League of Nations

by who and when was the League made

Woodrow Wilson (nobel peace prize in 1920), 1919

first meeting of LoN

16 January 1920, Geneva

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

aims

no DISPUTES

• disarmament

• improvements (⬆ living conditions)

• sanctions

• protection (of each state + respect for boundaries)

• unanimous

• together

• encourage discussion (arbitrate)

• support

membership

• 42 members at the start

• US not part

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

council

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

• met 4 times a year

• decisions making

• sanctions

• create committees

• unanimous

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

secretariat

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

• led by Secretary General

• civil workers, independent of nations

PICJ

Permanent International Court of Justice

• 15 judges

• advise council

• in the Hague

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

punishments enforced

• sanctions

• ban on trade

• use of war

Strengths

• purpose

• good aims

• complex structure

• PICJ — avoid bias

Weaknesses

• change of membership (many left)

• US didn’t join

• permanent = victors club

• unanimity (otherwise no motion)

• lack of force = “no teeth”

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)

Aaland Islands: LoN response

• remains Finnish

• Swedish language + customs

• government — agreed by islanders

• demilitarised

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

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

Corfu: when, where, why

• 1923

• Greece and Italy

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

• Greece appeal to LoN

Corfu: LoN response

• Italy — withdraws; no apology to Greece

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

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)

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)

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)

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

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

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

Manchurian Crisis: failure

• LoV reputation damaged

• guided by country’s status

• precedent for Hitler in 1930s

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

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)

Refugee Commission: why

• 1+ mil POWs to be repatriated

• 1+ mil from Russian Revolution and civil war

• local disputes: Greeks, Bulgarians, Armenians, Jews

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”

Refugee Commission: success

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

• local economies boosted

Refugee Commission: limitations

• temporary

• only in Europe + Middle East

Drug Commission: why

• drugs: grown, made, traded, used illegally

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

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

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

Drug Commission: limitations

• drug companies moved to uncontrolled countries

• hard to control illegal production

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

disarmament

1924 — Geneva protocol — disarmament + abanodoned war

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

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)

health, why?

• prevent spread of diseases

• improve access to healthcare

• health campaigns

• spread info about disease

• spread medication

Health Committee

1923

mandates, why?

• monitor

• govern

mandates, what did

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

slavery conference

1921, agreed to tackle people trafficking in women and children

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

investigation of slavery

Liberia, Abyssinia, Somalia, Red Sea area, Jordan

investigation of trafficking

1924-26: Europe, Mediterranean region and US

1929: Near, Middle, Far East

trafficking

• children and women

• prostitution: target traffickers, not prostitutes

Child Welfare Committee

• investigated juvenile crime

• right for illegitimate kids

• precedent for UNICEF