Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
Aims of League of Nations
discourage agression from countries
to encourage countries ro cooperate
encourage nations to disarm
improve living and working conditions of people
Article 10
Most important of 26 articles which all members followed
Collective security(members should prevent war by defending lands and interests of all nations)
Membership of League
Britain + France most powerful members
Japan and Italy permanent members of council
Brotain and france had role of running the league but they were poorly suited because they weak after ww1
USA did not join so lack of resources
Sections of League
the council
the assembly
secreteriat
permanent court of international justice
international labour organization
league of nations commissions
The Council
Smaller group than assembly
Met 5 times a year and in case of emergency
Included permanent and temporary members
All permanent members had a Vito
Council ised to solve disputes between members - sorted out tru discussion
could also use moral condemnation
Economic and financial Sanctions
Military force(barely did that)
The Assembly
League’s Parlament - Every country sent a representative
only met once a year
decisions had to be unanimous(everybody had to agree)
Could vote on adding new members, Budget and other ideas
The Secreteriat
Was a Civil service
kept records of league meetings and made reports
had specialost sections cpvering different areas
Court of International Justice
Key role was settling disputes between countries peacefully
court was based in the Netherlands
gave legal advice to assembly and Council
court had no way of making sure the countries followed its rules
International Labour Organization
Brought together employers, workers and governments once a year
Aim was to improve conditions of working people
Collected information abput working conditions and gave suggestions
League of Nations comssions
refugees committee
Slavery commission
Health Committee
mandates commission
Weaknesses of league structure
infrequent meetings
no actual army - difficult to enforce decisions
uneven balance of power
unanimous voting in assembly
Initial weaknesses
defeated powers were nit invited to join the league
Ussr was not a member -powerful
Usa not member
Powers never agreed on anything
idealistic principles that were impossible
Usa not joining league
Didnt want to get involved in europe problem
didnt want to do sanctions
american ppl didnt want to fight in other wars
didnt wanna pay
Vilna 1920
Poland invades Vilna
League tells poland to pull out but it doesn’t
France and britaim were unwilling to act
Failure for league of Nations
Aaland islands 1920-21
Dispute between sweden and finland about ownership of islands
sweden accepted the leagues ruling without resistance
success for league of nations
Corfu 1923
Mussolini invades corfu after italian general gets killed
League condemns him but mussolini rejects
France unwilling to act
League couldnt enforce ruling against more powerful states
failure for LoN
Bulgaria 1925
Greece invades Bulgaria
League rules unfair and forces greece pay compensation
they accept so success for LoN
However also failure because League showed there were different rules for big and small countries
Humanitarian work LoN
Reduced Child Labor
Saved prisoners of war
Helped displaced people
Freed slaves
Funded disease research and vaccines
Result of the depression in the 30’s
Increased unemployment
Country re-armed to give people jobs
countries too involved in their own problems so league didnt work
Japan decided to take over weak countries for all raw materials
Germany elected Hitler
Italy - Mussolini attempted to build empire(Abyssinia)
Manchurian Crisis 1931-34
Chinese troops attacked japanese railway -excuse
China appealed to LoN
LoN started making report
A year later showed that manchuria should be given back to china
Japan resigned from LoN in reaponse and argued it was self defence
League was powerless without Usa, so was unable to do anything
League shown as powerless and weak
Disarmament conference
After Manchuria pressure increased about arming problem
3rd feb 1932
question asked if everyone should disarm like Germany
German Disarmament
At conference countries didn't about equality with germans and germans walked out
Agreement was reached to treat germany equally and they rejoined the conference
Hitler began to secretly re-arm germany
Hitler withdrew from disarmament conference
Disarmament failure
doomed from the start -no one was serious
Britain and France had devided opinions
Every country was looking after itself and ignoring the league
Invasion of Abyssinia 1934
Mussolini uses previous incident between Italian soldiers as excuse to invade
British and French singed Stressa pact - Italy stands up against Hitlee in return for Ignoring abyssinia crysis
two months after invasion league puts economical sanctions on Italy
Hoare-laval pact
Pact to call of invasion and give Mussolini 2/3 of abyssinia
Details of secret pact was leaked to the press and gave league a bad impression
people who made pact fired after going against league