League of Nations

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49 Terms

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by who and when was the League made

Woodrow Wilson (nobel peace prize in 1920), 1919

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first meeting of LoN

16 January 1920, Geneva

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Covenant

  • set out aims of Lon + how it was to be run

  • set up Mandates Commission to deal with colonies

  • create the PICJ (permanent international court of justice) to help settle disputes + advise on issues of international law

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aims

no DISPUTES

  • disarmament

  • improvements ( living conditions)

  • sanctions

  • protection (of each state + respect for boundaries)

  • unanimous

  • together

  • encourage discussion (arbitrate)

  • support

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membership

  • 42 members at the start

  • US not part

  • 4 permanents: Britain, France, Italy, Japan + Germany (1926) + USSR (1934)

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council

  • members: 4 (later 5) permanent + 4 non permanent (rotating)

  • met 4 times a year

  • decisions making

  • sanctions

  • create committees

  • unanimous

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assembly

  • all member states

  • met once a year

  • make recommendations on many issues (economic, social, disarmament, peacekeeping)

  • main authority

  • discuss and debate

  • unanimous

  • elect rotating members of the council and judges for PICJ

  • advise the council

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secretariat

  • day to day procedures (agenda for the assembly, reports, routine matters)

  • led by Secretary General

  • civil workers, independent of nations

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PICJ

Permanent International Court of Justice

  • 15 judges

  • advise council

  • in the Hague

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ILO

International Labour Organisation

  • autonomous part of LoN

  • improve working conditions

  • negotiate wages and working hours

  • protection of children and women in the workplace

  • prevention of accidents

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punishments enforced

  • sanctions

  • ban on trade

  • use of war

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Strengths

  • purpose

  • good aims

  • complex structure

  • PICJ — avoid bias

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Weaknesses

  • change of membership (many left)

  • US didn’t join

  • permanent = victors club

  • unanimity (otherwise no motion)

  • lack of force = “no teeth”

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Aaland Islands: when, where, why

  • 1920

  • Finland and Sweden

  • Finnish after Russian revolution (1917), 95% Swedish, campaigns for union with Sweden (may 1920 —> some autonomy; june 1920 —> 2 charged with high treason)

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Aaland Islands: LoN response

  • remains Finnish

  • Swedish language + customs

  • government — agreed by islanders

  • demilitarised

16
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Upper Silesia: when, where, why

  • 1921

  • border between Poland and Germany

  • resource rich (coal + industrial)

  • Germany’s until end of WW1

  • ToV: plebiscite will decide whose

  • March 1921: 54% G (P workers allegedly forced to vote for G) —> May 1921 uprising —> Aug 1921 LoN

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Upper Silesia: LoN response

  • 2/3 — to Germany

  • 1/3 — to Poland, more resourceful land

  • German-Polish cooperation commission

BUT

  • Germany was weak —> LoN had influence

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Corfu: when, where, why

  • 1923

  • Greece and Italy

  • 5 Italians murdered on Greek soil (allegedly) —> Mussolini blamed Greece —> attacked Corfu

  • Greece appeal to LoN

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Corfu: LoN response

  • Italy — withdraws; no apology to Greece

  • Greece — pay 50 mil lire (compensation, w/out evidence of murder)

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Greek-Bulgarian war: when, where, why

  • 1925

  • border (re-drawing boundaries after WW1)

  • 19 October 1925: 2 deaths of Greek border guards —> Greece orders an invasion (thought Bulgaria will attack first)

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Greek-Bulgarian war: LoN response

  • condemns Greece

  • asks both to stop military activities + withdraw

  • after 60 hours: conflict over

  • Greece: pays 3 mil Bulgarian levs as compensation (for taken crops and kettle)

22
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Manchurian Crisis: when, where, what

  • 1931-33

  • Manchuria — border between Japan and China

  • Sep 1931 — explosion on South Manchuria Railway —> Japan invades “need to restore order” — take over Mukden

  • China appealed to LoN

  • Japan take over administrative capital of Manchuria — Chinchow

  • Jan 1932 — Japan take Shanghai

  • China appealed to LoNn (again)

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Manchurian Crisis: why did Japan invade?

Japanese:

  • disillusioned by Great Depression

  • damage to silk exports —> industrial activity by 30%

  • not resource rich

  • standart of living

China:

  • politically weak

  • raw materials

Manchuria:

  • farming

  • coal + iron

  • Japan controlled land around it

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Manchurian Crisis: LoN response

  • Sep 1931 — Lytton commission

  • Sep 1932 — reported: “Manchuria doesn’t want to be governed by Japan” + advised “Manchuria should be autonomous Chinese state + Japan should withdraw (land like in 1905")”

  • Feb 1933 — assembly voted in favour: 42 : 1 (japan)

  • Mar 1933 — Japan left LoN, still in control of Manchuria

  • 1937 — full scale invasion of China —> military dictatorship

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Manchurian Crisis: failure

  • Japan permanent member

  • UK interested in siding with Japan (trade)

  • great powers — dominant interests

  • aggressors — not deterred by words

  • no collective security — against Covenant

  • too long procedurally —> outdated info

  • veto

  • precedent for Hitler in 1930s

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Manchurian Crisis: failure

  • LoV reputation damaged

  • guided by country’s status

  • precedent for Hitler in 1930s

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Abyssinian Crisis: when, where, why

  • 1935-36

  • Abyssinia — North-East Africa

  • Italy wanted to expand into Abyssinia (plans by Mussolini since 1932)

  • Dec 1934 — Wal Wal incident: 30 Italians + 90 Abyssinians die

  • Italy want compensation —> Abyssinia appeals to LoN

  • Italy preps for war

  • Mar 1935 — Abyssinia appeals to LoN (again)

  • Oct 1935 — Italians invade Abyssinia

  • use chemical weapons

  • May 1936 — capital falls to Italians

  • sanctions withdrawn

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Abyssinian Crisis: LoN response

  • sanctions against Italy

  • prevent sales of arms to Italy

  • limit credit to Italian government and firms

  • embargo on sales of oil to Italy (Britain not keen, scared that Italy would want to go to war)

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Refugee Commission: why

  • 1+ mil POWs to be repatriated

  • 1+ mil from Russian Revolution and civil war

  • local disputes: Greeks, Bulgarians, Armenians, Jews

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Refugee Commission: LoN response

  • funds, shipping, resources (homes, farming), population exchanges, new settlements, work with ILO

  • Fridtjof Nansen — High Commissioner for Refugees

  • identity documents “Nansen passports”

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Refugee Commission: success

  • “Nansen passports” — accepted by 50 governments by 1929

  • local economies boosted

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Refugee Commission: limitations

  • temporary

  • only in Europe + Middle East

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Drug Commission: why

  • drugs: grown, made, traded, used illegally

  • opium + coca plant —> heroine, cocaine, morphine, codeine

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Drug Commission: LoN response

  • 1920 — Opium Advisory Committee

Dr Rachel Crowdy dealed with drugs in LoN by:

  • limit…

  • control…

  • gathering information about…

  • monitoring…

    … legal production, manufacturing and trade

  • finding economic alternatives for opium growing regions

  • embargo on trade in drugs with countries no following the agreements

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Drug Commission: success

  • many countries (even those not in LoN) cooperated

  • in US: 50% addicts in 1930s

  • data collected —> map legal and illegal use/buying

  • 1935: legal production = demand for scientific/medical reasons

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Drug Commission: limitations

  • drug companies moved to uncontrolled countries

  • hard to control illegal production

  • less and less cooperating countries (e.g Germany, Japan, Italy…)

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disarmament

1924 — Geneva protocol — disarmament + abanodoned war

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World Disarmament Conference: when, who, why

  • 1932-34

  • US, USSR, other non-LoN members

  • a lot changed:

    • Sep 1931 — Japan attacks Manchuria

    • Jan 1933 — Hitler becomes Chancellor

    • Mar 1933 — Japan left LoN

    • Oct 1933 — Germany left LoN

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World Disarmament Conference: views

  • France: independent police force + LoN control most powerful weapons

  • Germany: equality with states who haven’t their military cut

  • Britain: get rid off offensives

  • USSR: get rid off all weapons (because of their industrial backwardness)

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health, why?

  • prevent spread of diseases

  • improve access to healthcare

  • health campaigns

  • spread info about disease

  • spread medication

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Health Committee

1923

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mandates, why?

  • monitor

  • govern

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mandates, what did

divide colonies into 3 types, depending on the readiness for independence

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slavery conference

1921, agreed to tackle people trafficking in women and children

45
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slavery convention

  • 1926

  • defined slavery

  • propose to outlaw

  • transport of slaves at sea = piracy

  • ratified by 30+ countries

  • only those against slavery can join LoN

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investigation of slavery

Liberia, Abyssinia, Somalia, Red Sea area, Jordan

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investigation of trafficking

1924-26: Europe, Mediterranean region and US

1929: Near, Middle, Far East

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trafficking

  • children and women

  • prostitution: target traffickers, not prostitutes

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Child Welfare Committee

  • investigated juvenile crime

  • right for illegitimate kids

  • precedent for UNICEF