Introduction to International Relations - The League of Nations II

This video serves as the second part of my 2015 lecture on the League of Nations. It covers what I refer to as "three strikes" that undermined the legitimacy and credibility of the League to function as an objective and authoritative international body in mediating global conflict.

The first "strike" was Japan's invasion of Chinese Manchuria in 1931.

The second was Italy's invasion and colonization of Ethiopia in 1935.

The third was the Munich Conference that all but bypassed the League as a transnational agreement between Great Britain and Germany to partition Czechoslovakia in 1938 as a form of appeasement to Adolf Hitler.

The lecture concludes with a reflection on E.H. Carr's work The Twenty Years' Crisis: 1918 - 1938, which ultimately postulates that in the absence of credible powers committed to the principles of Liberalism, the international system defaults to self-help Realism, and in so many words, the international system becomes little more than shaped by the national policies and interests of the hegemonic powers.

Lecture 08: The Shortcomings of the League of Nations

Part II: The End of the League, and the Failure of Collective Security

Dr. Michael Rossi

Department of Political Science
Rutgers University
October 26, 2015

Chapter Markers:

00:25 - The Shortcomings of the League of Nations
02:56 - Strike 1: Manchuria
11:20 - Strike 2: Ethiopia
18:00 - Strike 3: Czechoslovakia
21:17 - The Munch Conference - 1938
24:25 - A Review of Carr's Twenty Years' Crisis
26:48 - The Lessons from Carr

Music - Music: Ludwig von Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55- Marcia funebre, Adagio assai. Eugen Jochum (Conductor), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam (Orchestra)

Note: I accidentally flubbed dates in my original lecture and noted them in the video.

Manchuria was invaded in 1931, not 1934
Hitler occupied the Rhineland in 1936, not 1935
Austria was annexed to Germany in 1938, not 1936

Видео Introduction to International Relations - The League of Nations II канала Michael Rossi Poli Sci