Key Issue 2 Flashcards
What were the aims of the League?
- to achieve international peace and security
- to promote international cooperation, especially in business and trade
- to encourage nations to disarm
- to improve living and working conditions for the people of all nations
- to uphold and enforce the Treaty of Versailles
League of Nations - when, where and how?
How: Created through the peace treaties at the end of the First World War
Where: Based in Geneva, Switzerland
When: Started work in 1920
What did the League of Nations consist of structurally?
The Assembly
The Council
The Secretariat
Agencies, committees and commissions
What was the role of the Assembly?
- Met annually at the League’s headquarters
- All members of the lEague were represented
- Considered matters of general policy and recommended action to the Council
- Fixed the budget
- Every member of the League had one vote
- Decisions had to be unanimous
What was the role of the Council?
- Met four times a year and for emergencies
- Had both permanent and non-permanent members
- In 1920 the permanent members were Britain, France, Italy and Japan
- The non-permanent members were elected by the Assembly for three-year periods
- In 1926 Germany became a permanent member
- The number of non-permanent members increased from 4 in 1920 to 9 in 1926 and 11 in 1936
- Each member country had one vote. Decisions had to be unanimous
What was the role of the Secretariat?
- Performed all the administrative and financial work of the League
- Organised conferences and meetings
- Kept records and prepared reports
What was the role of the agencies, committees and commissions?
- The Mandates Commission ensured that Britain and France acted in the interests of the people of the former colonies of Germany and her allies
- The Refugees Committee assisted in the return of refugees to their original homes following the end of war
- The Slavery Commission worked to abolish slavery around the world
- The Health Committee began to educate people about health and sanitation and started to deal with dangerous diseases
What was the Conference of Ambassadors?
This was a group of senior diplomats representing the Allied powers.
It was established in 1920 to deal with matters arising from peace settlements
It duplicated some of the functions of the League and played a major role in the Corfu incident
What were the powers of the League?
1) Moral condemnation - Putting pressure on a guilty country by bringing world opinion against it
2) Economic and financial sanctions - Members of the League could refuse to trade with the guilty country
3) Military force - Armed forces form member countries could be used against an aggressor
What successes were there in settling political disputes by the League of Nation?
- Sweden and Finland fought over the Aaland Islands (1921); resolved by giving them to Finland
- Dispute between Germany and Poland over Upper Silesia (1921); the area was divided between the two following a plebiscite
- Dispute between Turkey and Iraq over the province of Mosul (1924)
- Greece and Bulgaria fought over their borders (1925); Greece was ordered to withdraw and pay Bulgaria 45,000 pounds compensation
- In South America differences were settled between Peru and Columbia and between Bolivia and Paraguay
Success in dealing with humanitarian issues - Refugees
After the war around 400,000 prisoners and refugees were successfully returned to their homelands from Russia and Greece
Success in dealing with humanitarian issues - Health organisation
–Helped Soviet Russia to prevent a typhus epidemic in Siberia; worked hard to defeat leprosy; started an international campaign to exterminate mosquitoes, reducing the spread of malaria and yellow fever
Success in dealing with humanitarian issues - Transport
Made recommendations for the marking of shipping lanes; produced an international highway code for road users
Success in dealing with humanitarian issues - Economic financial
–Devised a plan to deal with Austria’s economic problems by stabilising the currency; devised similar plans for Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria
Success in dealing with humanitarian issues - Social issues
Freed 200,000 slaves in British-owned Sierra Leone; it challenged the use of forced labour on the Tanganyika railway in Africa, reducing the death rate from 50% to 4%; blacklisted large international companies involved in illegal drug selling
