of nations: The reasons for the League of Nations to fail were multiple. The absence of the United States was a significant factor in rendering the League ineffectual. Its importance was further minimized when Germany and the Soviet Union who were briefly members had undermined the significance of the Organisation. Germany joined in and exited after the Nazis came to power in .
In the year Soviet Union entered the League and was expelled following their attack on Finland in which also made the USSR the only nation to be expelled from the League. Japan left the League in following criticism by the league of its occupation of Manchuria and Italy too was equally dismissive of its membership obligations after its occupation of Ethiopia. These acts of aggression was not adequately countered by the League and the global economic crisis of 1930s certainly curbed the enthusiasm of others and more particularly France and Britain who were not willing to fight distant wars that would not have an immediate effect on their national security. Thus they turned to the policy of appeasement which also failed.
In at the Munich Conference, Britain and France agreed to the dismantling of Czechoslovakia by agreeing to the addition of Sudetenland to Hitler’s Reich. Finally, Germany attacked Poland after concluding pact with the Soviet Union in which dashed all hopes that were placed on the League of Nations. The League of Nations was not capable of applying sufficient pressure on the aggressor nations as it could only impose verbal or economic sanctions against them and these methods failed to intervene militarily. The League of Nations did not have authority beyond its member nations and this made it possible for countries suffering from the pressure of economic sanctions to trade with non-members.
Additionally, since the League did not have an army of its own, military intervention meant that member states (France and Britain) would have to supply necessary troops.