Cambridge AS International History Paper 2 - Empire Building & League of Nations in the 1920s - Study Notes

Cambridge AS International History Paper 2 Study Guide

Empire Building (c.1870-1914)

  • Core Themes
    • Motives for imperial expansion: economic, political, strategic, cultural, ideological.
    • Methods of empire building: formal vs. informal empire, treaties, military conquest, settler colonies, economic dominance.
    • Impact on colonizers and colonized: administration, resistance, collaboration, economic impact, social & cultural consequences.
    • Key case studies: British Empire in Africa and Asia, French Empire, German colonial ventures, USA's overseas expansion, Japan's imperial rise.
    • Theories & historiography: Robinson & Gallagher on informal empire, Cain & Hopkins' "Gentlemanly Capitalism," Marxist and post-colonial critiques.
  • Key Points for Top Answers
    • Go beyond listing causes; weigh relative importance and compare between empires.
    • Use specific examples: e.g., British use of indirect rule in Nigeria vs. settler dominance in Kenya.
    • Understand resistance movements (e.g., Ashanti, Herero uprising, Boxer Rebellion).
    • Incorporate global perspectives: link imperialism to global economy, not just European politics.
    • Know debates: was imperialism driven more by metropolitan or peripheral pressures? Did empires strengthen or overstretch great powers?

The League of Nations in the 1920s

  • Core Themes
    • Aims & structure of the League: Covenant, Assembly, Council, Permanent Court, Commissions.
    • Collective security: theory vs. practice.
    • Peacekeeping successes and failures in the 1920s: Upper Silesia, Aaland Islands, Greece-Bulgaria, Vilna, Corfu.
  • Key Strengths
    • Provided a framework for international cooperation after WWI.
    • Had some early successes: Aaland Islands (Sweden/Finland), Upper Silesia (Germany/Poland), Greece-Bulgaria border incident.
    • Made progress on social/humanitarian issues (refugees, health, drugs, slavery).
  • Key Weaknesses
    • Structural problems: No military force, slow decision-making, reliance on Britain/France.
    • Major absences: USA never joined; USSR excluded until 1934; Germany only joined in 1926.
    • Failures in key disputes: Vilna (Poland/Lithuania), Corfu (Italy/Greece) - great powers often ignored League authority.
    • Disarmament efforts stalled; Geneva Protocol (1924) not ratified.
  • Overall Assessment
    • Some meaningful successes in the 1920s, mainly in minor disputes and humanitarian work.
    • Limited ability to manage major power conflicts or enforce collective security.
    • Set groundwork for internationalism but constrained by global realities.
  • Key Comparative Takeaways
    • Empire Building vs. League of Nations
      • Main Drivers
      • Successes
      • Failures
      • Global Impact
      • Historiographical Debates

UNIT 1: Empire Building (c. 1870-1914)

  • Main Motives:
    • Economic: Access to raw materials, markets, investment opportunities.
    • Political/Strategic: National prestige, naval bases, protecting trade routes, global rivalry (esp. after German and Italian unification).
    • Cultural/Ideological: Social Darwinism, racial hierarchies, "civilizing mission," religious motives (missionaries).
    • Peripheral factors: Local actors and on-the-ground pressures sometimes drove imperial expansion (Robinson & Gallagher thesis).
  • Main Methods:
    • Formal empire: Direct political control, annexation, colonization.
    • Military conquest, diplomacy, treaties, settler colonialism, company rule (e.g., British East India Company).
    • Informal empire: Economic dominance, political influence without formal annexation (notably in Latin America, China).
  • Key Examples:
    • British in Africa (Egypt, Sudan, South Africa), French in North/West Africa, Belgian Congo, German colonies (South West Africa, Pacific), USA (Philippines, Pacific), Japan (Korea, Taiwan).
  • Consequences/Impact:
    • For imperial powers: Economic gain, political status, but also overstretch and new rivalries.
    • For colonies: Exploitation, new infrastructure, cultural disruption, political subjugation, resistance and collaboration.
    • On global relations: Heightened tensions, contributing to the build-up to WWI.
  • Historiographical debates:
    • Economic vs. political motives.
    • Metropole-driven vs. periphery-driven expansion.
    • Was empire profitable or a burden?

UNIT 2: League of Nations in the 1920s

  • Aims & Structure:
    • Prevent war through collective security, promote disarmament, improve global welfare.
    • Main bodies: Assembly (all members), Council (major powers), Permanent Court, Secretariat, various commissions (health, refugees, mandates).
  • Challenges to authority:
    • US absence, Soviet/Russian exclusion, rise of new powers (Japan, Germany's gradual reintegration).
    • Disarmament efforts and the Geneva Protocol.
    • League's limitations and structural weaknesses (dependency on Britain & France, lack of enforcement powers).
  • Key Points for Top Answers
    • Balance success and failure: top candidates avoid sweeping judgments.
    • Explain why the League succeeded in small disputes but not in major power issues.
    • Show comparative depth: contrast cases (why success in Aaland but failure in Vilna?).
    • Connect to broader trends: postwar idealism, economic recovery, geopolitical shifts.
    • Use historiographical insights: was the League doomed from the start, or undermined by circumstances?
  • Ten Possible Essay/Practice Prompts - Empire Building
    1. To what extent was economic gain the main motive for late 19th-century imperial expansion?
    2. Compare and contrast the methods used by two imperial powers to establish control over their colonies.
    3. "Empire-building was driven more by domestic pressures than by international rivalry." Discuss.
    4. Assess the role of technological superiority in facilitating European imperial expansion.
    5. How far do you agree that imperialism strengthened European great powers before 1914?
    6. To what extent was resistance from colonized peoples a serious challenge to imperial rule?
    7. Assess the importance of ideology (such as the 'civilizing mission') in justifying empire-building.
    8. How similar were the motivations behind Japanese and American imperial expansion before 1914?
    9. Evaluate the impact of empire-building on international relations between 1870 and 1914.
    10. "Informal empire was as significant as formal empire." How valid is this assessment?
  • Ten Possible Essay/Practice Prompts - League of Nations in the 1920s
    1. How successful was the League of Nations in maintaining peace in the 1920s?
    2. Assess the impact of the League's structural weaknesses on its performance.
    3. "The absence of the USA fatally weakened the League." How far do you agree?
    4. Compare the League's responses to two international disputes in the 1920s.
    5. How effective were the League's disarmament efforts in the 1920s?
    6. To what extent was the League successful in addressing humanitarian and social issues?
    7. Assess the importance of Britain and France in shaping the League's success and failure.
    8. Why did the League succeed in some cases but fail in others?
    9. How far do you agree that the League's failure was inevitable?
    10. Evaluate the claim that the League achieved more in the 1920s than is often recognized.
  • Top-Level Exam Tips
    • Always address the question directly; do not just provide a narrative.
    • Use comparative analysis where possible; top candidates compare across cases and periods.
    • Include specific detail (names, dates, places, treaties, resolutions) to anchor your argument.
    • Show awareness of historians' debates or different interpretations (even briefly).
    • Structure essays tightly: clear argument, balanced evidence, logical progression.