The history of the League can be divided into three main periods for the purpose of assessing its achieve­ments.

(i) The first period immediately following the war:

In this period, the League was practically kept in cold storage. The allied and associated powers adopted imperialist tactics and tried to suppress people’s revolutions in Russia, Germany and Hungry.

The boundary questions or the like were settled by the rough and ready methods of armed conflicts. The League was either not consulted or merely used as a cover for the above mentioned policies.

(ii) The second period lasting till 1929-30:

A partial stabilization took place in Europe. The revolutions had receded and European econ­omy was temporarily stabilized with the aid of American dollars.

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It was during this period that the League’s membership grew numerically and it was concerned with the settlement or easing of some disputes as, for instance, those between Great Britain and Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria and Lithuania and Poland.

(iii) The third period running from 1930 to the Second World War:

The economic crisis of 1929-30 destroyed the temporary stabilization of Europe, intensified the rivalries between the imperialist powers, brought Fascism into power in Italy and sharpened the struggle for colonies and markets. The drive to war began.

In this period there had been aggressions by Japan against China, by Italy against Abyssinia and by Germany and Italy against Spain. This was followed by violation of treaties by Germany and aggression against Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The League of Nations could do nothing to stop it. All this precipitated World War II and the League collapsed.