DK - World War II Map by Map

16 THE SLIDE TO WAR 1918–

CANADA

GREENLAND

CHINA

INDIA

AUSTRALIA

USA

MEXICO

CUBA

ICELAND

SIAM

SOUTH-WEST

AFRICA

ALGERIA

LIBYA

MONGOLIA

FRENCH

INDOCHINA

TIBET

SYRIA

IRAQ

PERSIA

DUTCH EAST INDIES

FRENCH WEST AFRICA ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN PHILIPPINES

BRITISH

TOGO

NIGERIA

ANGOLA

MOZAMBIQUE

ETHIOPIA

KENYA

TANGANYIKA

EGYPT

BECHUANALAND

PALESTINE

LIBERIA

BRAZIL

ARGENTINA

BOLIVIA

CHILE

PERU

ECUADOR

COSTA RICA

EL SALVADOR

GUATEMALA

MOROCCO TRANSJORDAN

NICARAGUA

PANAMA

HONDURAS

URUGUAY

HAITI

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

VENEZUELA

COLOMBIA

PARAGUAY

RUANDA-

URUNDI

BELGIAN

CONGO

FRENCH

TOGO

BRITISH

CAMEROONS

SOUTH

AFRICA

NORTHERN

RHODESIA

SOUTHERN

RHODESIA

FRENCH

CAMEROONS

FRENCH

EQUATORIAL AFRICA

PACIFIC

OCEAN

M

A

DA

G

AS

CA

R

JA

PA

N

IN

D

IA

N

U

S

S R

OC

EA

N

192

0 –

33

1931

1920–

1924–

1920–

1920–

1937

1923–

1934–

1920–

1920–

1920–

1934

1924

1920–

1920–

1920–

UGANDA

NYASALAND

MEMBERSHIP OF THE LEAGUE 1920–

The League had 42 founding members, and by 1934

its membership stood at 58. The US, Saudi Arabia,

Yemen, Mongolia, Bhutan, and Nepal never joined.

The USSR belonged only in 1934–1939, while Japan

and Germany left in 1933, Italy in 1937, and Spain in

1939. As colonies and mandates were excluded
      from membership, most of Africa, Southeast Asia,
      and the Pacific went unrepresented in the League.

2

1933 The New German

chancellor Adolf Hitler

quickly pulls Germany

out of the League.

1926 Brazil

becomes the

first founding

member of the

League to

leave.

1923 Britain acquires a mandate over

former Ottoman Palestine, and creates

Transjordan (later Jordan) as an

autonomous area.

1932 Former Ottoman Iraq becomes

the first (British) mandate to

achieve independence.

1935 The League imposes weak

sanctions on Italy after its invasion

of Ethiopia but fails to prevent

Italian seizure of the country.

1930 A League

report leads to the

Liberian government

outlawing slavery.

1932–34 The World Disarmament

Conference meets in Geneva with

representatives from 60 states but

fails to make any progress.

1936 The League refuses to

intervene in the Spanish Civil

War despite pleas from the

Republican government.

DRIVING DISARMAMENT 1926–

Under Article 8 of its founding covenant, the

League aimed to reduce world armaments. In

1926 it set up a commission to prepare for a world

conference on disarmament, which eventually met

in Geneva in 1932 but effectively collapsed in 1933

when Hitler withdrew. Meanwhile the Kellogg–

Briand Pact, an international treaty forged outside

the League in 1928, sought but failed to outlaw

conflict as an instrument of national policy.

THE FAILURE OF THE LEAGUE 1930–1939 5

The League settled a number of disputes around

the world, but it did not reduce the world’s stock

of armaments. Moreover, it significantly failed to

halt the military expansions in Germany, Italy, and

Japan that eventually led to World War II; the

hostile actions of these nations went unpunished

throughout the 1930s. Ultimately, the League’s

belief in collective security proved no match for

states acting in their own national interests.

6

1919 The US Senate refuses to

ratify the Treaty of Versailles,

thereby excluding the US from

the League.

1923 France acquires a mandate over

former Ottoman Syria, including the

future Lebanon.

FOUNDING OF THE LEAGUE 1919

Established under the Treaty of Versailles of 1919

that ended World War I, the League of Nations

met for the first time in Paris on January 10, 1920.

It consisted of a General Assembly of all member

states, an Executive Council limited to the major

powers, and a permanent secretariat. All were

based in Geneva, Switzerland. A Permanent Court

of International Justice, sitting in The Hague in the

Netherlands, judged disputes referred to it.

1

△ Giving peace a chance

This postcard in favor of

Switzerland’s membership of

the League of Nations in 1920

reveals a mood of optimism.

THE LEAGUE IN ACTION

Active from 1920 until its eventual replacement by the United

Nations in 1946, the League became largely irrelevant at the

outbreak of World War II.

2

3

4

5

6

1

1910 1930 1950 1970 1990

TIMELINE

Founder members

and states

Subsequent

members, with

dates of membership

KEY

Possessions of

member states

Mandated

territories

Non-member

states

States and their

possessions that

withdrew or

were expelled

Borders, 1930

See panel

US_016-017_League_of_Nations.indd 16 19/03/19 5:37 PM