1919-39: 2. League of Nations

Question 1

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

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Some basic facts about the League

Answer 2

• Headquarters were in neutral Geneva (Switzerland)

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

Question 3

How was the League organised?

Answer 3

• ‘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

Question 4

What was impractical about the League’s decision making?

Answer 4

• 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.

Question 5

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

Answer 5

• Peacekeeping
• Disarmament
• Economic Aid
• Humanitarian aid

Question 6

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

Answer 6

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

Question 7

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

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

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

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

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

Answer 9

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

Question 10

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

Answer 10

1922 Washington Conference: main powers agreed to limit their navies

Question 11

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

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What economic aid did the League provide?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What Humanitarian Aid did the League provide?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

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

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

Which important countries were not members of the League?

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

How was the League dominated by the 4 Permanent Council Members

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

How was the League slow in making decisions?

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

How was the League too idealistic and not realistic enough?

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

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

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

What was the Great Depression?

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

How did the Great Depression harm the League?

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

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

Answer 22

Japan and Italy were not treated harshly enough by the League

Question 23

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

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

How severe was the problem of dictatorship?

Answer 24

25 Dictatorships arose between 1929 and 1939

Question 25

How did dictators act militaristically?

Answer 25

* 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).

Question 26

What was the Manchurian Crisis of 1931-33?

Answer 26

* 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)

Question 27

What were the real reasons for the invasion?

Answer 27

* 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

Question 28

How did the League act during the Manchurian crisis?

Answer 28

* 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

Question 29

Why did the League fail to deal with Japan properly?

Answer 29

* 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

Question 30

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

Answer 30

• 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

Question 31

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

Answer 31

* 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

Question 32

What was the Abyssinian Crisis (1935-1936)?

Answer 32

* 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

Question 33

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

Answer 33

* 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)

Question 34

What were the real reasons for Italy invading Abyssinia?

Answer 34

* 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

Question 35

How did the League act during the Abyssinian crisis?

Answer 35

• 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)

Question 36

What was the Hoare-Laval Plan of December 1935?

Answer 36

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

Question 37

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

Answer 37

* 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

Question 38

What was wrong with the Hoare-Laval Plan?

Answer 38

* 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

Question 39

How did the Abyssinian crisis end?

Answer 39

* 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

Question 40

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

Answer 40

* 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

Question 41

What was similar about the Abyssinian and Manchurian crises?

Answer 41

* Both involved aggressive nations * The League responded weakly * The League’s ideals were not upheld

Question 42

What was different about the Abyssinian and Manchurian crises?

Answer 42

* 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

Question 43

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

Answer 43

* Both victors and losers were dissatisfied (unhappy) * Britain and France disagreed about how to treat Germany * Appeasement

Question 44

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

Answer 44

* 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)