league of nations

What were the main aims of the League of Nations when it was set up in 1920?

discourage agression between nations, encourage international cooperation, encourage nations to disarm, improve working and living conditions of all people around the world

Describe the role of the Secretariat.

Civil service of the league; kept records, administered all the different bodies, brought together by lots of experts.

Describe the role of the council.

Met in times of crisis, was the executive body of the league, performed moral condemnation, financial sanctions, military force, supervised the work of the commissions.

What was Permanent Court of International Justice?

to settle disputes between nations, based in the hague (the netherlands), provided legal advice to the council, made up of legal experts from member states.

How did the League of Nations hope to prevent future wars between nations?

Trade sanctions, Moral Condemnation, Article 10 collective security, Arbitration in the International court of Justice, military action

Describe the French occupation of the Ruhr, and the German reaction to it.

The French invaded the Ruhr in 1923 after the German failed to pay their second installment of reparations. French and Belgians soldiers took what they were owned in the form of raw materials. However, the German workers were commanded to stop working and producing for the French soldiers to take. Due to this the French attacked causing casualties and expelled 100,000 workers.

Describe the successes of the League of Nations in the 1920s.

Aaland Islands (1921) settled between Finland and Sweden - Finland kept them but had to be demilitarised, Health organization helped to prevent leprosy and malaria, Slavery commission helped free 200,000 slaves and abolish slavery in east africa, Labour organisation reduced working hours for children, Upper Silesia (1921) plebiscite went by without conflict.

Describe the work of the Agencies of the League of Nations.

• Slavery commision aims to abolish slavery

• Refugee committee led by Fridtjof nansen was to return war refugees home or help them settle in new places

• health committee worked to educate people about hygiene and diseases, research about deadly diseases; and worked against leprosy and malaria

• labour committee reduced working hours for children, banned the use of lead in paint

What was the Hoare-Laval Pact?

A secret deal between the Britain foreign secretary Samuel Hoare and French prime minister Pierre Laval. Made in December 1935. It Planned to give to give 2/3rds of Abyssinia to Italy. It never went into action due to the British and the French public's outraged reaction after being leaked. Hoare and Laval lost their position.

Describe the Manchurian crisis.

Started when train tracks at Mukden were blown up allegedly by the Chinese army but in reality by the Japanese. Japan used explosion as an excuse to invade Manchuria. China appealed to the The League of Nations who sent in the Lytton Commision. They found Japan to be the aggressor. Japan's attack on Manchuria damaged the reputation of the League of Nations as they were a permanent member of it and walked out of the League when they were told to leave Manchuria.

Describe the actions taken by Haile Selassie in an attempt to save his country from Italian conquest.

Appealed to the League of Nations for arbitration in July 35. He declared war on Italy after they invaded on 3rd October 1935. Criticised the League of Nations after not acting on there appeal.

What made it difficult for the League of Nations to act quickly?

unanimous votes meant every member nation had to agree to a decision, general assembly only met once a year, the council only met 4-5 times a year, and each permanent member of the council had a veto (if a decision was not to their interest, they can just veto and the decision will not be able to proceed)

Describe the role of the League in the Upper Silesia dispute of 1919-21.

Oversaw the plebiscite held, Asked to settle the dispute by the two countries,They decided to split upper silesia to poland and germany and 700,000 were counted for germany and 480000 for Poland

What was the role of : a) The Assembly b) The Council

• The assembly was the meeting of all members countries. It was where countries could represent themselves.

• Each country had one vote. The assembly meant once a year and could decide on matters like memberships and procedures.

• The council had 4 permanent members -Britain, France, Italy and Japan The council met up to 5 times a year and in emergencies.

• They decided on what action to take against agressors and dealt with more serious actions.

Describe how the League of Nations tried to prevent future wars between nations?

Moral condemnation, arbitration, sanctions, military actions

The League hoped to prevent future wars by encouraging international cooperation through trade and business which would form relationships between nations, disarmament, discourage aggression from any nation and finally encourage countries to go to the league to sort out problems.

Describe the Corfu incident (1923).

• Italian general tellini was killed in Greece borders on 27 august 1923 -Mussolini used this as an excuse to ask for compensation and the killer from Greece, but greece didn't know who the murderer was.

• mussolini invaded greece on the 31st of august and occupied corfu, the greeks appealed to the league - mussolini was morally condemned but in the end got compensation from the greeks because he asked for council of ambassadors and the only italian guy there blamed greek and even so he won

Describe the deficiencies of Britain and France as leaders of the League of Nations.

Britain and France were weakened by WW1 in the 1920s and then later by the Great Depression.

They often acted out of self-interest.

Due to Empires in the Africa and Asia - their decisions often involved them avoiding conflict in an error where they had colonies or interests

Both countries saw the main role of the League differently. Britain simply saw the League as a talking shop, whereas France wanted the League to enforce the terms of the peace treaties

What was the Geneva Protocol of 1924?

• The Geneva Protocol was a proposal drawn up in 1924 to strengthen collective security

• The proposal was drawn up by Britain and France.

• It was drawn up as a reaction to the French invasion of the Ruhr

• The proposal outlined that if two members were to disagree, they would have to bring their dispute to the Permanent Court of International Justice for a hearing.

What was the Locarno Pact(1925)?

It was signed between Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Belguim. It was an agreement with Germany to accept its western borders as they were after WW1. Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and Italy signed. All countries decided to renounce the use of invasion and force, except in self-defence. This then paved the way for Germany to join the League of Nations as they were now seen as peaceful.

Describe the Manchurian Crisis.

Lasted from 1931 - 1933. The Crisis was between China and Japan. China appealed to the League who sent the Lytton Commission. A Japanese railway track was destroyed in an explosion said to be an attack from China. Japan responded with force and took control of Manchuria

What was the Lytton Report?

The Lytton Report was an evaluation of the Manchurian crisis saying that Japan must turn down their army an invasion of Manchuria. It took nearly a year to make the report. The League of Nations could not punish or stop Japan as Britain and France were not ready to use military force at the time. The report stated that Japan was the agressor and if they do not surrender their troops they would face economic sanctions. The report also made the council to gather and alot of the countries voted against Japan which insulted them and because of this they got out of the league.

Describe the Disarmament Conference (1932-1933).

Germany demands that all nations disarm to the same level as Germany. France refuse to disarm without guarentees from USA and Britain. Germany walks out of the talks and leaves the LON Countries met in Geneva.

Why did its structure and membership weaken the League?

1. Veto power and unanimous decision making made the process much slower (self-interest)

2. US was not a member which weakened the trade sanctions (trade)

3. USSR had a strong military which could have been used for Manchuria

Explain how the Japanese invasion of Manchuria showed the weaknesses of the League.

1. Showed the League had no power to control strong nations (Japan left which allowed them to continue invading China)

2. Gave the excuse of It being too far which shows that they were weak and unequipped

Why did the League of Nations fail to restrict the aggression of Japan in the 1930s?

1. Strong nation (Britain wanted a good relation)

2. Economic sanctions did not work as USA was not in the League

3. too far and both britain and france didnt wanna risk war

Explain why the League was quite successful in the 1920s.

1. Aaland dispute 1921

2. Health committee was successful with eradicating diseases (malaria and leprosy)

3. freed 200,000 slaves in sierra leone

4. upper silesia 1921

Explain why some countries viewed setting up the League of Nations with suspicion.

1. Britain and France were the most powerful therefore self-interest and gain build empires

2. Set up after war therefore many problems and each country had their own problems without focusing on other countries

Explain why the disarmament conference 1932-1933 failed.

1. No country was ready to disarm first

2. Germany was forced to disarm still, hitler walked out

Why did the League fail to stop Italian aggression against Corfu in 1923?

1. Britain and France wanted to keep Mussolini as an ally against Hitler

2. Did not want to risk war

3. france's troops were tied up in the ruhr at the moment, could not acted military, and the british were not ready to act without the french

4. would agree to sacrifice justice for co-operation

Explain why Italy defeated Abyssinia.

1. britain and france did not stop them

2. suez canal was not closed

3. sanctions (oil and coal) were delayed or not implemented

Why was the absence of the USA significant for the League in the 1930s?

1. sanctions didn't work properly as the usa traded with most of the countries (e.g. abyssinia)

2. only it had the most influence

The peacemakers of 1919-23 coped successfully with the problems they faced.' How far do you agree?

Agree:

• Aaland Islands

• Health committee

• Upper Silesia

• slavery

• refugee

Disagree:

• Disarmament

• Corfu

• the ruhr

Which was the more important cause of the failure of the League of Nations - the World Depression of the 1930s or the invasion of Abyssinia?

World Depression:

• Rearmament to help economy (suspicious)

• Reluctant for trade sanctions to help each country's economy (Manchuria)

• Encouraged Mussolini (to distract the public) and Japan (for raw materials and a market to sell their goods) to expand their empire

Abyssinia:

• League gave into powerful countries (relations), showed their weakness and inaction

• Self-interest (Manchuria, Abyssinia)

Evaluate how far League of Nations failed because of the Depression.

Agree:

• Rearmament to help economy (suspicious)

• Reluctant for trade sanctions to help each country's economy (Manchuria)

• Encouraged Mussolini and Japan to expand their empire

Disagree:

• Abyssinia showed that they were playing favorites (self-interest) (Hoare-Laval pact)

• Manchuria crisis (economic sanctions wouldn't work, self-interest, powerless, inaction to avoid war)

How far was the League of Nations a success?

Agree:

• Solved disputes such as Aaland Islands, Upper Silesia

• Health commission and slavery commission

Disagree:

• Abyssinia invasion (self-interest, lost credibility)

• Loss of US membership (trade sanctions- Manchuria)

• Disarmament failed (own rules)

It was the Abyssinian crisis that destroyed the League of Nations as an effective peacekeeping body' How far do you agree with this statement?

Agree:

• Lost credibility due to self-interest (relations)

• Secret treaty (Hoare-Laval pact)

Disagree:

• Manchurian crisis (excuses)

• Vilna (1920)- Poland and Lithuania. Britain and France wanted Poland as an ally against Germany

• Corfu (Britain and France agreed to sacrifice justice for cooperation)

Evaluate the view that structural weaknesses caused failure of League of Nations in 1920s

Agree:

• Unanimous decision and veto power

• Loss of US membership

Disagree:

• Commissions worked

• Disarmament conference

• Abyssinia and Manchurian invasion (british and france were dumb shits)

Evaluate how far the disarmament conference showed that League of Nations was a failure.

Agree:

• No one wanted to disarm to Germany's level

• Britain produced a disarmament plan that was not supported

• Hitler withdrew from the conference

Disagree:

• British-German naval treaty (1935)

• Manchuria and Abyssinia invasion

• hitler rearming publicly 1935

'The humanitarian work of the League of Nations was the most successful of its activities in the 1920s.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

Agree:

• health helped reduce malaria and leprosy cases greatly

• even ussr took the health commission's heed to avoid a plague

• freed 200,000 slaves in sierra leone

Disagree:

• aaland islands 1921

• upper silesia 1921

'The League of Nations was successful in achieving its aims in the 1920s.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

Agree:

• aaland islands (1921)

• upper silesia (1921)

• labour commisions

Disagree:

• corfu 1923

• vilna 1920-1929

• ruhr invasion 1923

'It was the World Depression, and not increasing militarism, that made the work of the League in the 1930s more difficult.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

Agree:

• made countries rearming to create jobs

• caused manchurian crisis

Disagree:

• disarmament conference, hitler walking out

• abyssinian crisis