To what extent was the League of Nations weakened by its lack of authority? EYA. [12]

Introduction:
The League of Nations was set up in 1919 to stop the outbreak of another war. However, as its history would show, the League suffered from a number of weaknesses that would hamper its effectiveness.

Main Body:
One of the key weaknesses of the League was its membership. The absence of USA was a major blow to the credibility and reputation of the organisation. Without the strongest country in the world as a member, the League commanded less respect from potential aggressors. At the same time, any economic and military sanctions would be less effective in practice, since USA was not obliged to be involved. The absence of Germany and Russia were also regrettable. As these two countries had numerous grievances against the postwar arrangements, depriving them a place to voice their unhappiness meant that they could only seek change through war. In addition, the European dominance of the League meant that European affairs received extensive attention, compared to non-European affairs. These made non-European members less interested in supporting the League.

Another major weakness of the League was its lack of authority. As it had no international army of its own, it had to rely on its members to contribute their soldiers and equipment. This was not always forthcoming, as the members might not always be willing to commit their troops for the League's causes. With limited resources, it became difficult to deter aggression through collective security. Even for economic sanctions, the League could not enforced them, as members were not always willing to bear the economic losses resulting for the sanctions. As such, sanctions of any sort became ineffective.

The third major weakness of the League was its inability to deal with the Great Powers. As the Great Powers were usually the key members of the League, they exercised considerable influence over the decisions of the League. This would be most evident when Great Powers were involved in international conflicts. For instance, during the Ruhr Invasion and the Corfu Incident, both France and Italy were able to influence the League to make decisions favourable to them in resolving the conflict. Such tendencies to protect the interests of the Great Powers would cause a loss of faith among the weaker countries, who joined the League to seek protection in the first place.