League of Nations in the 1930s The Abyssinia crisis

Manchuria demonstrated that the League was toothless. However, the blow to the League was not a mortal one and the decisive test came two years later in the Abyssinian crisis... The Abyssinian crisis delivered a death blow to the League. The League was already weakened by the departure of Japan in March 1933 and Germany in October. Italy left in While Britain and France were distracted, Hitler made his first major territorial move, sending a force of 22,000 men into the demilitarised Rhineland. Written by the historian AP Adamthwaite (1977) What does the source tell us about Abyssinia?

Where is Abyssinia?

Give as much information as you can on the following keywords Mussolini African empire Stresa Front Wal Wal Revenge Adowa Invasion of Abyssinia Sanctions Suez canal Haille Selaisse Self interest Hoare Laval Pact Italy left League Consequences

“The League died in One day it was a powerful body imposing sanctions, the next day it was a useless fraud, everybody running away from it as quickly as possible. Hitler watched”. Written by the historian AJP Taylor (1966)

Long Term Results of Abyssinia Countries lost faith in the League of Nations Countries started to form secret alliances Countries started to rearm By 1935, most countries did not think that the League could keep the peace. When Hitler began to break the Treaty of Versailles in the 1930s, the League was powerless to stop him. The League failed, and the only way to stop Hitler was a Second World War.

Which was more important as a reason for the failure of the League: The Manchurian crisis The Abyssinian crisis ? This style of questions requires you to consider the relative importance of two factors Although you clearly need knowledge of the two events/factors, you are not being asked to describe them Instead you need to think about the consequences of both of them and how they affected the topic in the question, in this case the failure of the League of nations You will need to give your answer some clear structure and keep focused on the question asked It is also important that you make a conclusion in which you make a supported judgement.

Review: Why did the League of Nations start to fail? French and British self interest Absent powers - USA Ineffective sanctions Lack of an armed force Unfair treaty Reaching decisions too slowly European club, everyone had to agree