Membership of the League

Permanent Members in 1919

1. 🇯🇵 Japan
2. 🇬🇧 Britain
3. 🇫🇷 France
4. 🇮🇹 Italy

Loss of credibility

• 🇯🇵 Japan and 🇮🇹 Italy, 2 of the original permanent members later left, which damaged the League’s credibility

Why the 🇺🇸 USA refused to join

1. the League was supposed to enforce the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, but many Americans (especially those with German ancestry) hated the treaty itself
2. League-imposed sanctions would hurt American businesses and economy the most
3. People feared that joining the League meant sending the US military to settle conflicts. No one wanted a repeat of the casualties from WW
4. Others thought that Britain or France would dominate the league and that the USA would be forced to defend their empires. Many Americans were anti-empire

• 👤 Wilson toured the country to try to convince people about the League, but lost in the 1919 Congress Vote

📕 TB page 33 Political Cartoon

• the gap in the bridge will cause the bridge to fall over time

🇩🇪 Germany in LoN

• joined in 1926 after the Locarno Treaties
  • the Locarno Treaties was Germany’s acceptance of the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, proving that it was a 'peace-loving country'
• withdrew in 1933 (by 👤 Adolf Hitler)