Liga Narodów wobec aktów agresji (1919–1939)
The League of Nations against acts of aggression (1919–1939)

Summary/Abstract: The article describes the activity of the League of Nations against the aggressor states. The collective security system identified in the League of Nations Covenant turned out to be ineffective in the face of the international realities. The indolence of the League of Nations (without US membership) in settling interstate conflicts, made visible in 1930s, was resulted largely from the general nature of the articles in the Covenant. A significant weakness of the Covenant was the lack of definition of an aggressor and undefining the system of automatic assistance to the victim of aggression. This significantly hampered the relevant activities of the League of Nations Council. In the first half of 1930s the League of Nations Council sent international missions to conflicting states (Japan aggression in China, conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay, war between Colombia and Peru). Their task was to get acquainted with the situation on the ground, establishing the act of aggression and preparation of a report for further action of the League of Nations. In next years, such missions were not even intended to be sent. It was a small group of Great Powers that decided to settle the dispute, sometimes outside the League and without bringing the matter to the forum of the Genevan institution. Since the early 1930s, the League of Nations was losing steadily its importance, by showing its helplessness in the face of Japan’s aggression in China and the conquest of Ethiopia by the fascist Italy. The Genevan institution was unable to stop the aggressors or bring the situation back to pre-attack condition. France and Great Britain, which played a decisive role in the League of Nations, advocated a policy of concessions and reconciliation towards the aggressors – Japan, Italy, Germany and Soviet Union. At the end of 1930s, the League became an observer rather than a participant in the dramatic events leading up to the outbreak of the World War II. The League of Nations had failed its primary purpose – the prevention of another World War.

• Details
• Contents