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GCSE History MWH > 1919-39: 2. League of Nations > Flashcards

1919-39: 2. League of Nations Flashcards

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1
Q

What were the aims of the League of Nations? ‘ICAUSED’

A

Improve living and working conditions
Collective Security (all nations would join forces against aggressive nations)
Article 10: stop nations from acting aggressively
Uphold and enforce Versailles
Stop another world war from breaking out in the future
Encourage nations to cooperate
Disarmament

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2
Q

Some basic facts about the League

A
  • Headquarters were in neutral Geneva (Switzerland)

* Total League members: 42 in 1920; 59 in 1930s

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3
Q

How was the League organised?

A

• ‘Assembly’ of all the nations (met only once per year)
• ‘Council’ met more often do deal with emergency matters and took the most important decisions
• 4 Permanent Council Members (Italy, France, Japan, GB)
• Other non-permanent members included on rotation
• ‘Commissions’ to deal with problems such as slavery, workers’ and women’s rights
• ‘Court of Justice’ dealt with legal matters
‘Secretariat’ carried out the paper work

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4
Q

What was impractical about the League’s decision making?

A
  • All decisions had to be unanimous in the Assembly and in the Council - this meant that everyone had to agree with a policy before it could be put into action.
  • The most important nations were prepared to veto decisions which they did not like by refusing to agree.
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5
Q

What issues help historians judge whether the League was successful in the 1920s?

A
  • Peacekeeping
  • Disarmament
  • Economic Aid
  • Humanitarian aid
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6
Q

Why was the League only partially successful in keeping the peace in the 1920s?

A

Minor countries listened to the League; major countries did not always do so

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7
Q

Peacekeeping in the 1920s: what are two examples of the League’s success?

A
  • 1921: stopped Sweden and Finland from going to war over the Aaland Islands (League ruled that the Islands belonged to Finland, and Sweden accepted this)
  • 1925: League forced the Greeks to stop attacking Bulgaria
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8
Q

Peacekeeping in the 1920s: what are two examples of the League’s failure?

A
  • 1920: Poland seized the city of Vilna; Poland ignored the League’s ruling that Vilna had to be returned to Lithuania; in 1923 it decided that Poland could keep Vilna after all!
  • 1923 Corfu incident: murder of Tellini and Mussolini blamed Greece and demanded compensation; Greece refused to pay; Italy bombarded Corfu; League suggested that Greece give the money to the League as a deposit until the murderers were found; Mussolini ignored the League and set up the ‘Conference of Ambassadors’ to sort out the issue
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9
Q

How did France undermine the League’s efforts to stop secret treaties?

A

It signed several defensive pacts (Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland) between 1920 and 1927 because it believed that the League was too weak to stop war

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10
Q

What was one example of the League’s success in disarmament?

A

1922 Washington Conference: main powers agreed to limit their navies

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11
Q

How did the League fail in its efforts to disarm countries?

A

1923 and 1933 Disarmament Conferences were utter failures
• 1923: GB refused to disarm
• 1933: Hitler stormed out

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12
Q

What economic aid did the League provide?

A

1922-1923 League loaned money to Austria and Hungary to stop their economies from collapsing

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13
Q

What Humanitarian Aid did the League provide?

A
  • Resettled and re-homed millions of refugees and prisoners of war after WWI
  • Medical aid, eg for leprosy and malaria
  • Tried to ban slavery
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14
Q

How far did weaknesses in the League’s organisation make failure inevitable?

A
  • Important countries were not members
  • It was dominated by the 4 Permanent Council Members
  • It was slow in making decisions
  • It was too idealistic and not realistic enough
  • Its sanctions (punishments) were weak
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15
Q

Which important countries were not members of the League?

A
  • USA (despite Wilson’s 14 Points and the League being his idea; USA’s ‘isolationism’)
  • Germany only a member from 1926 to 1933 (Hitler left the League)
  • USSR allowed to join 1934-1939
  • Japan (1932) and Italy (1937) left when criticized by the League
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16
Q

How was the League dominated by the 4 Permanent Council Members

A
  • 4 Permanent Council Members: Italy, Japan, France and GB
  • All acted selfishly rather than trying to police the world
  • The League eventually looked like it was being run in the Big 4’s interest
  • The Permanent Council Members could veto (stop) decisions
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17
Q

How was the League slow in making decisions?

A
  • Its bureaucracy was too big and inefficient
  • The full Assembly of the League only met once per year, so there could be a long wait before a major crisis was dealt with
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18
Q

How was the League too idealistic and not realistic enough?

A
  • It relied on the ideas of ‘Collective Security’ and ‘Community of Power’ (all powers should join together against aggressive countries)
  • Countries were too selfish to do this — they were worried about their own economic interests (eg cost of war) and political interests (eg would they be harmed by war?)
  • All members were equal and decisions had to be unanimous — this was not practical
19
Q

How were the League’s sanctions (punishments) weak?

A
  • Disapproval only worked on minor countries — powerful countries like Italy ignored them
  • Economic sanctions hard to enforce, especially during the Great Depression (1929 to mid-1930s) because countries did not want to harm their own trade and economy
  • Non-members free to ignore the League rulings and continue trading
  • Military sanctions but no League army
  • Members had to supply troops and pay for the war
20
Q

What was the Great Depression?

A
  • Worldwide economic crisis 1929 to mid-1930s
  • Businesses went bankrupt; millions of people lost their jobs
  • Sparked off by USA’s Wall Street Crash in 1929
  • USA and Germany were the worst hit; only USSR was unaffected
21
Q

How did the Great Depression harm the League?

A
  • Countries could not afford to go to war or agree to economic sanctions
  • It made some countries act aggressively
  • It helped the rise of extreme and aggressive dictators
22
Q

What happened when the League’s member states could not afford to go to war or impose economic sanctions on aggressive countries?

A

Japan and Italy were not treated harshly enough by the League

23
Q

How did the League’s inaction encourage some countries to act aggressively? Provide two examples and at least one other reason for aggressiveness.

A
  • They believed that the League would do nothing to stop them.
  • Japan (Manchuria 193 1-33), Italy (Abyssinia 1935-36) and Germany (1933- 1939 foreign policy)
  • They were looking for: new raw materials, new economic markets to sell goods, a diversion to take peoples’ minds off the Depression
24
Q

How severe was the problem of dictatorship?

A

25 Dictatorships arose between 1929 and 1939

25
Q

How did dictators act militaristically?

A
  • They distracted people from the economic problems by rearming their countries and focusing propaganda on the military.
  • They became aggressive in their foreign policies and were ultranationalists (people who believe that their country is superior to all others).
26
Q

What was the Manchurian Crisis of 1931-33?

A
  • Japan, one of the League’s permanent council members, invaded Manchuria (part of China) in 1931 after staging the ‘Mukden Incident’
  • Japan’s excuses for invading: Manchuria was in chaos and Japan was the nearest major power so it had a right to send troops to bring peace; Chinese soldiers had blown up a Japanese railway (the Mukden Incident)
27
Q

What were the real reasons for the invasion?

A
  • Economic reasons (Great Depression): Japan’s economy had collapsed, so it needed new raw materials & markets to sell its goods — Manchuria provided both!
  • Aggression: Japan’s foreign affairs and government were dominated by its army, which was aggressive and wanted to expand Japan’s power and empire
28
Q

How did the League act during the Manchurian crisis?

A
  • Slowly — it took a year to set up and send the ‘Lytton Report’ into the invasion
  • Lytton’s Report ordered Japan to leave Manchuria immediately
  • Japan refused and then left the League because it had been criticised
29
Q

Why did the League fail to deal with Japan properly?

A
  • The major countries wanted to keep Japan as an ally - Japan was the main Asian power in the League
  • There was a feeling that Japan had a right to intervene there China really was in chaos and Japan was the nearest major country, so it did have some right to intervene in Manchuria
30
Q

How did the League show that it was too weak to deal with aggressive nations during the Manchurian crisis?

A

• The system was too slow, warnings were ignored
• Economic sanctions did not work:
o USA was not a League member and continued to trade with Japan
o League members did not want to lose trade to Japan during the Great Depression
o No chance of military force being used: no League army
o Major countries did not want to pay for a war during the Depression

31
Q

Overall, how did the Manchurian crisis make the League seem weak?

A
  • The League acted slowly
  • The League seemed powerless and unwilling to stop aggressive nations
  • The League seemed to be favouring a Permanent Council Member, even though it had broken the League’ s rules
32
Q

What was the Abyssinian Crisis (1935-1936)?

A
  • Italy, led by its Fascist dictator Mussolini (‘Il Duce’ or ‘The Leader’), invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) which was ruled by Emperor Haile Selassie
  • Months before this the ‘Stresa Front’ had been agreed by Italy, GB and France, who agreed to stop Hitler’ s Germany becoming too powerful and starting a war
33
Q

What was Italy/Mussolini’s excuse for invading Abyssinia?

A
  • Italians claimed they had been attacked by Abyssinians at the ‘Wal-Wal’ oasis
  • Italy claimed to be sending a force to defend their African colonies (but then attacked Abyssinia)
34
Q

What were the real reasons for Italy invading Abyssinia?

A
  • Economic reasons (Great Depression): Italy needed new raw materials & markets to sell its goods; a war would distract Italians from economic problems
  • Mussolini wanted a ‘new Roman Empire’, which would include Abyssinia
  • Revenge: Italians wanted revenge for their defeat by Abyssinia in 1896
35
Q

How did the League act during the Abyssinian crisis?

A

• Warned Italy to leave (ignored by Italy) but failed to close the Suez canal, so Italian armies and supplies reached the warzone quickly
• Economic sanctions failed because:
o The sanctions did not cover crucial war-materials such as coal and oil
o League countries did not want to lose trade with Italy during Depression
o The USA wasn’t a member so it continued to trade with Italy
o The Hoare-Laval Plan (December 1935)

36
Q

What was the Hoare-Laval Plan of December 1935?

A

GB (Hoare) and French (Laval) foreign ministers offered a secret plan to Italy, allowing Italy to keep 2/3rds of Abyssinia if it ended the war

37
Q

Why did GB and France suggest the Hoare-Laval Plan?

A
  • They were desperate to keep Italy as a possible ally against Germany
  • They did not want to pay for a war during the Depression
  • League seemed too weak to deal with an aggressive country like Italy anyway
38
Q

What was wrong with the Hoare-Laval Plan?

A
  • It ignored the League entirely
  • Abyssinia / Selassie had not been asked and were horrified at the idea
  • It was leaked to the press and led to a public outcry: Hoare and Laval were sacked
39
Q

How did the Abyssinian crisis end?

A
  • Italy conquered all of Abyssinia, signed a pact with Germany (the Rome-Berlin Axis) in 1936 and left the League in 1937
  • League, GB and France were distracted by Hitler’ s remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936 and failed to deal with Italy
40
Q

Why was the Abyssinian crisis a death-blow to the League?

A
  • Now two Permanent Council Members (Japan and Italy) had broken the League’s rules and then left it
  • League seemed utterly unable of dealing with aggressive countries which picked on minor countries
  • So the concepts of Collective Security / Community of Power had failed
41
Q

What was similar about the Abyssinian and Manchurian crises?

A
  • Both involved aggressive nations
  • The League responded weakly
  • The League’s ideals were not upheld
42
Q

What was different about the Abyssinian and Manchurian crises?

A
  • In 1935, GB and France no longer had faith in the League and were very worried about Germany, so a secret deal was offered to Mussolini (the Hoare-Laval Plan)
  • In 1931-33 there was still hope that the League could work; Hitler was not a threat because he was only made Chancellor in Germany in 1933
43
Q

What were the long-term consequences of the peace treaties of 1919-23?

A
  • Both victors and losers were dissatisfied (unhappy)
  • Britain and France disagreed about how to treat Germany
  • Appeasement
44
Q

What were the consequences of the failures of the League in the 1930s?

A
  • Encouraged Hitler to be aggressive with his Foreign Policy
  • Led to Appeasement and a return to secret treaties/alliances (eg France and Czechoslovakia)
  • Led to WWII breaking out (1937 in Far East, 1939 in Europe)

GCSE History MWH (8 decks)

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