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GCSE History : Conflict and Tension > Conflict and Tension: League of Nations > Flashcards

Conflict and Tension: League of Nations Flashcards

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1
Q

How was the League of Nations formed?

A
  • recognition of the League was written into the Treaty of Versailles and all other peace treaties at the end of the war
  • such an organisation was one of President Wilson’s 14 Points
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2
Q

Where were the League of Nation’s headquarters?

A

Geneva in Switzerland.

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3
Q

What was the covenant of the League?

A
  • a set of rules for how it was to work
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4
Q

What were the aims of the League of Nations?

A
  • to uphold and enforce the Treaty of Versailles
  • to stop war by encouraging negotiation rather than aggression
  • disarmament- to encourage countries to have smaller militaries to prevent wars
  • to improve the life and jobs of people around the world - by improving health and welfare, and also by encouraging trade and business.
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5
Q

What were the laws of the covenant?

A
  • the covenant had 26 articles (laws) that all members agreed to follow
    TWO KEY POINTS:
    -article 10- collective security- any member threatened with war to be protected by the other members
  • as the LoN was a peaceful organisation it didn’t have its own army.
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6
Q

What were the powers of the League?

A
  • mitigation - get disagreeing countries to talk through their problems.
  • moral condemnation- a public telling off for offending countries. All countries in the League would put pressure on the aggressor in order to make them feel guilty and shame them into stopping their actions.
  • economic sanctions - members of the LoN wouldn’t trade with countries not keeping peace- all countries in the League would stop trading with the aggressor.
  • military force - countries in the League would contribute to an armed force that would act against the aggressor.
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7
Q

What was the potential problem with mitigation?

A

Countries could simply ignore the League.

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8
Q

What was the potential problem with moral condemnation?

A

Countries could simply ignore the League.

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9
Q

What was the potential problem with economic sanctions?

A

Countries were unwilling to stop trade. They would lose money too.
Offending countries could still trade with missing members of the League (USA, Russia)

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10
Q

What was the potential problem with military force?

A

Due to the absence of other nations, they relied on Britain and France to supply troops. They didn’t want to. Memory of WW1 still fresh in people’s minds.

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11
Q

How many members did the League of Nations have?

A

When it was founded, the LoN had 42 members. This increased in the 1920s then fell again after the crises of the 1930s.

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12
Q

Why was the LoN weakened?

A
  • because certain important countries were not members at the start.
  • didn’t have an army
  • had a bad set-up
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13
Q

What were USA’s opinions on the League of Nations?

A
  • Although Woodrow Wilson was keen on the idea, many of Americans did not like the LoN.
  • They did not want American soldiers to die sorting out European problems.
  • The USA believed in freedom for individual countries and did not want to support imperialistic countries like Britain and France.
  • They were  worried that American money would be used to resolve other countries’ problems.
  • In 1920, Woodrow Wilson was defeated in the presidential election, his successor Warren Harding followed an isolationist policy. Taking the USA out of European affairs. The USA would not sign the treaty of Versailles, or join the league of Nations.
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14
Q

What were the USSR’s opinions on the league of Nations?

A
  • they were not allowed to join as it was communist
    -Did not want to join as a saw the league of Nations as a club for the capitalist countries that had won World War I
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15
Q

What were Germany’s opinions on the league of Nations?

A
  • The nations that lost World War I were not allowed to join
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16
Q

Name two positive changes to the membership in the league of Nations.

A
  • Germany joined 1926 after the Locarno treaties.
  • Soviet Union joined 1934
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17
Q

Name four negative changes to the membership in the League of Nations.

A
  • Germany, left 1933
    -Japan, left 1933
  • Italy, left 1937
  • Soviet union expelled, 1939.
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18
Q

Name three other problems with the league of Nations right from the start.

A
  • Britain and France were the most important countries in the league of Nations, but neither of them were especially enthusiastic about the league of Nations and both were willing to use other mechanisms to deal with foreign policy right from the start.
  • Countries that had lost land in the peace, treaties did not feel the postwar settlement was just. They saw the league of Nations as part of this, and saw it as a ‘victors club’ that was not likely to be fair to them.
  • The world was facing a range of huge problems caused by the war- refugees and war damage, unemployment as soldiers returned home, economic difficulties caused by the cost of the war, political instability as government struggled to deal with these problems. It was not an ideal time to create a new organisation such as the league.
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19
Q

What was the organisation of the league of Nations?

A
  • The assembly
  • International Court of Justice
  • Council
  • Special commissions
  • Secretariat
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20
Q

What was the assembly?

A
  • Like the league of Nation’s parliament
  • Met once a year to agree the budget, discuss any problems and elect temporary council members.
  • Every member of the assembly had one vote.
  • To pass a decision, a unanimous vote was needed.
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21
Q

How well did the assembly work?

A
  • How to deal with issues arising, if they only met once a year
  • With over 50 members by the 1930s, reaching a unanimous vote was difficult.
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22
Q

What was the International Court of Justice?

A
  • 15 judges
  • settled disputes between countries
  • Could only give a judgement if the countries involved asked for one
  • Could denounce countries’ actions in the press
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23
Q

How well did the International Court of Justice work?

A
  • could only get involved if countries agreed to take their problems to the court.
  • Could not make countries obey its decisions.
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24
Q

What was the council?

A
  • four permanent members ( Britain, France, Italy, Japan) and 10 non-permanent members
  • Met five times a year to discuss urgent matters
  • Majority vote was needed to make decisions
  • Permanent members had a veto ( could scrap a decision) even if a majority had voted for it
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25
Q

How well did the council work?

A
  • each of the permanent members could stop the league of Nations taking action if it went against their wishes
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26
Q

What were the special commissions?

A

Groups to tackle issues

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27
Q

What was the Secretariat?

A

Administrators for the league of Nations

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28
Q

What were the events which took place regarding the contribution of the league to peace in the 1920s?

A
  • vilna (1920)
  • Polish- Soviet war (1919-21)
  • Aaland islands (1921)
  • Upper Silesia ( 1921-25)
  • Memel (1923)
  • Ruhr (1923)
  • Corfu (1923)
    -Bulgaria (1925)
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29
Q

What was the Vilna crisis and how were the League of Nations involved?

A

This was part of the old Austro-Hungarian empire. Vilna was to be the capital of the newly nation of Lithuania. However, there were many Polish people living there, so Poland also wanted Vilna and invaded.
Lithuania asked the LoN for help. The LoN asked Poland to remove their troops.

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30
Q

Was the Vilna crisis a failure or a success for the League of Nations and why?

A
  • failure
  • Poland ignored them, and no further action was taken as Poland was needed as a potential force against Germany or Russia.
  • This incident showed that the league of nations would not always act strongly against aggression.
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31
Q

When was the Vilna Crisis?

A

1920

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32
Q

What was the Polish-Soviet war crisis and how were the League of Nations involved?

A
  • Poland was not content with its eastern borders, and decided to seize parts of Russia and Ukraine.
  • The league was unable to prevent this warfare.
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33
Q

Was the Polish-Soviet war crisis a failure or success for the League of Nations and why?

A
  • Failure
  • In fact, Poland was backed by France and Britain. Over 100,000. People died in the conflict.
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34
Q

When was the Polish-Soviet war crisis?

A

1919-21

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35
Q

What was the Aaland Islands Crisis and how were the League of Nations involved?

A
  • 6500 small islands between Sweden and Finland, which were strategist naval bases. Both countries went to the league of Nations claiming ownership of the islands.
  • The league of Nations gave them to Finland on the condition that they did not use them for a military base.
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36
Q

Was the Aaland Islands crisis a success or a failure for the League of Nations and why?

A
  • success
  • Both sides agreed to the outcome.
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37
Q

When was the Aaland Islands Crisis?

A

1921

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38
Q

What was the Upper Silesia Crisis and how were the League of Nations involved?

A
  • it was an important area of iron and steel production and both Germany and Poland wanted to claim it.
  • A public vote (Plebiscite) in 1921, decided which country would get which parts. 60% of the vote was pro German and the land was shared, according to which areas voted which way.
  • Poland disputed the result, claiming the vote was fixed.
  • Poland also complained that they had more of the population, but Germany got most of the land.
  • Germany complained that, but the part given to Poland contained the rich industrial areas.
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39
Q

Was the Upper Silesia crisis a failure or a success for the league of Nations? Why?

A
  • success and failure
  • Both countries accepted the result, but it created tension between the two countries.
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40
Q

When was the Upper Silesia crisis?

A

1921-25

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41
Q

What was the Memel crisis and how were the LoN involved?

A
  • this port was disputed between Poland and Lithuania, and was given ‘ free city’ status by the treaty of Versailles. It was to be governed by the league of Nations independent of both Poland and Lithuania. In 1923, Lithuania seized the port anyway.
  • The league of Nations said Lithuania could keep the surrounding areas, but that the port itself had to be a ‘ free International zone’.
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42
Q

Was the Memel crisis a success or a failure for the League of Nations and why?

A
  • Success and failure
  • Lithuania agreed to the ruling, but they had been rewarded for their initial aggression by being allowed the land around Memel.
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43
Q

When was the Memel crisis?

A
  • 1923
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44
Q

What was the Ruhr crisis and how was the league of nations involved?

A

The Ruhr was an industrial area of Germany. France and Belgium invaded because Germany failed to keep up with its war repayments
France did not consult the League of Nations.

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45
Q

Was the Ruhr crisis a success or failure for the league of Nations? Why?

A
  • Failure
  • France, with one of the leaders of the league of Nations, and they had just taken their own decisions without allowing the league of Nations to get involved.
  • The workers went on strike and this caused mass hyperinflation in Germany. This was ended by the USA and the introduction of the Dawes plan.
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46
Q

When was the Ruhr crisis?

A

1923

47
Q

What was the Corfu crisis and how was the league of nations involved?

A
  • After World War I, the border between Greece and Albania, was still not decided. The league of Nations sent in Italian army officer called Enrico Tellini to survey the area. He was murdered along with four of his men by unknown attackers in the disputed border area. The Italian fascist leader, Mussolini, blamed the Greeks, and demanded compensation. The Greek government refused, claiming the murderous could have been Albanian. Italy invaded the Greek island of Corfu.
  • The league verbally condemned Mussolini’s actions. Mussolini told the league of Nations to stay out of the affair and threatened to leave the league of Nations if it didn’t do as he said.
  • He took the issue to an alternative body called the conference of ambassadors instead.
  • France backed Italy, as they didn’t want the league of Nations getting involved with their own occupation of the Ruhr.
48
Q

When was the Corfu crisis?

A

1923.

49
Q

What was the Bulgaria crisis and how was the league of nations involved?

A
  • A Greek soldier crossed the Bulgarian border chasing after his dog, and was shot by the Bulgarians. Greece declared war and invaded Bulgaria.
    -The League of nations ordered Grace to withdraw and offered them no compensation, but made them pay compensation for invading Bulgaria.
50
Q

What is the Bulgaria crisis a failure or success of the League of Nations? Why?

A
  • success and failure
  • Greece withdrew, but accused the league of Nations for being hypocritical as Italy had gotten compensation for Corfu when they had invaded for similar reasons.
51
Q

When was the Bulgaria crisis?

A

1925

52
Q

Name seven of the leagues agencies/ commissions.

A

-The International labour organisation (ILO)
- Slavery commission
- Commission for refugees
- Health organisation
- narcotics board
- Organisation for Communications and transport
- Economic and financial committee

53
Q

What were the aims of the International labour organisation??

A

To improve working conditions.

54
Q

What were the successes of the International labour organisation?

A
  • in the 1920s, the death rate of workers on the Tanganyika railwaywas reduced from 50% to 4%.
55
Q

What were the failures of the International labour organisation?

A
  • in 1919 most member countries refused to ban children under 14 from working as they felt it would be too expensive for businesses.
56
Q

What were the aims of the slavery commission?

A
  • End slavery
57
Q

What were the successes of the slavery committee?

A
  • during the 1920s, the league freed 200,000 enslaved people in Sierra Leone.
58
Q

What are the failures of the slavery commission?

A

None

59
Q

What were the aims of the commission for refugees?

A

Help people who had been made homeless by war, or had no safe place to live.

60
Q

What were the successes of the commission for refugees?

A

Helped free 427,000 of the 500,000 soldiers who were still imprisoned at the end of World War I.

61
Q

What were the failures of the commission for refugees?

A

During the 1930s, they failed to help Jews trying to flee Nazi Germany.

62
Q

What were the aims of the health organisation?

A

Cure disease

63
Q

What are the successes of the health organisation?

A

Sent doctors to help in Turkish refugee camps.

64
Q

What are the failures of the health organisation?

A

None.

65
Q

What are the aims of the narcotics board?

A

To stop illegal drugs trade

66
Q

What were the successes of the narcotics board?

A

Exposed four large companies involved in illegal drugs trade

67
Q

What are the failures of the narcotics board?

A

Some countries in the league did not want to stop the training opium as they made too much money from it.

68
Q

What are the aims of the organisation for Communications and transport?

A

To improve how countries communicated.

69
Q

What were the successes of the organisation for Communications and transport?

A
  • Introduced shipping lanes, and international highway code
70
Q

What were the failures of the organisation or Communications and transport?

A

None

71
Q

What were the aims of the economic and financial committee?

A

Improve living conditions

72
Q

What were the successes of the economic and financial committee?

A

Send advises to Austria and Hungary to help rebuild their economies when they went bankrupt in 1993

73
Q

What are the failures of the economic and financial committee?

A

None

74
Q

How was the leagues international image damaged through diplomacy outside the league?

A
  • The league of Nations should’ve been the focus of all international diplomacy, and should’ve been at the heart of arrangements to secure peace.
  • However, the fact that Germany, Russia and USA, were not members meant that any arrangements involving them couldn’t happen through the league of Nations.
  • The UK and France took part in a number of these are the arrangements, despite also being the key nations within the League of Nations
  • the league’s international image was damaged
75
Q

Name four diplomacies outside the league.

A
  • Washington naval conference - 1921-22
  • treaty of Rapallo
  • Locarno treaties - 1925
  • Kellogg-Briand pact - 1928
76
Q

Who was involved in the Washington naval conference?

A

Nine nations, including USA, UK, France, Japan, and Italy.

77
Q

How was the Washington naval conference a positive for peace?

A

The agreement reached on a maximum size for navies in relation to each other and prevented another naval race.

78
Q

How was the Washington naval conference a negative for the league of Nations?

A

It was agreed without the league of Nations as USA wasn’t a member.
It showed that a successful worlds first arms control agreement didn’t need the league of Nations, and that the USA could lead alternative options to the league of Nations.

79
Q

Who was involved in the Rapallo treaty?

A

Russia and Germany.

80
Q

How was the Rapallo treaty a positive for peace?

A

It was an agreement that both would accept the settlement in Eastern Europe with new countries, such as Poland now in existence in land formerly owned by Russia and Germany.
Germany recognised the Communist as the official government of Russia. Neither side would make any more claims on the other for the costs of World War I.

81
Q

How was the Rapallo treaty a negative for the league of Nations?

A

It was agreed without the league of Nations as Germany and Russia weren’t members.

82
Q

Who was involved in the Locarno treaties?

A

France( represented by foreign minister Aristide Briand) and Germany (represented by Foreign Minister, Gustav Stresemann) . It was also signed by the UK and Italy as guarantors.

83
Q

How was the Locarno treaties a positive for peace?

A

Germany publicly accepted the treaty of Versailles and their new western borders.
Improved relationships between Germany and other nations .
Reassured France that Germany wouldn’t invade and reassured Germany that France wouldn’t invade as they had in the Ruhr crisis.

84
Q

How was the Locarno treaties a negative for the league of Nations?

A

It was agreed without the league of Nations as Germany wasn’t a member.
The league of Nations should’ve led this, especially as France and the UK were involved.

85
Q

Who was involved in the Kellogg brand pact?

A

65 nations, including Germany, France and USA.

86
Q

How was the Kellogg brand pact a positive for peace?

A

Signatories renounced use of war as a way to solve disputes.

87
Q

How was the Kellogg Briand pact a negative for the league of Nations?

A

It was agreed without the league of Nations as Germany and USA weren’t members.
Starting to appear that the league of Nations was not a place for significant new moves in international relationships.

88
Q

What led to the collapse of the US economy?

A

The Wall Street crash in October 1929.

89
Q

What happened after the Wall Street crash?

A

The US economy collapsed.
The US recalled loans it had made to other countries such as Germany .
Without American money, the economies of these countries collapsed too.
Unemployment, starvation and homelessness spread around the world.
People lost faith in their democratic governments and people turned to extremist governments in order to solve their problems.

90
Q

How did the Wall Street crash lead to extremist parties coming to power?

A

This was because people lost faith in the democratic governments, leading people to turn to extremist government to solve their problems.
- In Germany, Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in 1933.
- In Italy, Mussolini and the fascist party were already in power, having seized power during Italy’s problems in the early 1920s, and can he continued his dictatorship. The economic problems, encouraged Mussolini to try and build an overseas empire to distract peoples attention away from the difficulties the government faced.
- In the Soviet Union, Stalin tightened his grip on power as a Communist dictator.
- All over Europe, countries turned away from democracy, and towards “strong leaders” who promised to make that country Strong again.

91
Q

What are the extremist leaders interested in the league of Nations?

A

No, these leaders were not interested in the league’s agenda of cooperation and peace. For example, Hitler stormed out of the disarmament conference of 1933. These dictators were determined to start wars in order to increase their popularity at home. The league was not equipped to deal with powerful nations, led by those determined to start wars.

92
Q

Why were the extremist parties popular?

A
  • they were good at offering ‘ simple’ solutions that sounded less complicated than those of other parties - Hitler offered ‘ freedom, bread and work’
  • In a dictatorship, everything is run by the state. This meant that they were more likely to look after the unemployed as they would become a burden on the state.
  • They promised to take land by force, so that their populations would have space, food and resources.
  • they used the promise of wars overseas to distract people from the problems at home. These victories would restore national pride and increase support for the government.
  • They found people to blame for the problems. For example, Hitler blamed the Jews and the treaty of Versailles.
93
Q

What problems did the league of nations face when dealing with extremist governments?

A
  • The dictators didn’t care about collective security and weren’t scared of moral condemnation.
  • to fight dictators successfully, the league of Nations would need an army, which it didn’t have.
  • There were several extremist government and the democratic nations couldn’t deal with them all at once, and ended up trying to work with some of them against others.
  • If it wanted to fight, it would have to ask its members to go to war, but no one wanted the expense of a war during the depression.
  • The only thing the league of Nations could do was imposed economic sanctions, but in the middle of an economic crisis, no one was willing to stop any trading as this would create more unemployment.
94
Q

What is the background of the Manchurian crisis?

A

China was internally divided. Following decades of decline and losses to foreign powers such as Britain and Japan, the last Emperor had been forced to abdicate in 1912, ending 5000 years of imperial rule, and China was still trying to determine its future. A civil war had been underway since 1927.

95
Q

What were the causes of the Manchurian crisis?

A
  • Japan was a rising power, looking to expand
  • Japan’s territory is made up a small islands with few natural resources. Japan had also had a population boom.
  • Most of Japan’s economy was based on a exporting silk to rich countries (e.g. USA). However, silk is a luxury item, so when the great depression hit, the demand plummeted.
  • To make matters worse, countries like the USA put tariffs on goods coming from Japan to try and encourage people to buy products from their own countries during the depression.
  • Japanese industry went into decline, and many people were unemployed. By 1932, was worth 1/5 of what it had been in the early 1920s. Production and employment had fallen by 30%.
  • Japan was becoming more militaristic with some people thinking the army should control the government.
  • in 1910 Japan had taken over Korea, and was continuing to take advantage of its resources.
  • Manchuria, in northern China was right next to Korea, and was also rich in good farmland, and raw materials, such as coal and iron ore. It could also provide a market for Japanese goods.
  • There was a history of confusion over who actually owned Manchuria. It was an area where Russia and Japan had already exercised some control in previous decades. The Japanese still and factories and major railway there and already had an army division stationed nearby.
96
Q

Describe the events in the Manchurian Crisis (1931-1933)

A
  • In September 1931, Japanese troops staged an explosion near the town of Mukden on the Japanese-owned South Manchurian railway. The Japanese blamed the Chinese, but the Chinese denied they were involved.
  • The Japanese army then invaded the Chinese territory of Manchuria.
  • The invasion was a success, a ‘puppet leader’ was put in charge of the area, and Manchuria was renamed Manchukuo.
  • In 1932, the Chinese appealed to the League for support against the Japanese.
  • The League was reluctant to act because:
    - members were struggling with the impact of the Depression
    - Japan was a leading member of the League
    - Manchuria was a long way from Europe where the LoN was based.
    - Economic sanctions would be limited as Japan’s main trading partner was the USA.
    - Military action was an unpopular choice due to the financial and human cost especially for the WW1 generation, now living in an economic Depression.
    - There was confusion over what had happened in the Mukden incident and therefor who was “at fault”.
    - Many people thought China’s civil war had brought chaos and Japanese rule could bring order to the region.
    - The nearest powerful country was the USSR, but they weren’t members of the League
  • The League sent a commission, led by Lord Lytton, to investigate the crisis.
  • The Commission took over a year to investigate, by which time the invasion and occupation had been completed.
  • the League accepted the findings of the report, condemned the action of the Japanese, and asked the Japanese to withdraw from the province.
  • the Japanese ignored the report, remained in control of Manchuria, and went on to occupy more Chinese territory in the years which followed. In 1933, Japan resigned from the League, and invaded Jehol (next to Manchuria).
  • In 1937, Japan invaded the rest of China.
97
Q

What is the significance of the Manchurian Crisis?

A
  • this event marked the beginning of the end of the League of Nations
  • One of the major members of the League of Nations had ignored moral condemnation and orders to withdraw.
  • Without an army the LoN was powerless
  • Economic sanctions were weak because the USA was Japan’s main trading partner.
  • At the time, most people still had faith in the LoN, they thought the League would be able to deal better with any events in Europe.
  • Britain and France weren’t willing to support the League in taking action against the Japanese.
  • The League failed to prevent aggression. This encouraged later aggression by Italy and Germany.
98
Q

What were the causes of the Abyssinian crisis?

A
  • much like the rest of the world, Italy suffered during the Great Depression. But this was already on top of the existing financial problems stemming from WW1
    -it was only a young country (united in 1861) with no large modern empire
  • The Roman Empire, however, gave it a glorious past to live up to.
  • Mussolini had ruled Italy since 1922 and wanted to increase Italy’s prestige as a new world power by increasing its territories in Africa
  • During ‘scramble for Africa’ in the 1880s, many European powers rushed to colonise areas of Africa - including Italy. However, Italy was a young country with limited funds and they only managed to secure minor territory in Eritrea and Somaliland (they didnt control Libya until 1911)
  • Italy had attempted to colonise Abyssinia, which was rich in natural resources, but suffered a humiliating defeat in 1896. The Italians wanted revenge.
  • Abyssinia was one of the few countries in Africa not under European control
  • Abyssinia was the only African nation to have defeated the colonisers and remained the only free Black Country in Africa at the time
  • Abyssinia possessed natural resources that could be useful during the Depression
    -Events in Corfu and Manchuria had given Mussolini confidence that the LoN would not intervene if Italy invaded Abyssinia.
  • In 1935, Britain and France had sought Italy’s help to counterbalance Hitler in the Stresa front. He though they would not want to risk their new agreement.
99
Q

Describe the events in the Abyssinian Crisis.

A
  • In December 1934, Italian and Abyssinian troops clashed at the Wal Wal oasis in a disputed border area between Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland
  • The french foreign minister Pierre Laval made a secret deal with Mussolini allowing him to deal with the situation as he liked without any French interference.
  • The Emperor of Abyssinia, Haile Selassie, appealed to the League for assistance in June 1935.
  • In October 1935, Italian troops invaded Abyssinia, the Italians had modern weapons including chemical weapons. The Abyssinians were poorly equipped.
  • The League condemned Italian aggression and imposed economic sanctions against Italy.
  • But, these sanctions did not include steel, coal or oil so Mussolini was able to get these supplies which were needed for the invasion, and Italy continued to trade with non-League members such as the USA
  • France and Britain did not want to offend Mussolini and drive him closer to Hitler and Germany. They did not close the Suez Canal. If they had, Italy would not have been able to move troops easily from Italy to Abyssinia, which left them defenceless.
  • In December 1935, the British foreign secretary even worked out a plan with the French, known as the Hoare-Laval pact, to offer Mussolini most of Abyssinia. However, the plan had to be withdrawn when it was leaked to the public.
  • In March 1936, Hitler invaded the Rhineland. France was now more worried about Hitler and feared that Italy would ally with Germany if the League took any more action over Abyssinia.
  • In May 1936, Italy captured the capital city Addis Ababa
  • In 1937, Italy left the LoN
100
Q

What was the significance of the Abyssinian Crisis?

A
  • It became clear that if a strong nation was prepared to ignore the League, the League could do nothing about it.
  • The League’s delays and slowness made it look scared.
  • Sanctions were shown to be useless.
  • Everybody realised that Britain and France were not prepared to use force.
  • The four major powers - Japan, Italy, Britain and France - all betrayed the League.
  • Smaller nations realised that the League could not and would not protect them.
  • Britain and France decided that the League was useless to stop war, and instead followed the policy of appeasement.
  • Hitler was encouraged to move ahead with his plans.
101
Q

What were the reasons for the failure of the League to avert war in 1939?

A

In addition to the direct consequences of failure in Manchuria and Abyssinia, there were a number of fundamental reasons for the League’s ultimate failure.
- French and British self-interest - they looked after their own interests rather than the League’s.
- Absent powers - key countries such as the USA were not in the League and others were able to leave
- Ineffective sanctions - that either weren’t used or didn’t work
- Lack of armed forces - the League had no troops of its own
- Unfair treaty - the League’s job was to enforce treaties that some members thought were unfair
- Reaching decisions too slowly - the League was very slow to act which made it ineffective
- Economic depression which had led some countries to turn extreme and aggressive governments (and too many of them to handle at once) and meant others did not want to risk the financial cost of opposing them.)

102
Q

How did the actions of Britain and France play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in general?

A
  • were selfish
  • put themselves first
  • their relationship was not strong, they kept falling out over how Germany was being treated.
103
Q

How did the actions of Britain and France play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in Manchuria?

A
  • were reluctant to get involved in a conflict on the other side of the world, to some extent saw Japan as ‘restoring order’ in Manchuria Britain sent Lord Lytton but he was too slow in writing his report allowing Japan to complete their invasion.
104
Q

How did the actions of Britain and France play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in Abyssinia ?

A

Refused to take strong action against Mussolini in case he sided with Hitler. Ended up ‘appeasing’ Italy instead eg Hoare Laval Pact Refused to close Suez Canal.
Both had huge African empires so couldn’t really object to Italy aspiring to do the same.

105
Q

How did the actions of the membership of the League play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in general?

A

Never had all major nations in the League at the same time. Russia and USA missing from the start. Whenever a ‘bully’ in the League was confronted they simply left, making effective action difficult.

106
Q

How did the actions of the membership of the League play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in Manchuria ?

A

Russia was missing at this time. As the closest nation to Japan they could have applied pressure on them to stop. Sanctions would have been more effective. USA was one of Japan’s main trading partners

107
Q

How did the actions of the membership of the League play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in Abyssinia ?

A

The absence of the USA made economic sanctions less effective and made Britain and France less likely to push for further sanctions.

108
Q

How did the failure of sanctions play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in general ?

A

Depended on the goodwill of all nations.
This worked in the 1920s, but not in the 19305 when nations were suffering from the Depression.

109
Q

How did the failure of sanctions play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in Manchuria ?

A

Britain was unwilling to risk its trade with Japan by imposing economic sanctions. Other members refused to ban arms sales in case
Japan retaliated.
Others felt there was no point as the USA (not a LoN member) was Japan’s main trading partner anyway.

110
Q

How did the failure of sanctions play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in Abyssinia ?

A

Italy could still trade with USA and this meant that Britain and France unwilling to impose economic sanctions.
Britain and France didn’t want to upset Mussolini in case he allied with Hitler.
When sanctions were eventually imposed, they did not ban trade in coal, steel or oil needed to attack.

111
Q

How did the organisation of the League play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in general ?

A

Was flawed from the start, No army.
Needed everyone to work together for collective security to work. Too much depended on permanent members of council. Too easy to leave. Weaknesses showed as soon as bigger members became aggressive.

112
Q

How did the organisation of the League play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in Manchuria ?

A

When Japan ignored the League’s warnings, the lack of a Lon army meant there was nothing it could do if Britain and France didn’t want to act.

113
Q

How did the organisation of the League play a part in the failure of the League to avert war in 1939 in Abyssinia ?

A

The permanent members of the Council were unwilling and unable to act. The Abyssinians pleaded to the Assembly but it was powerless to do anything.
Lack of an LoN army (and the ban on weapons sales) left the Abyssinians defenceless.

GCSE History : Conflict and Tension (3 decks)

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