Weaknesses

• The United States didn't join the LoN. The Senate rejected it:

  • The Senate disagreed with the Treaty of Versailles and had refused to sign it. They saw the LoN as connected to it.
  • Many thought that all people should live in democracies. They didn't want to be forced into wars to help countries like Britain and France keep undemocratic colonies
  • Wilson's political enemies wanted to make him unpopular
  • Many people wanted to keep American troops and money of Europe, and wanted only to worry about American affairs. This attitude was called isolationism
• Germany wasn't allowed to join the LoN until 1926. The USSR wasn't to join either, mainly because its communist government worried the other world leaders
• Three of the most powerful countries in the world (the USA, Germany and the USSR) weren't involved in the League. This undermined the League's authority and strength. It also meant that the League didn't have access to the armies of these nations, and had to rely mostly on Britain and France instead - but both had been badly weakened by World War 1
• Britain and France were in charge but neither country was strong enough after the war to do the job properly. Also, the fact that these two countries had the most power was unpopular with some countries, who saw the League as an extension of the harsh Treaty of Versailles
• The League could introduce sanctions but these would only work if powerful countries applied them - three of these countries were missing from the League. Most member countries couldn't afford to apply sanctions, especially those still rebuilding after World War 1
• The League relied on the armies of the member states but members didn't have to commit troops to the League, and most of them didn't want to. This made it difficult for the League to act on its threats
• It was a large organisation but it was also terribly complicated. Everyone had to agree in the Assembly and Council before anything could happen, and the Court of Justice had no powers to make a country act. This made it very hard to get anything done