KQ2

What did Wilson want for the league?

What did Wilson want for the league?

A world parliament for discussion and international decisions

What did Britain want for the league?

A simple organisation only for emergencies

What did France want for the league?

A strong league with its own army

Who’s vision for the league was adopted?

Wilson’s

Who would join the league?

All major nations

What were the terms of the league? [6]

• International disarmament

• Disputes between countries taken to the league

• Collective security

• Economic sanctions on aggressive nations

• Force used against aggressive nations as last resort

• Countries would not attack others if they knew the USA would take action against them

Criticisms of Wilson’s proposals? [3]

• Arrogant - why did he think he knew the solution to Europe’s problems

• Idealist - Would nations really behave so civilised

• Critical thinking - What would the League do if countries didn’t follow

What was the league made to do?

Uphold the ToV

Why was the ToV unpopular in the USA?

It was very harsh on Germany and there were millions of German immigrants

Why did Americans want USA to stay out of future wars?

The first world war was terrible

Why did business leaders dislike the league?

They thought getting involved in international disputes would have a high economic cost to the USA, and the USA had become powerful by isolationism

What party was Wilson a member of?

Democrats

Why and when did Wilson tour the USA?

To put across his arguments in 1920

When did Wilson suffer a stroke?

1920

When did Congress vote against Wilson’s proposals?

1919 and 1920

Who won the 1920 US Presidential elections?

Warren Harding

What did Warren Harding campaign for?

Isolationism

Did the USA ever join the league?

No

What were the aims of the league? [4]

• Discourage aggression by any nation.

• Encourage countries to co-operate, especially in business and trade.

• Encourage countries to disarm.

• Improve living and working conditions for people throughout the world.

What were the steps of collective security? [3]

• Moral disapproval

• Economic sanctions

• Military action

What article of the Covenant of the League was collective security?

Article 10

What was the goal behind the creation of the League of Nations?

To avoid another World War

Why did the league want countries to disarm?

To avoid the use of military action to settle differences

What were the league’s agencies for?

To raise public awareness on social issues

Why did Britain and France dominate the league?

They were founder members and had powerful armies. Japan, Germany, Italy, and the USA also never joined or left.

Why were Britain and France poor leaders? [4]

• Weakened by WW1

• Insufficient resources to fill the gap left by USA

• Other priorities

• France willing to bypass league to strengthen itself

When did Germany join the league?

1926

Why was the USSR not allowed to join?

It was communist

When did the USSR join the league?

1934

What was the structure of the league?

The Assembly, The Council, The Permanent Court of International Justice, The Secretariat, The International Labour Organisation, Special Commissions

Who was in the assembly?

One representative from each nation

What did The Assembly do? [5]

• Recommended action to the Council

• Voted on new members of the league, the temporary members of the Council, and the League’s budget

• Discussed ideas put forward by the Council

• Considered matters of general policy

• Elected judges of permanent court

How often did The Assembly meet?

Once a year

Who was in the Council?

Britain, France, Italy, Japan and 4-9 elected temporary members

How often did the Council meet?

5 times a year and in emergencies

What did the Council do?

Sort out international disputes by discussion, condemnation, economic sanctions, or military force

Where was the PCoIJ based?

The Hague, Netherlands

Who was in the PCoIJ?

Judges from member nations

What did the PCoIJ do? [2]

• Make decisions on disputes

• Gave legal advice to the Council and Assembly

What was the Secretariat and what did it do? [4]

• The civil service of the league

• Kept records

• Prepared reports

• Arranged interpreters…

What did the ILO do? [2]

• Brought together representatives of employers, workers, and governments to improve working conditions

• Collected stats and info and made recommendations to countries

What special commissions were there?

Mandates commission, Refugees committee, Slavery commission, Health commission

Why was the League too slow to take action?

All decisions in the Assembly and Council had to be unanimous

Why would economic sanctions be ineffective?

The USA could continue trading as they were not part of the league

What did the Slavery Commission do?

Work to abolish slavery around the world

What did the Health Committee do?

Attempt to deal with dangerous diseases and educate people about health

What did the Refugees Committee do?

Help return refugees home after the war

What did the Mandates Commission do?

Make sure that Britain and France acted in the interests of the territory and not themselves

Who ran the ILO?

Albert Thomas

What did the ILO suggest?

An adequate minimum wage, sickness and unemployment benefits, and an old age pension

Did the Health Committee eliminate malaria?

No but it reduced the number of cases

What happened at Vilna in 1920? [4]

• Occupied by Polish troops

• League ordered Poland to withdraw

• League did nothing

• Poland kept Vilna

What happened in Upper Silesia in 1921? [4]

• Claimed by Germany and Poland

• Plebiscite organised by league

• Industrial areas to join Germany and rural areas to join Poland

• Both countries accept

What happened in the Aaland Islands in 1921? [3]

• Claimed by Sweden and Finland

• League ruled they go to Finland

• Sweden accepted

What happened in Corfu in 1923? [5]

• Italian soldiers killed on Greek territory

• Italy demands compensation, demands execution of murderers, and occupies Corfu

• Greek government doesn’t know who did it

• Council condemns Italian occupation but tells Greek to pay compensation

• Italy withdraws from Corfu

What happened in Bulgaria in 1925? [3]

• Greece invades Bulgaria

• League orders Greece to withdraw and pay compensation

• Greece withdraws

How many war prisoners did the league return home?

400 000

How did the League improve working conditions? [2]

• ILO banned poisonous white lead from paint

• Limits children working hours

How many large companies did the League blacklist and why?

4 large companies involved in illegal drug trade

How many slaves freed in British Sierra Leone?

200 000

What was agreed at the 1921 Washington Conference?

USA, Japan, Britain, and France agreed to limit navies

Which country rejected 1923 plans for disarmament treaty?

Britain

Who signed the 1925 Locarno Treaties?

France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Poland

What did Germany accept in the Locarno Treaties? [3]

• Borders with France and Belgium

• Demilitarisation of Rhineland

• Settle disputes with France through LoN

How many nations signed Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928?

65

What caused Great Depression? [4]

• Trade and industry of all countries was damaged

• USA loaned out much less money to Europe

• Negative impact on European industries, many of which went bust

• Unemployment rose

Why did German people vote for the Nazis?

There was much unemployment and poverty and the Nazis promised to sort out economic problems

How did the Great Depression harm the work of the League? [7]

• Led to rise of Nazis

• Many extreme parties were nationalist and an aspect of extreme nationalism was militarism.

• Extremist parties built up their armed forces and used aggression against other nations

• Japanese economic problems was one of the reasons behind the Japanese invasion of Manchuria

• economic problems encouraged Mussolini to try to build up an overseas empire

• Britain was unwilling to get involved in sorting out international disputes while its economy was in trouble.

• USA was unwilling to support economic sanctions at a time when its own trade was in a mess.

Why did Japan invade Manchuria? [5]

• The Great Depression hit Japan hard

• Army argued that the solution to Japan’s economic problems was building up a Japanese empire by force

• the Japanese army claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the South Manchurian Railway, and invaded Manchuria in retaliation

• The Japanese government ordered the army to withdraw, but the instructions were ignored

• The Japanese claimed they had invaded in self-defence to keep peace in the area, because China was in a state of anarchy

What did the League of Nations do about the Japanese invasion of Manchuria?

Lytton commission ruled that the Japanese invasion was illegal, and Manchuria should be returned to China in Feb 1933

Who led the Lytton commission?

Lord Lytton

How long did the Lytton commision spend in Manchuria?

6 weeks

Why didn’t the League of Nations take further action against Japan? [3]

• Economic sanctions meaningless without the participation of the USA

• Britain wanted to keep up a good relationship with Japan.

• Britain and France would not risk their navies in a war against Japan

Why was the Manchuria incident significant? [2]

• obvious that Japan had committed a blatant act of aggression and got away with it.

• proved that the League was powerless to stop a strong nation

When did Hitler start rearming Germany?

Jan 1933

Why did Italy invade Abyssinia? [2]

• Wanted revenge for their failed invasion of 1896

• Abyssinia had fertile land and mineral resources

How did League respond to Italian invasion of Abyssinia? [4]

• League banned arms sales to Italy

• Loans to Italy banned

• Imports from Italy banned

• Export of rubber, tin, and metals to italy banned

Why didn’t Britain and France act to prevent Mussolini conquering Abyssinia? [6]

• Some believed that tough sanctions on Italy would not work unless supported by the USA.

• Others believed that sanctions would damage British and French economic interests.

• Some feared that closing the Suez Canal to Italian ships would result in war with Italy.

• Britain feared damage to its economic interests with the loss of jobs for 30 000 British coal miners

• Britain and France wanted Mussolini’s friendship because they saw him as a potential ally against Germany

consequences of the Italian invasion of Abyssinia? [6]

• Haile Selassie went into exile

• entire country was annexed by Italy

• League of Nations had failed on a spectacular scale

• League lost all credibility

• further encouragement to Hitler in his expansionist ambitions

• Hitler and Mussolini signed the Rome-Berlin Axis.

When did Hitler and Mussolini sign Rome-Berlin Axis?

November 1936

Why did the League of Nations fail in the 1930s? [8][5]

• The self-interest of leading members

• Some important countries were not members

  • the USA never joined

  • Germany didn’t join until 1926 and left again in 1933

  • the USSR didn’t join until 1934 and was expelled in 1939

  • Japan left in 1933

  • Italy left in 1937

• Economic sanctions did not work

• Lack of troops

• The treaties the League had to uphold were seen as unfair

• Decision-making was slow

• Britain and France were reluctant to send troops

• Depression brought increased unemployment and many turned to extreme political parties