conflict and tension - chapter 4 Flashcards
when was the league of nations founded
10th january 1920
how many member were in the league when it was first founded + how many were there by 1934
initially, there were 42 members
this rose to 58 by 1934
who were the four permanent members of the council
britain, france, italy, japan
what was the league of nations
a vision for bringing the world together in peace. it was to be a group of countries that would work together and solve problems, like a world parliament
why was the USA not in the league of nations
the senate refused to agree to it and as much as Wilson tried to convince his people that it was a good idea, they had seen many young americans die in the first world war and wanted to isolate themselves from the europe
where was the league created and why
- geneva, switzerland
- switzerland had not been involved in the war, so it was seen as a peaceful country
- the red cross was also based there, so it seemed like a sensible place for headquarters
why was russia not allowed to join the league
britain and france were suspicious of the new communist gov
what countries were not allowed to join the league
russia and the countries who had lost the war
when was the Locarno Treaty signed
1926
what did the locarno treaty allow
allowed germany to join the league
why did germany leave the league
hitler came to power and pulled them out of the league
when did japan and italy leave the league
in the 1930s
why did japan and italy leave the league
they both invaded other countries
at the Paris Peace Conference what did lloyd george think of the league
he criticised the idea
what did lloyd george issue on 25th march 1919
the Fontainebleau Memorandum
what did lloyd george state in the fontainebleau memorandum
that he completely supported the league
what helped increase british support for the league
- in the TofV, colonies of germany and other losing countries were given to the league to be run as mandates
-> the idea was that they would be run by the league until they were ready to be independent
-> Britain saw this as an opportunity to add to their already vast empire
what was the general british opinion of the league
regarded it as a place for countries to discuss ideas, but without any real power
what the french opinion on the league
france was glad of anything that might help protect them from another german invasion
how did the league plan to keep peace
- it was thought that the league would work through collective security -> the idea that if all countries worked together they could make sure peace was kept and the interests of every nation were looked after
- in 1920, the league set up an international court that would help establish international laws -> this was called the PERMANENT COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE -> if every country was following the same laws there would be less chance of them disagreeing
how would the league deal with agression
1) mitigation
2) moral condemnation
3) economic sanctions
what was mitigation
getting countries together to talk through problems
what was moral condemnation
telling off the aggressor
what were economic sanctions
members of the league would not trade with the aggressors
what did the league not have due to it being a peaceful organisation
an army
what would the league do it they NEEDED an army
as its members to lend it their armed forces
the structure of the league:
- the assembly
- the council
- the permanent court of international justice
- the secretariat
- special commissions
voting in the assembly:
- the league worked like an international parliament
-> every member could send representatives to the assembly, which met once a year (on the first monday of september), to discuss and vote on matters - each country had an equal vote and in order to pass a vote the decision had to be unanimous - every country had to agree
-> if not, the motion couldn’t be passed and would have to be referred to the council
how often did the assembly meet
once a year
when did the assembly meet
the first monday of september
what was the assembly in charge of
- deciding when a new country could join
- the election of judges to the permanent court of international justice
- voting for the non-permanent members of the council
- deciding how the leagues money was to be spent
where was the first meeting of the assembly held and how many nations were represented
was held in a swiss hotel and 42 nations were represented
examples of powerful countries that attended the first meeting of the assembly
britain, france, italy, japan
examples of smaller nations that were present at the first meeting of the league
belgium, holland, cuba, peru
why did the league have a council
an assembly of 42 countries that met once a year would not be enough to ensure the league ran smoothly; it was too large to react quickly in an emergency - so the league had a council that met more frequently
who were the four permanent members in the council
britain, france, italy, japan
who else would be in the council (other than the four permanent members)
four other countries would be chosen, each for a three year term
this was later increased to nine non-permanent members
what did the council have the power of and what did it mean
had the power of veto
meant even if the assembly made a unanimous decision, the council could still stop it
what was the permanent court of international justice
a court of law that would settle international arguments
how did the permanent court of international justice work
any country could bring an issue to the court and 11 judges and 4 deputy judges would listen to both sides before reaching a verdict
the court could then advise the parties involved - however, it was just advise not a compulsory ruling and since the league had no army it was difficult to make countries agree unless they wanted to
who elected the court
the assembly and council
how long would judges in the court be in role for
11 years
what was the secretariat
the civil service of the league, meaning it was in charge of administration and organising any action that the league wanted to take
what did the secretariat consist of
it was a body of experts from different areas, such as finance, who were responsible for carrying out any decisions taken by the league, with the exception of military issues
what was the special commissions
these were special groups put together to tackle issues that the league was worried about
what groups made up the special commissions
- the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
- the Disarmament Commission
- the Health Organisation
- the Slavery Commission
- the Commission for Refugees
- the Permanent Central Opium Board
what did other commissions do
helped undeveloped countries with economic issues, supported under-represented or minority groups, such as women, and supervised the mandates
strengths of the league
- it was written into all of the peace treaties at the end of ww1, so all nations involved signed an agreement that recognised the organisation
- it had a vast membership
- as there were so many members, economic sanctions and moral condemnation were daunting punishments for many countries
weaknesses of the league
- many important countries did not, or would not, join the league -> the usa, for example, never joined -> this undermined the league as a ‘global’ organisation and meant that if a country faced economic sanctions it could still trade with some of the most powerful and richest countries
- the league had no army, which meant that it could not force people to obey it
- the structure was very complicated -> it confused people and slowed action
- decisions had to be unanimous, which meant that decision-making was slow
what were the aims of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
to bring workers, employers and governments together to improve the conditions that people worked in
successes of the ILO
- 1922 - recommended banning the use of white lead in paint as it was poisonous
- 1930 - helped greece set up social insurance (to help people if they were unemployed because of an illness)
- 1928 - 77 countries agreed to set minimum wage
- in Tanganyika, Africa, slave labour was being used to build a new railway, but conditions were so bad that 50% of the workers died; the league challenged this and reduced the death rate to 4%
failures of the ILO
1919 - tried to stop children under the age of 14 from working; this suggestion was not adopted by most members because they thought it would cost too much money
1935 - suggested that the working day should be limited to 8 hours; when members voted on this issue, only 4 voted in favour of it, saying it would cost industries too much
-> similarly, the suggestion that workers should be paid for their holidays was unpopular - one member said it would be ‘industrial suicide’
aims of the Commission for Refugees
to return prisoners of war home and support refugees by improving camp conditions, finding new homes, or returning them to their own countries once the treat of conflict had passed
successes of the Commission for Refugees
- 1921 - the league helped free around 427,000 out of 500,000 prisoners of war still imprisoned from ww1 and returned them to their homelands
- 1917 - revolution led to civil war in russia; by 1921, 1.5 million people had fled russia to refugee camps and the league helped them find new homes
-1922 - turkey clashed with greece and the violence forced people to flee to refugee camps. the league set up refugee camps and sent doctors to help treat diseases such as cholera and small pox in these camps; homes were found for around 600,000 greeks fleeing from turkey between 1919 and 1923 - created the Nansen passport, a document that could be used as identification by refugees (this was named after Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian explorer who became the high commissioner for refugees in 1921)
failures of the Commission for Refugees
1933 - the league tried to appoint a high commissioner for refugees, who were mainly jewish, fleeing from germany. germany rejected this proposal, so a unanimous vote could not be reached and the motion was defeated.
1933 - the commissioner was appointed, but as an independent body separate from the league, meaning they had less power
successes of the Slavery Commission
organised raids on the camps of slave traders in SIerra Leone, setting 200,000 people free. in 1927, Sierra Leone announced slavery was to be abolished altogether
successes of the economic and financial committee
- austria and hungary had lost the war and were trying to rebuild their economies; the league sent financial experts to help so that the two countries would not go bankrupt
- developed codes for importing and exporting so that all members were following the same rules
failures of the economic and financial committee
when global depression hit after 1929, this commission was unable to cope
aims of the Organisation for Communications and Transport
regulated transport development during the war in order to keep people safe
successes of the Organisation for Communications and Transport
- introduced shipping lanes, which meant that fewer collisions occurred
- produced an international highway code so that car drivers followed the same traffic rules wherever they travelled
successes of the Health Committee
- started an international campaign to kill mosquitoes, which spread diseases such as malaria and yellow fever
- worked with the government in russia to organise an education programme to teach people about how the disease typhus was spread
- sent doctors to look after refugees in turkey and helped improve living conditions in refugee camps in the 1920s
- the health committee was later renamed the World Health Organisation (WHO), which still exists today
aims of the Permanent Central Opium Board
to stop the cultivation (creation) and distribution of opium (an addictive drug) - opium was legally used as a pain killer but some drug companies sold it illegally
after 1925 the Board became the Permanent Central Narcotics Board and tackled other drugs as well
successes of the Permanent Central Opium Board
- introduced a system where companies had to have a certificate to sat that they were allowed to import opium for medicinal purposes
- black listed four large companies that were involved in trading illegal drugs
failures of the Permanent Central Opium Board
some historians claim that key members of the league were not really dedicated to stopping the sale of opium, as they made large amounts of money from it
Vilna 1920:
(how successful were the league in the 1920s)
- after ww1 countries that had been in the austro-hungarian empire were given independence
- lots of new countries were created, including Poland and Lithuania
- Vilna was to be the capital of Lithuania, but the majority of people living there wanted to be polish
- a polish army took over the city and Lithuania asked the league for help
- the league told poland to remove their army but was refused
- france wanted poland as a potential ally against germany so refused to help
- britain would not send troops without the support of other countries
- so, the first time the league was asked to settle a dispute they did nothing, and poland took vilna
SELF-INTEREST OF BRITAIN AND FRANCE - FAILURE
Upper Silesia 1921-1925 (how successful was the league in the 1920s)
- upper silesia was on the border between germany and poland at the end of ww1 and both germans and poles were living there
- both nations wanted to claim the area as it was important to iron and steel production
- in 1921, a plebiscite (a vote in which the whole country take part) was organised to decide who would own upper silesia
- britain and france sent troops to police voting stations and to make sure the vote was fair and calm
- germany won 60% of the votes, but poland claimed that many of the people who voted for germany no longer lived in upper silesia
- they complained and the league decided to split upper silesia into regions according to how people had voted
- germany received most of the rural areas, while poland received the industrial zones
- the outcome was accepted by both germany and poland
- the league made sure the partition went smoothly by ensuring that rail links, water and electricity were still supplied to each side of upper silesia
- however, the final settlement was considered unfair by the poles; they received roughly half the population of upper silesia, but only a third of the land -> around 500,000 poles were now confirmed living in german territory
- the germans weren’t fully satisfied either
- they lost 3/4 of the coal mines they had owned prior to the settlement -> a valuable source of income
- in 1922 the german gov complianed to the league and was awarded the right to import coal at a heavily discounted rate
- when this agreement ended in 1925 relations between germany and poland worsened
PARTIAL SUCCESS
the Aland Islands 1921 (how successful was the league in the 1920s)
- both sweden and finland claimed the Aland islands, which were between the two countries, and threatened war on each other
- the league investigated each countries claim and decided it should go to finland
- however, finland was not allowed to build forts on the island so that they could not be used as a base from to attack sweden
- sweden agreed to these terms so the league had successfully avoided war
SUCCESSFUL
when was the competition for Vilna
1920
when was the competition for upper silesia
1921-1925
when was the competition for the aland islands
1921
corfu 1923 (how successful was the league in the 1920s)
- after the war, the boundaries of greece and albania were still to be agreed upon
- the league gave the job to an italian general named Tellini, but while he was surveying an area of greece, Tellini and his team were murdered
- at this time, italy was ruled by a dictator named Mussolini
- when he heard about what had happened he was furious and blamed the greek gov
- he demanded the murderers be executed and that he should be paid compensation, but the greeks did not know who murdered them
- on 31st august mussolini invaded and occupied corfu, killing 15 people
- greece appealed to the league, who condemned mussolini’s act of aggression but agreed the greeks should pay compensation
- the league would look after the money and it would be awarded to italy once the killers were found
- mussolini still wasn’t satisfied
- he complained to the conference of ambassadors, a group of powerful countries including britain, france and japan, and persuaded them to undermine the league
- greece was forced to apologise and pay compensation directly to italy
- mussolini did withdraw his troops from corfu
- in this instance, when a large country had threatened a smaller one with military action, the league had proved that they could be ignored and overturned by other international groups
SUCCESS FOR AVOIDING WAR BUT FAILURE TO SHOW POWER OF LEAGUE
bulgaria 1925 (how successful was the league in the 1920s)
- when greek soldiers were killed on the bulgarian border, greece invaded
- bulgaria appealed to the league for help
- the league condemned the greeks and ordered them to withdraw troops and pay compensation
- greece thought that the league was being hypocritical, as mussolini had got away with similar actions in corfu in 1923
- however, greece was a small country and unwilling to risk poor relations with powerful members of the league, such as britain and france, so they obeyed
SUCCESSFULLY AVOIDED WAR
wall street crash 1929 (how successful was the league in the 1920s)
- in 1929, the american economy crashed
- the country was plunged into a devastating depression -> this would last throughout the 1930s
- america traded with countries across the world and had lent lots of money during and after the war, so global economies were also affected
- the whole world faced economic depression and in desperate times people lost faith in their governments
- some people turned to extremist parties such as the nazis in germany who promised to make germany strong again by overturning the treaty of versailles
- the league was powerless to do anything to help people or to control these new party leaders who were willing to resort to violence to get their own way
when was the corfu disagreement
1923
when was the bulgaria disagreement
1925
when was the wall street crash
1929
