Chap 2.1 Success of LON in 1920s Flashcards
What were the 7 factors that came under LON success?
- Birth of the league
- Body blow to the league
- Aims of the League
- Membership of the League
- Organisation of the League
- Boarder disputes
- How the league worked for a better world
Ppl wanted to avoid another war and thought that a LON would solve international problems without resorting to war.
What are the 3 disagreements about what type of org. it should be? (Birth of the league)
> Wilson: World parliament where rep. of all nations could meet together regularly and decide on matters
British leaders: Simple org. that would just get together during emergencies (smth like the alr existing Conference of Ambassadors)
France: A strong league with its own army
The type of org. LON should be was won by Wilson. He said discussions about the league should be a major part of the peace treaty.
What were the plans 5 and when were the drawn up? (Birth of the league)
1919 - Drew up plans for the league, done by feb)
- All major nations would join the league
- They would disarm
- Any countries had a discrete, take it to the league (promised to accept decision made by the league)
- Promised to protect each other if they were invaded
- If any member broke the convenant and went to war, other members promised to stop trading with it and to send troops to force it to stop fighting
Wilson’s hope was that citizens of all countries would be so much against another conflict and this would prevent everyone from going to war
4 reasons why this plan was not well thought out
(Body blow to the league)
> Critics suggested there was some woolly thinking (vague)
Some were angered by Wilson’s arrogant style - he acted as if he only knew the solutions to Europes problems
Other were worried about his idealism
Wilson did not think about what would happen should be countries not act the way he thought they would
Wilson had problems getting the approval of congress before joining the league
4 reasons why the league was not popular in the USA
(Body blow to the league)
> Americans (particularly those with German ancestors) hated the Treaty of Versailles and it was supposed to reenforce the terms
If the league imposed sanctions (stope trading with country being aggressive) it might be American trade that suffers the most
Feared that league will send US troops to settle other countries issues - Not ideal after casualties in ww1
Fear league would be dominated by British and France and Americans would be called to help defend their empires. (Many were anti-empires)
The critics of Wilson’s plan put up a powerful opposition to the League (were joined by Wilson’s many political opponents
How did this pan out in 3 points?
(Body blow to the League)
> Wilson’s democratic party had run the USA for 8 troubled years - opponents saw the league as an ideal opportunity to defeat him
Wilson toured the USA to put his arguments to the people, but 1919 when congress voted, he was defeated.
League opened for business, the USA seat was empty
Wilson became seriously after a stroke in 1920
What did he do after that in 5 points?
Body blow to the League
> Continued to press for USA to join LON
Took the proposal back to congress again but were again defeated
Democrats did not give up (were convinced that if the USA did not get involved in international affairs, another world war would follow).
Wilson could not run for presidency as he was too ill but his successor made ‘membership of the league’ a major part of his campaign
Republican candidate Warren Harding campaigned for America to be isolationist and isolate itself from European affairs (they won in a landslide victory)
Covenant (agreement) set out the aims of the league
4 points on what was it about? [ACDC]
Aims of the league
> Discourage aggression from any nation
Encourage countries to cooperate, esp in business and trade
Encourage nations to disarm
Improve living and working conditions of people in all parts of the world
Covenant set out 26 articles or rules which all members agreed to follow.
Most important was Article 10, what was it about?
(Aims of the league)
Meant collective security - by acting together the members of the league could prevent war by defending the lands and interests of all nations, large or small
Without USA, Britain and France were the most powerful countries in the League
What else about the membership of the league?
> Italy and Japan were also permanent members of the council but Britain and France usually guided policy
Any action needed their support
Britain and France were the most powerful in the league and everything had to go through them, but they were poorly placed on this role.
5 reasons why? (membership of the league)
> Both had been weakened since ww1 and both weren’t the major power it had been before
Neither had the resources to fill the gap left by USA
Some British politicians said that if they had foreseen the American decision, they would not have voted to join the league
Many felt that Americans were the only nation with the resources or influence to make the League work
They felt that trade sanctions would only work if the Americans applied them
What are Britain and France’s other priorities?
membership of the league
British politicians:
- More interested in rebuilding British trade and looking after British empire than international police force (LON)
France:
- Main concern, Germany
- Worried w/o military of their own, league was too weak to protect France from powerful neighbour
- Did not think Britain was likely to send army to help
(added that France was quite prep. to bypass LON to strengthen position against Germany)
2 facts about the mandates commission
Organisation of the league
> Many former colonies of Germany and her allies ended up as League of Nations mandates ruled by Britain and France on behalf of the League
Made up of teams of expert advisors who had to report to the League on how people in mandates were treated
- to make sure that Britain and France acted in the interests of the people, not themselves
3 things about the Refugees committee
Organisation of the league
> There were hundreds of thousands of refugees who were homeless and had fled from areas of conflict from WW1
The Refugees committee aimed to help the homeless to get back to their homes and get official passports and documents
Most pressing problems were in former Russian territories: The Balkans, Greece, Armenia, Turkey
3 things about the slavery commission
Organisation of the league
> Worked to abolish slavery around the world
Particular issue in East Africa and other parts of the world
Many employees who were treated badly too
3 things about the health committee
Organisation of the league
> Dealt with the problem of dangerous diseases and to educate people about health and sanitation
WW1 brought about rapid developments in medicine and ideas about public health and disease prevention
Brought experts tgt and worked with charities and many other independent agencies to collect statistics about health issues and spread new ideas and develop programmes to fight disease
What were the 3 success and failures of LON
Boarder disputes
Successes:
- Aaland Islands dispute (Finland and Sweden) [1921]
- Upper Silesian settlement (Germany and Poland [1921]
- Prevention of war with Greece and Bulgaria [1925]
Failures:
- Vilna dispute (Polish and Lithuanian) [1920-29]
- Corfu [1923]
- Geneva Protocol [1924]
2 reasons for the success of LON in Aaland Islands dispute (Finland and Sweden) [1921]
(Boarder disputes)
> Finland and Sweden threatened war over the Aaland Islands
> Sweden accepted the League’s ruling that the islands should belong to Finland
2 reasons for the success of LON in Upper Silesian settlement (Germany and Poland [1921]
(Boarder disputes)
> League oversaw a peaceful plebiscite (vote ad divided the region between Germany and Poland
Both countries accepted the decision
5 points to described what happened for the success of LON in Prevention of war with Greece and Bulgaria [1925]
(Boarder disputes)
> Greek troops invaded Bulgaria after incident on border where greek troops were killed
Bulgaria appealed for help → the secretary-general of the League acted quickly and decisively, calling a meeting of the League
> League demanded that both sides stand their forces down and greek troops withdraw from Bulgaria → Britain and France solidly back the League’s judgement
The league sent observers to assess the situation and judged in favour of the Bulgarians → Greece had to pay 45000 in compensation (was also threatened with sanctions if it did not follow the ruling)
Greeks obeyed (but complained that the rules were different for smaller and larger states)
3 points to describe how LON failed in Vilna dispute (Polish and Lithuanian) [1920-29]
(Boarder disputes)
> Poland took control of the Lithuanian capital Vilna
Lithuania appealed to the league for help
League protested to Poland but the Poles did not pull out (France and Britain were not prepared to act)
LON failed smth about Corfu [1923]
Boarder disputes
> Boundary between Greece and Albania to be sorted out
On 27 Aug, Tellini’s team, an Italian general who was appointed by the Conference of Ambassadors, was ambushed and killed.
On 31 Aug, Mussolini, an Italian leader, bombarded and occupied the Greek island of Corfu (15 killed)
Greece went to the league for help
7 Sept, Greece pay compensation, money held by league till killers been found
Britain and France could not agree, and British was not preped to act w/o France
Mussolini wanted and let matter be settled by Conference of Ambassadors, cus LON was not competent and he got his way in the dispute
27 Sept, Mussolini withdrew from Corfu, boasting his triumph
Anger of League’s actions, decision was challenged cus ‘Britain and France agreed to sacrifice justice for cooperation’
How did LON fail in the Geneva Protocol [1924]
Boarder disputes
> Said that if two members were in dispute, they would have to ask the League to sort out the disagreement and would have to accept the Council’s decision
Before the plan could be put into effect there was a general election in Britain
The new conservative government refused to sign the protocol
→ worried that Britain would be forced to agree to something that was not in its own interests
5 ways the League worked for a better world
- Refugee
- working conditions
- Health
- Slavery and forced labour
- Others???
3 way LON made a better world for refugees
Better world
> 400,000 prisoners were returned to their homes by the League’s agencies
1922 - refugee crisis in Turkey and hundreds had to be housed in refugee camps
- League acted quickly to stamp out cholera, smallpox and dysentery in the camps
Refugees committee was constantly short of funds and work became difficult in 1930s as international situation became tenser and the authority of the League declined
4 ways LON improved working conditions
Better world
> International Labour Organisation banned poisonous white lead from paint and limited the hours that small children were allowed to work
Also campaigned strongly for employers to improve working conditions
Introduced a resolution for a maximum 48-hour week and 8 hour day → majority of members refused to adopt it because they thought it would cost their industries too much
ILO was hampered by lack of funds and lack of power
- Could not do much more than ‘name and shame’ countries or organisations that broke rules
3 ways LON improved health
Better world
> Collected statistical information and spread good practice
Sponsored research into infectious diseases as institutes in Singapore, London, Denmark
- Institute helped develop vaccines and medicines to fight deadly diseases such as leprosy and malaria
Health committee is generally regarded as one of the most successful of the League’s organisations and its work continued after 1945 as WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION
3 ways LON helped with slavery and forced labour
Better world
> Helped free 200,000 slaves in British-owned Sierra Leone
Organised raids against slave owners and traders in Burma
Challenged the use of forced labour to build the Tanganyika Railway in Africa (death rate among the African workers was 50%)
- League pressure brought this down to 4%
2 ways the league helped in ‘other actions’
Better world
> League blacklisted four large German, Dutch, French and Swiss companies which were involved in the illegal drug trade
League also made recommendations on practical problems such as marking shipping lanes produced an international highway code for road users
Disarmament
Better world
> Washington conference [1921] USA, Japan, Britain, France agreed to limit size of navy. That’s as far as it got.
Failure damaged LON reputation in Germany (who disarmed) but it wasn’t too bad cus of other international peace agreements
Econ recovery
Better world
> 1928, econ in Europe was recovering
The Dawes Plan [1924] helped with Germany’s econ and got Britain’s and France’s econ to start moving again
Increased trade reduced political tension
Internationalism
Better world
> League became one of the ways to settle international disputes
Some believe that LON developed an ‘internationalist mindset’
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