Explain Why the League Found It Difficult to Be Fully Effective in the 1920s.

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The League of Nations was the idea of President Wilson of the US. It was formed as a result of the Versailles conference and its rules were consolidated into each of the treaties agreed at the conference. The defeated nations had no say in the treaties and were not allowed to join the League. Therefore, these countries saw the league as in some way connected to the hated peace treaties. The League had some successes in the 1920s, but some historians have argued that it was doomed to failure from the start. The League had so many weaknesses which lead to its failure as an international peacekeeping organisation. One of the main causes that made it difficult for the League to be fully effective is the membership, not all countries were part of the League. First of all the USA didn’t join the League because they wanted to stay out of European politics and just opt with isolationism. The USA was the most powerful and richest country in the world. The League need power and money to accomplish its aims, but the absence of the USA meant that the League had no power, which lead them to not being powerful enough to stop Mussolini occupying the Greek island, Corfu. Secondly, Russia who was another big country couldn’t join due to its communism. Therefore, the League wouldn’t be able to help Russia if it had any problems with other countries that were part of the League, and those problems could lead to another war. So, this would make the League an organisation that doesn’t bring peace. Another cause of the League not being fully effective is that the League was dominated by France and Britain. Britain and France often made decisions based on their own interests as they were weak in terms of military power and economically due to the impact of World War One. France wanted the League to enforce the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and Britain wanted the League just to
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