The League of Nations and Disarmament

What did the League of Nations do to encourage disarmament?

The League of Nations was committed to encouraging its members to disarm by reducing their military forces and weapons.

Why was the League of Nations committed to disarmament?

The League of Nations was committed to the principle of disarmament because:

• ❖ One of the League's main aims was to encourage members to disarm and to reduce their weapons.
• ❖ The idea was that countries would be less likely to attack each other, and more likely to discuss and settle their problems peacefully if they had fewer weapons to start a war.

How did the League of Nations try to encourage disarmament?

The League tried on a number of occasions to discuss disarmament with its members:

• ❖ There were several failed attempts to start talks in 1919 and 1929.
• ❖ In 1932 the first meeting took place in Geneva at a conference called the World Disarmament Conference.

What problems did the League of Nations have with encouraging disarmament?

It took so long to bring countries together to discuss disarmament because some nations were very reluctant to disarm:

• ❖ Britain did not want to disarm as it had to control its empire.
• ❖ France did not want to disarm. Its position was complex for the League. They insisted on disarmament for Germany, but refused to disarm themselves, as they argued they needed to protect themselves from German aggression.