plan was rejected and Poland continued to occupy Vilnius
• Many contemporaries were outraged that the League had not taken stronger action
• Poland and France had a strong relationship, so a country benefitted from aggression

Events:

• Germany and Poland both wanted control because of the rich industrial areas
• League held a plebiscite
• Industrial areas voted for Germany and rural areas voted for Poland
• Region was divided accordingly

Successes:

• League held a plebiscite and split the land according to how each area voted
• Railway lines and power and water supplies were safeguarded
• Both sides accepted the split of land
• War was prevented

Failures:

• Neither Germany nor Poland was entirely happy with the arrangement

Events:

• Sweden and Finland both wanted control of the islands
• Both sides were prepared to go to war over it
• League investigated and ruled that Finland should keep control but Swedish customs and language should be preserved

Successes:

• Autonomy was developed and Swedish customs were preserved
• Finland's borders remained the same so other countries could not make countless other ethic claims which would destroy the Paris Peace Settlement

Failures:

• Raised questions about how far Wilson's principle of national self-determination should be applied

Events:

• Italian general murdered in Greece whilst sorting the Greece-Albania border 
• Mussolini invaded Corfu; Greece appealed to the League
• League condemned Mussolini's actions and ordered reparations
• Mussolini accepted but made the Conference of Ambassadors overrule the League
• Greeks had to apologise and pay compensation; Mussolini withdrew from Corfu boasting of his success

Successes:

• Greece was able to appeal to the League when it felt it was being treated unfairly
• Italian forces quickly left Greek territory and there was no war

Failures:

• Italy committed an act of war but this was not punished
• The Conference of Ambassadors made the final settlement, not the League

Events:

• Greek troops invaded Bulgaria after Greek soldiers were killed on the border
• Bulgaria appealed to the League and prepared their army
• League condemned the invasion; ordered Greece to withdraw and pay compensation
• Greece accepted but was not happy that they were treated differently to Italy over Corfu

Successes:

• The Council's demand that military action should end was obeyed
• The Council proceeded to investigate the reasons for the incident and report them
• Incidents like this had escalated into wars, but it was prevented here

Context:

• Neither country was in a financial position to actually start a war
• Neither country was allied with a Great Power which reduced the risk of a war between them from growing in importance

Events:

• Japan claimed China sabotaged the Manchurian railway
• Japan invaded and conquered Manchuria and Shanghai
• China appealed to the League; Lord Lytton began an investigation
• League could not agree on sanctions; no action was taken and Japan remained in Manchuria

Successes:

• Sent a commission led by Lord Lytton to investigate

Failures:

• By the time the report was finished, Japan had firmly established itself in Manchuria
• Japan refused to leave as the League demanded
• The League did not try to stop Japan as many the powers had  business interests in Japan 
• The Japanese remained in Manchuria; Japan and China continued to be hostile
• Japan left the League

Events:

• Italy invaded Abyssinia; Abyssinian emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the League
• League banned arms sales; damaged Abyssinia more than Italy
• League commission offered Italy part of Abyssinia; Italy still invaded
• Britain and France made a secret pact to give Abyssinia to Italy

Successes:

• The League suggested a plan to give part of Abyssinia to Italy to prevent an invasion
• Once Italy invaded, they gave them sanctions on weapons sales, rubber, and metal

Failures:

• Despite appeals from the Abyssinian Emperor, the League did nothing more
• The League did not put any restrictions on coal or oil; kept the Suez Canal open
• The League was revealed to be weak and its leaders selfish
• Italy left the League and began rearming