International relations-The League Of Nations Flashcards
What did the League of Nations try to do?
Stop war Settle quarrels peacefully Improve working conditions Free slaves Stop drug trafficking
what were the aims of the League of Nations
Disarmament
Improve peoples jobs and lives
Enforce the treaty of Versailles
Stop war ( collective security )
Why did America not join the league?
did not want to get involved with Europe - deaths of ww1 ( isolationism )
German ancestors
treaty was too harsh
Why was the league not powerful enough?
Britain and France were not strong enough
Sanctions could only work if they had a strong country in forcing them
Did not have its own army
Counties ignored the league
Only met once a year
What was the Corfu incident?
Mussolini occupied Corfu in 1923 after the murder of an Italian diplomat
wanted financial compensation and an apology
The league said the money should be payed to them not Italy
Mussolini got what he wanted
What happened in Vilna 1920 ?
Poland wanted Vilna from Lithuania because polish people were living in Lithuania
Poland got Vilna because France would not stop them
What happened in Upper Silesia 1921?
They used plebiscite to let people vote where they wanted to live.
It was half and half
Industrial area went to Germany and rural to Poland
What was the economic crisis in Austria and hungry ?
Both faced bankruptcy due to rep orations and WW1
The league took control and made the economy stable
What happened in the Aaland Islands 1921?
Island between sweden and Finland both country’s wanted them.
Finland got the islands
What happened in Bulgaria 1925?
Greek soldiers were killed on the Greek-Bulgarian border.
The Greeks then invaded Bulgaria
The Greeks were condemned and pulled out
What was the Kellogg Briand pact 1928?
65 nations agree not to use force to settle arguments
What were some of the humanitarian successes?
Closed 4 Swiss companies selling illegal drugs
Worked to protect leprosy and malaria
Attacked slave owners in Sierra Leone and Burma 200,000 slaves set free
What were the health committee successes?
Tackled leprosy, malaria and yellow fever
Focused on campaign to exterminate mosquitoes
What were the international Labour organisation successes ?
Stopped addition of lead to paint.
Convinced several countries to adapt an 8 hour day
Worked to end child Labour and rights of women in the work place
What successes did they have in commissions for refugees?
Helped 425,000 ex-prisoners of war return home
Refugee camps on Turkey in 1922
What was the Great Depression?
1920s-loaned money to Europe to recover
companies overproduced- too little demand
October 1929-stock market crashed-people realised companies were doing bad so sold all shares
Shares became worthless
What problems did the Great Depression cause in America ?
1929-stopped lending money and called in its loans
By 1930 nearly 2000 banks collapsed
3 years later over 12 million unemployed
How did the Great Depression effect other countries ?
USSR was least effected it had a communist trade system
Within three years over 2.5 million unemployed in Britain
Germany’s unemployment rose over 6 million by 1932
How did the Great Depression effect the league?
Caused widespread poverty - people more likely to support extreme leaders
Meant countries did not want to get involved, wanted to focus on problems at home
What was the manchurian crisis?
Japan had a growing population of 97 million-needed raw materials
Japan said China sabotaged the Mukden rail way so they had to defend it
They used this to invade Manchuria
They then put a weak leader called Puyi in-charge to control him
What was the Lytton report?
The league sent lord Lytton to assess the situation
He produced a report which said Japan was wrong
But the league did nothing
How did the manchurian crisis weaken the league ?
Japan refused the Lytton report and withdrew from the league 1933
1933- Japan invaded China’s jehol province
Dictators saw the leagues weakness
Japan signed a treaty with Germany in 1936
1937 started to invade china
Why did Mussolini invade Abyssinia ?
been defeated by Abyssinia Italy wanted revenge
Abyssinia was well positioned for Italy to add to her lands in Africa
He had seen Japan get away with the manchurian invasion
What happened with the Abyssinia invasion ?
October 1935 Mussolini sent troops to invade
Abyssinian leader appealed to the league
The league imposed economic sanctions
Britain & France didn’t close the Suez Canal so supplies still got through
