International Relations - League Of Nations Flashcards
- Whose idea was it to form a League of Nations?
During WW1 a number of statesmen began discussing ways to avoid another international conflict. Although a number of options were considered, in the end it was decided to adopt an idea supported by the South African leader Jan Smuts and US President Woodrow Wilson: form a League of Nations.
- According to the covenant of the League of Nations what was its primary aims?
its primary aim was to preserve world peace, but it also attempted to promote international cooperation over a wide range of economic and social problems, including disarmament.
- In what way did the League of Nations fail in these aims?
League had clearly failed in its main aim when WW2 broke out in September 1939
- In what way did they succeed in these aims?
it did resolve some earlier conflicts and performed some useful work in tackling international problems.
- What were the main bodies of the league?
The Secretariat The Assembly The Council
- Describe the main functions of each body. What were their purposes?
The Secretariat • This was the civil service of the League • It performed all the administrative and financial work: • Organised conferences • Distributed agendas • Monitored budgets • Published reports The Assembly • Met once a year • Every member of the League had one vote • Considered matters of general policy • Controlled the League’s budget • Admitted new members • Elected non-permanent members of the Council The Council • The executive body of the League • Met four or five times a year in times of crisis • Had permanent and non-permanent members • In 1920 the permanent members were Britain, France, Italy and Japan • In 1926 Germany became a permanent member • Number of non-permanent members increased from 4 in 1920 to 11 in 1936
- What were the two largely independent bodies closely associated with the League called?
The Permanent Court of International Justice The International Labour Organisation (ILO)
- Describe the main functions of these bodies. What were their purposes?
The Permanent Court of International Justice • Based in the Hague • Offered arbitration to countries in dispute • Provided legal advice to the Council • Staffed by 11 judges and four deputy judges elected for 9 years by the Council and Assembly The International Labour Organisation (ILO) • Based in Geneva • Included representatives of government, employers and workers among its various committees • Purpose was to promote good working practices with regard to issues such as working hours, women’s rights, child labour, employers’ liability The League also set up a number of agencies, committees and commissions:
- The League set up a number of agencies, committees and commissions. Name them.
• Mandates Commission • Danzig Commission • Minorities Commission • Intellectual Cooperation Organisation • Special Committee for Drug Traffic
- What was the Mandates commission?
Mandates Commission – supervised the administration of Germany’s and Turkey’s former colonies by the victorious countries, especially Britain and France.
- What was the Danzig commission?
Danzig Commission – exercised direct League control over the former German city
- What was the minorities commission?
Minorities Commission – attempted to address ill-treatment of racial minorities
- What was the Intellectual Cooperation Organisation?
Intellectual Cooperation Organisation – promoted cultural exchanges and intellectual contact between academics, artists and writers
- What was the Special Committee for Drug Traffic?
Special Committee for Drug Traffic – campaigned to reduce drug misuse and drug smuggling
- Why was the League of Nations always limited to a certain extent?
The effectiveness of the League of Nations was limited from the start because of the absence of many countries and lack of commitment from others
- Why did the U.S.A refuse to join?
USA – the American Senate thought the League would drag them into future wars.
- Why did their refusal cause problems?
Their refusal to join meant the League was deprived of the world’s most wealthy and influential country. This limited the League’s prestige and ability to take action against aggressive countries
- Why didn’t Germany join?
Germany – wasn’t allowed to join until it had demonstrated peaceful intentions.
- How did Germany’s non-membership make the League look?
This made the league look like a club for victorious powers closely associated with the Treaty of Versailles.
- When did Germany join?
Germany was allowed to join in 1926 and became a permanent member of the Council.
- Why did they withdraw?
Hitler withdrew Germany when coming to power in 1933.
- The USSR (Russia) joined in 1934. Why were they initially not invited to join?
wasn’t invited to join the League because it was communist and committed to the overthrow of capitalism and countries such as Britain, France and Japan had been actively assisting the counter-revolution during the 1918-21 Russian Civil War.
- What year was the USSR (Russia) expelled from the League of Nations? Why were they expelled?
Later there was more tolerance on both sides and Russia did join in 1934, only to be expelled in December 1939 following the invasion of Finland
- Why did Japan leave the League of Nations?
was an original member but left in 1937 following the invasion of Manchuria and imposition of sanctions
- Who were the two only major members of the League of Nations throughout the entirety of its existence?
Britain and France – the only major members of the League throughout its existence. They had both been weakened by WW1 and had to shoulder responsibility for trying to make the League work. Yet Britain was also concerned with trying to maintain its empire while France was more concerned with increasing security against Germany. The League often took second place in the minds of British and French politicians.
- What was collective security?
Collective security was the intended means by which the League was to maintain peace.
- What were the three stages of collective security?
- Moral disapproval – following an act of aggression the Council would meet and vote to condemn the action in the hope that knowing the weight of world opinion was against it the aggressive country would back down 2. Economic sanctions – if moral disapproval failed the Council could impose economic sanctions on the aggressor through trade boycotts and refusal of credit 3. Military sanctions – if economic sanctions failed the Council could send an army to assist the victim of the aggression
- Name three of the weaknesses of collective security.
- The absence of the USA would reduce the effectiveness of moral disapproval and sanctions 2. All decisions of the Assembly or Council had to be unanimous – i.e. just one negative vote (apart from by the aggressor country itself) would make a motion fail 3. The League did not have an army itself. If military sanctions were to be used, member states would be asked to contribute to a military force. This would take time and there was no guarantee an appropriate army could be assembled. In reality, military force couldn’t be used where a major country was threatening world peace
- What did the Refugee Organisation accomplish?
The Refugee Organisation – faced the problem of many WW1 prisoners-of-war being stranded in Russia, Poland, France, Germany and Turkey. There were about 250,000 Russian s in German or French camps and 300,000 German and Austro-Hungarian soldiers in Russian camps. Also more than 1 million Greeks were made homeless during the 1919-23 Turkish War of Independence. The Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his staff worked on a very small budget with the Red Cross to help 450,000 return to their homes or find new homes between 1920 and 1922. Nansen’s work was an imaginative and logistical triumph that brought nothing but praise and thanks for the work of the League
- What did the Health Organisation accomplish?
The Health Organisation – under the inspirational leadership of Ludwig Rajchman this was one of the most successful of the League agencies. It established links with non-member countries such as Germany, Russia and the USA to provide an information service, technical assistance and advice on health matters. It helped Russia prevent a typhus epidemic in Siberia, in part by organising a public education campaign on health and sanitation. It also helped reduce leprosy and began an international campaign to exterminate mosquitoes, so reducing the spread of malaria and yellow fever. It helped set up research institutions in London, Copenhagen and Singapore which developed vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and TB. It later became the World Health Organisation, affiliated to the UN.
- What did the Economic and financial organisations rescue plan for Austria consist of?
The Economic and Financial Organisation – Following WW1 a number of countries faced economic crisis. Austria was danger of financial collapse. The League devised a rescue plan to bring expenditure into line with reduced revenues. Action was taken to stabilise the currency by controlling interest rate, the circulation of banknotes and the issuing of credit. Austria was also given a large loan. Trade revived, unemployment fell and the budget was balanced. Similarly successful rescue programmes were devised for Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria
- What was the International Labour Organisation’s objective?
The International Labour Organisation – this was led by French socialist Albert Thomas Its main objective was to improve working conditions. It collected and published data on working conditions and issued recommendations including the eight-hour working day, the 48-hour working week, annual paid holidays, the right to join trade unions and a minimum employment age. It also published information on health and safety, including demonstrating that using white lead was dangerous. Implementation of recommendations was patchy but it became increasingly difficult for member states to ignore it.
- What was the Slavery Commission’s objective?
The Slavery Commission – aimed to stamp out slavery, slave dealing and practices such as forcing women and children into prostitution. Successes included the freeing of 200,000 slaves in Sierra Leone and the reduction of the death rate for African workers on the Tanganyikan railway from 50% to 4%. Iraq, Jordan and Nepal abolished slavery altogether. However, success was not universal and ‘white slave’ traffic has continued to be a serious social problem.
- Was the Disarmament Commission a success? Explain your answer.
The Disarmament Commission – Article 8 of the League Covenant had called on all nations to disarm ‘to the lowest point consistent with national safety’. However, by the end of the 1920s only the defeated powers disarmed – and that was because they were forced to. A minor success was organising the 1921 Washington Naval Conference. This led to agreement on naval limitation by the USA, Britain, France and Japan.
- Explain two successes of peacekeeping during the 1920’s.
• Aaland Islands, 1921 – these islands in the Baltic Sea were claimed by both Sweden and Finland. Most of the islanders wanted to be ruled by Sweden. The League investigated and awarded the islands to Finland but with safeguards for the islanders including demilitarisation. Sweden accepted the judgment. • Upper Silesia, 1921 – this valuable industrial area was on the border between Germany and Poland. It was granted to Poland in a the draft Treaty of Versailles but following German protests it was agreed to hold a plebiscite. The overall result suggested it should be awarded to Germany but in some rural parts there was a clear majority in favour of Poland. Following riots and protests the League proposed a partition which both sides accepted: Eastern Upper Silesia went to Poland; Western Upper Silesia to Germany. • Mosul, 1924 – in 1924 Turkey claimed this Kurdish-populated province of British-mandated Iraq. The league investigated and made an award in favour of Iraq. Turkey accepted the judgment. Aaland Islands, 1921 – these islands in the Baltic Sea were claimed by both Sweden and Finland. Most of the islanders wanted to be ruled by Sweden. The League investigated and awarded the islands to Finland but with safeguards for the islanders including demilitarisation. Sweden accepted the judgment.
- Explain two failures in peacekeeping during the 1920’s.
Vilna, 1920 – this city with a largely Polish population was made capital of the newly created state of Lithuania. A Polish army seized the city in 1920. Lithuania appealed to the League. The League asked Polish troops to withdraw while a plebiscite was arranged. Poland refused. The matter was passed to the Conference of Ambassadors who awarded Vilna to Poland. • Occupation of the Ruhr, 1923 – when Germany defaulted on its reparations repayment in 1922 the matter should have been referred to the League. Instead, France and Belgium ordered troops to occupy the Ruhr in January 1923. This seemed to confirm the impression that the League was little more than a victors’ club for the pursuit of victors’ interests. • Corfu Incident, 1923 – In August 1923 Italian Prime Minister Mussolini ordered the naval bombardment and occupation of the Greek island of Corfu in response to the murder of an Italian general and some of his staff who had been patrolling part of the border frontier between Greece and Albania. The murders had taken place on Greek soil. Mussolini had demanded 50 million lira compensation and the execution of the assassins but Greece had been unable to locate the culprits.
- What happened in October 1929?
In October 1929 the Wall St Crash marked the beginning of a worldwide economic recession.
- How did this affect the world?
World wide economic recession. There was a dramatic contraction in production and trade and a steep rise in unemployment over the next three years. Every country was affected, especially the USA and Germany, where unemployment peaked at 6 million – approximately one third of the workforce
- Describe three reasons why the Depression made the work of the League much more difficult.
• Reduced inclination of League members to impose economic sanctions as all countries were desperate to maintain their existing trade contacts • Extremists coming to power in Germany – the Nazis had been a fringe party with less than 3% support before the Depression but they picked up support during it • Encouraged militarism in Japan – the Japanese army realised Japan’s survival depended on overseas trade. In 1931 they decided to take the law into their own hands (see below) • Governments were under pressure to balance the books. Serious rearmament was delayed so League members lacked the military means to deal with aggressors • Countries became under pressure to find new markets and sources of raw materials. One way this could be done was through colonisation or the annexatio
- Describe how successful the 1930’s was for the League.
Agencies, committees and commissions continued good work. The Saar Commission, for example, successfully organised the plebiscite which led to the return of the region to Germany in January 1935.
- Where was Manchuria?
Manchuria was a province of north-east China with part of its southern frontier bordering Korea.
- What was the Japanese connection to Manchuria?
Since 1905 the Japanese had been in control in Korea, with trading rights extending into Manchuria. Japanese guards were permitted along the route of the South Manchurian Railway to maintain order in a chaotic area and protect Japanese business interests. Japan was very badly affected by the Depression. Japan depended on imports to feed its rapidly growing population. These had to be paid for with exports
