League of Nations: Building Peace Through Interdependence

Why Nations Develop Interdependence Systems

The League of Nations was formed after the horrors of World War I to avoid a war of that scale and nature again. It was believed that the alliance system and nations pursuing their own interests had helped cause the war, so a new system was chosen.

The Treaty of Versailles and Post-War Restructuring

After WWI ended, several peace treaties needed to be signed. The negotiations revealed a conflict between the French, who wanted to dismember Germany to prevent it from renewing war with France, and the British and Americans, who did not want to create pretexts for a new war. The Treaty of Versailles included fifteen parts and 440 articles. In its first part, the League of Nations was created, which Germany joined later in 1926.

The Austrian, German, and Ottoman Empires disappeared, and new countries were born, including:

• Poland
• Czechoslovakia
• Hungary
• Yugoslavia
• Estonia
• Latvia
• Lithuania

At the same time, Germany lost territory; its colonies were taken away as mandates, and its army was limited to 100,000 troops, without conscription.

Rejecting Alliances for Lasting Peace

The League's founders wanted to maintain peace, concluding that making alliances was not the solution.

Alliances were one of the main causes of the First World War. This was due to the fact that groups of nations were created, intimidating others. It was a way of being supported and defended by more than just one's own nation. This resulted in a lack of confidence between nations that were in different alliances, as it happened in WWI (the Triple Alliance vs. the Triple Entente).

Founding the League: A New Approach to Peace

The League of Nations was created in 1920 by Woodrow Wilson, then President of the USA. It was primarily created for preventing wars that have fatal consequences, as alliances were one of the many reasons for the beginning of the war.

Aims and Functions of the League of Nations

The League of Nations aimed to solve disputes between nations and create a peaceful environment. Its key objectives included:

• Preventing the threat of attack.
• Settling disputes between nations peacefully, without conflict.
• Ensuring that every country reduced its armaments to prevent mutual attacks.
• Cooperating on global problems like slavery and refugees.

Embracing Global Interdependence

As a result, they wanted mutual interdependence at a global level. This directly means that one country depends on another country for something, and that country may depend on another country. Sharing, exporting, and importing goods and services also forms part of global interdependence.

Early Successes and Challenges

Everyone hoped that this new system would avoid another major war. The League of Nations resolved some problems without fighting during its first years (the 1920s), such as Greece invading Bulgaria in 1925. However, major disputes, like those involving France and Italy, were much more difficult to resolve. The economic crisis began in 1929, followed by the decline of the League.