HistoryFreePrintable

League Failures and Appeasement

A free history worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

League Failures and Appeasement

Use the source and event record below to investigate why the League of Nations struggled to keep peace and why Britain and France pursued appeasement. Answer in complete sentences where appropriate. For questions asking you to judge, support your view with evidence.

Source: Collective security under pressure

The League of Nations was created after the First World War to help countries settle disputes peacefully. Its members were expected to act together against aggression. However, the League had no army of its own, and major powers did not always support its decisions. In 1931, Japan seized Manchuria, a region of China. The League investigated and criticised Japan, but it took a long time to report and did not use military force. Japan left the League in 1933 and kept control of Manchuria. In 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). The League condemned the invasion and introduced economic sanctions, but important goods such as oil were not included. Britain and France also considered a secret proposal, the Hoare–Laval Pact, which would have given Italy much of Abyssinia. When the proposal became public, it damaged trust in the League. Italy captured the capital, Addis Ababa, in May 1936. Many people in Britain and France feared another major war. Their countries were recovering from the Great Depression, their armed forces were not fully prepared, and public opinion often opposed war. Some leaders also believed that parts of the Treaty of Versailles had treated Germany too harshly. Appeasement meant making concessions to an aggressive power in the hope of preserving peace. At the Munich Conference in September 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French leader Édouard Daladier agreed that Germany could take the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia where many people spoke German. Czechoslovakia was not represented at the conference. Hitler had promised that this was his final territorial demand, but Germany occupied the rest of the Czech lands in March 1939. Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939; Britain and France declared war two days later.

Event

League or diplomatic response

Outcome

Manchurian Crisis, 1931

Investigation and criticism; no military action

Japan kept Manchuria and left the League

Abyssinian Crisis, 1935–36

Sanctions, but oil was excluded; secret pact considered

Italy captured Addis Ababa

Munich Agreement, 1938

Britain and France accepted Germany taking the Sudetenland

Germany occupied the rest of the Czech lands in 1939

Read the evidence

Answer Questions 1–5 using the source and event record.

1.In your own words, what did the League’s principle of collective security expect member countries to do when a country committed aggression?

2.Which statement best explains one key weakness exposed by the Manchurian Crisis?

The League could investigate and criticise, but it lacked its own army and Japan ignored its decisions.
The League immediately used military force, but China refused to accept help.
Japan stayed in the League and returned Manchuria after negotiations.
The League’s sanctions forced Japan to withdraw from Manchuria.

3.Give two details from the Abyssinian Crisis that show why the League’s response was ineffective.

4.Why did the Hoare–Laval proposal damage the League’s credibility?

5.Put these events in chronological order by writing 1–4 beside them: Munich Agreement; Japan seizes Manchuria; Italy invades Abyssinia; Germany invades Poland.

Explain and evaluate

Use specific evidence. More than one judgement may be defensible if it is supported.

6.Identify two reasons Britain and France pursued appeasement in the 1930s, then explain how one reason shaped their choices.

7.At Munich, whose territory was Germany allowed to take, and what is one reason the agreement can be criticised?

8.Complete the cause-and-consequence link: The League failed to stop Japan and Italy because . This may have encouraged later aggression because .

9.Was appeasement a reasonable policy in 1938, given what British and French leaders knew at the time? Give one argument in favour and one argument against, then reach a judgement.

10.Which was more significant in undermining peace by 1939: the League’s failures or appeasement? Choose one and support your judgement with two accurate examples, including a link to the outbreak of war.