League of Nations

Course

What was the League of Nations?

• An international organization aimed to promote peace

• A group of countries

Who was notably in the League of Nations?

• Britain

• France

• Japan (Until 1933)

• Italy (Until 1937)

When was the League of Nations formed?

• January 1920, after the Treaty of Versailles

Who notably never joined the League of Nations?

• America

• Germany (Until 1926)

• Russia (Until 1934)

Why did America not join the League of Nations?

• Congress wouldn’t allow it

• America feared they would breach neutrality

• Didn’t want to join wars

Who formed the League of Nations?

• Formally the Treaty of Versailles

Who’s idea was it to from the League of Nations?

• Woodrow Wilson (President of America)

• Formed from Wilson’s Fourteen Points (1918)

What was the Aaland Island Dispute? When was it?

• Finland and Sweden had a dispute over small islands

• 1921

What did the League of Nations do about the Aaland Island dispute

• They helped resolve the dispute peacefully

What was the Greek-Bulgarian Crisis? When was it?

• Greek and Bulgaria had a boarder dispute that nearly led to war

• 1925

What did the League of Nations do about the Greek Bulgarian Crisis?

• They intervened and peacefully resolved the incident

What were other successes of the League of Nations? (Organizations)

• Created the World Health Organization

• International Labour Organization

What was the Corfu Incident? When was it?

• Italy bombed and invaded Corfu (Greece)

• 1923

What did the League of Nations do about the Corfu incident?

• Essentially nothing

Why did the League of Nations do nothing about the Corfu Incident?

• The league had no military, members didn’t want to offer their men.

• Internal disagreements on how to act.

• Mussolini pressured the league

What was the Manchuria Crisis? When was it?

• Japan invaded Manchuria (China) mainly for resources

• 1931 (Great Depression)

What did the League of Nations do about the Manchuria Crisis?

• Again, essentially nothing

Why couldn’t the League do anything about the Manchuria Crisis?

• Again, no military

• Overall slow and untimely response

• Major powers unwilling to offer assistance militaristically

What did Japan do after being blamed?

• Left the league in 1933

• Faced no consequences

Objectively, was the League of Nations successful in its goals?

• No, though there were small successes, the League of Nations couldn’t adress larger issues

E.H Carr’s thesis/view?

• League was idealistic and doomed to fail

A.J.P. Taylor’s thesis/view?

• Good idea in theory but it was poorly ran