Chapter 1: League Of Nations Flashcards
What was the aim of the LON?
To resolve international disputes without going to war.
When did the LON first start?
January 1920
How were people feeling about LON?
Hopeful and optimistic
What was Wilson’s vision for LON and what was needed to achieve it?
He wanted LON to be like a world government and police force, however in order to do this, there had to be cooperation amongst all countries.
What is expected of countries who join LON?
- They were expected to bind themselves to the Covenant that was signed by all members.
- They were expected to disarm.
- If they had a dispute with another country, they were expected to bring it to LON and accept the decisions made.
- League members would promise to protect each other if attacked.
- If any member broke the Covenant or went to war illegally, other members could impose economic sanctions or as a last resort, take military action on the aggressor country.
What are the 2 most important things you need to do when joining the LON?
- Disarmament
- Collective security
Describe the General Assembly.
- It is made up of all LON members.
- Meet once a year to debate on issues.
- Need 2/3 majority for decision to be made.
Why does the General Assembly seem ineffective?
As they only meet once a year, if they do not come to a decision, it would take very long for a decision to be made.
Describe the Security Council.
- Made up of 4 permanent members: Britain, France, Italy and France; and 4 non-permanent members that get elected every 3-4 years
- Meet 4-5 times per year to settle international problems.
- All decisions must be unanimous.
Why does the Security Council seem ineffective?
- It will take a long time to come to a decision if they cannot come to a decision unanimously.
- Decision may be biased if country that needs decision to be made is from SC.
What are the peace-keeping measures LON took?
- Disarmament
- Arbitration
- Moral Persuasion
- Economic Sanctions
- Military Sanctions
What is ironic about military sanctions being the most effective for the LON to impose?
The LON had no army of its own, and member countries would not want to contribute troops to the LON’s army as it may result in them losing people.
What were the concerns about LON?
- Disarmament
- Ability to stop aggressor countries
- Membership of the League
Why were there concerns over disarmament?
- Many countries were scared that they would be vunerable and thus unable to protect their territories and interests if they disarmed.
- Lack of trust thus lead to reluctance to disarm amongst member countries.
- Thus disarmament for LON failed to happen in reality.
Why were there concerns over the ability to stop aggressor countries?
- Many countries felt that the LON lacked power and authority.
- Member countries were also concerned about the impact of economic sanctions on their economies.
- Economic sanctions are also limited as the country may be self-sufficient.
- If the aggressor did not have trading relations with the member countries, it would be ineffective as well.
- Military sanctions would be hard to implement as the LON had no army of its own.
Why were there concerns over membership of the League?
Many major countries were not in the LON such as US, Germany and Russia.
Without these major countries in the LON, economic and military sanctions would be hard to enforce.
These major countries could keep supplying weapons and goods to aggressor countries even if LON imposed military or economic sanctions on them.
This meant that aggressor countries would not be as badly affected as they could continue trading with these major countries which had large economies.
US had one of the most powerful militaries. The absence of US from LON made it difficult to take strong action against aggressor countries even if the LON chose to take military action.
What were the issues the LON had to deal with in 1920s?
- Vilna (1920)
- Upper Silesia (1921)
- Corfu (1923)
- Greek-Bulgarian Border (1925)
What happened in Vilna in 1920?
In 1920, Poland took control of Vilna, the Lithuanian capital.
Lithuania appealed to the LON but they could not make Poland withdraw.
Britain and France were reluctant to act as Poland was a potential ally against Germany.
Ineffective: Chose to not act as wanted to maintain good relations with Poland; biased.
What happened in Upper Silesia in 1921?
In 1921, a dispute broke out between Germany and Poland over Upper Silesia.
The LON solved the problem by holding a peaceful vote and divided the region between Poland and Germany.
Effective: Both Germany and Poland agreed with the decision; Conflict resolved without war or biases.
What happened in Corfu in 1923?
The border between Albania and Greece had to be decided after WWI.
3 Italian officials were killed while surveying the Greek side of the frontier area.
Italian leader Benito Mussolini blamed the Greeks, demanded compensation, attacked and occupied the Greek island of Corfu.
Greece appealed to the LON for help but Mussolinin insisted that the matter be handled by COA.
Britain wanted to stand up to Italy but France was already involved in a dispute with Germany in the Ruhr region over reparations and did not want a dispute with Italy as well.
COA ruled that Greeks must apologise and pay compensation directly to Italy.
Ineffective: France wanted to remain good relations with Italy so made Greece apologise; biased.
What happened on the Greek-Bulgarian Border in 1925?
In October 1925, some Greek soldiers were killed on Greece’s border with Bulgaria.
When Greek troops invaded, Bulgaria appealed to the LON for help.
LON demanded both sides to stand down and told Greece to withdraw.
Effective: Both Greece and Bulgaria agreed with decision; Conflict resolved without war.
What were the other attempts to try to keep the peace?
- Rapollo Treaty
- The Dawes Plan
- The Locarno Treaties
- The Kellogg- Briand Pact
- The Young Plan
What was the Rapollo Treaty for?
The USSR and Germany re-established diplomatic relations.
What was the Dawes Plan for?
Represented by Britain, France, Italy and US, the Plan helped Germany’s economy recover from hyperinflation and restructure its reparation payments.
It ended a crisis in Europe by removing French and Italian troops from the German Ruhr region so that the area could start production to generate money.
US also loaned Germany large sums of money to support its economy.
What were the Locarno Treaties for?
To maintain peace in Europe between Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Belgium.
Germany accepted its western borders as stated in TOV.
This decision reassured France and paved the way for Germany to join the LON.
However, nothing was decided about Germany’s borders with Czechoslovakia and Poland, leaving these states feeling nervous about Germany.
What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact for?
This was an agreement between 65 nations not to use force to settle disputes.
What was the Young Plan for?
The Plan would help support Germany’s economy and ensure that Germany could pay the reparations.
The Plan sought to reduce the reparation amount and extend the repayment period.
