Kq2 To What Extent Was The League Of Nations A Succes

Question 1

What were the three successes

Answer 1

Aland Islands 1921, upper Silesia 1921, Bulgaria 1925

Question 2

Countries involved in the aland islands

Answer 2

Finland and sweden

Question 3

Countries involved in upper Silesia

Answer 3

Germany and Poland

Question 4

Countries Involved in Bulgaria

Answer 4

Bulgaria and Greece

Question 5

What happened in the dispute between the aland islands

Answer 5

The islands were almost equidistant apart from Finland and Sweden

• they had traditionally belonged to Finland
• most islanders wanted to be governed by Sweden
• neither country could come to a decision so they went to the league who gave Finland the islands but no weapons were to be kept there

Question 6

What happened in upper Silesia

Answer 6

The treaty of Versailles gave the upper Silesians the right to a referendum on wether they wanted to be governed by Poland or Germany

• 700,000 wanted to be under the Weimar governments rule. 500,000 wanted to be under Poland’s rule
• the close result resulted in rioting between the two split sided so the league were called in to help
• the league was asked to settle the dispute and upper Silesia had been divided into 2 regions

Question 7

What happened in Bulgaria

Answer 7

Greek troops invaded Bulgaria after an incident on the border where some Greek soldiers were killed

• secretary general of the league called a meeting in Paris of league council
• league demanded both countries stand their forces down and Greece had to withdraw from Bulgaria. Britain and France back the decision
• the league sent observers to asses the decision and judged in favour of the Bulgarians, Greece had to pay £45,000 in compensation and was threatened with sanctions if they didn’t

Question 8

Why was the league successful in the dispute of the aland islands

Answer 8

The league acted decisively and both countries were accepting of the decision and there was no more conflict

Question 9

Why was the league successful in the dispute of Upper Silesia

Answer 9

The league was asked to settle dispute and although they took 6 weeks, the decision was accepted by both countries and the people of upper Silesia

Question 10

Why was the league successful in the dispute of Bulgaria

Answer 10

Optimism over the leagues effectiveness soared as it showed that if the great powers acted together the league was very powerful. Greeks however were angry as they believed there were two different rules between smaller and larger states

Question 11

What countries were involved in the Ruhr crisis of 1923

Answer 11

Germany, France, Belgium

Question 12

What happened during the Ruhr Crisis of 1923

Answer 12

As a result of ToV Germany had to pay £6.6 billion in reparations which was hard for them as their economy had been crippled as a result of WW1

• as a result they missed an instalment
• Belgium and France believed it was because they didn’t want to pay so they sent 60,000 soldiers into the Ruhr
• LoN couldn’t doing anything without their great powers in Europe and France was involved and Britain supported them so it was difficult for LoN to enforce punishment

Question 13

Why was the Ruhr Crisis a failure

Answer 13

For the league to enforce its will it needed the support of Great European powers Fr+ Br however Fr was involved and Br backed them. It seemed if you wanted to break league rules you could. It failed as it was seen to be breaking its own rules.

Question 14

Countries involved in Corfu

Answer 14

Italy, Greece

Question 15

What happened in Corfu in 1923

Answer 15

While surveying Greek and Albanian borders general Tellini and his team were ambushed and killed

• Made leader Mussolini furious so he retaliated and bombarded and occupied Corfu
• Greece appealed to league for help and they condemned Mussolini for his actions and made him furious so he threatened to leave the league of the dispute wasn’t concluded by the conference of ambassadors
• Mussolini got his way and the conference of ambassadors had the final word

Question 16

Why was Corfu a failure

Answer 16

Britain and France had different opinions on what to do. Britain was ready to send warships into Corfu to get his way however France didn’t want to commit troops as they were already occupied in the Ruhr. Showed that the weakest of powers could get its way when Britain and France sacrificed justice for cooperation

Question 17

Countries involved in the Geneva protocol of 1924

Answer 17

Britain and France

Question 18

What happened in the Geneva protocol

Answer 18

As a result of Corfu Britain and France drew up an agreement which stated that if two members of league were in a dispute they would have to ask the league to sort out disagreement and accept councils decision

• they hoped this would strengthen the league
• before it was put into effect there was a general election in Britain
• new conservative government refused to sign protocol as they believed that Britain may be forced into signing something that wasn’t in their best interests

Question 19

Why was the Geneva protocol a weakness

Answer 19

Conservative government refused to sign it was they believed Britain would have to sign something that wasn’t in their best interests. Weakened the league as incidents such as Corfu could carry on occurring. Highlighted that there were conflicts between two governments

Question 20

Why did the Japanese invade Manchuria

Answer 20

• Great Depression hit Japan hard especially when USA and China both put up protective tariffs against Japanese goods
• army leaders argued that the solution to japans economic problems was building up a Japanese empire by force
• their excuse was an incident from 1931-the Japanese claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the southern Manchuria railway. They invaded Manchuria in retaliation, setting up a puppet government in Manchuria
• Japanese government ordered the army to withdraw but the instructions were ignored, the army were in control of the Japanese foreign policy
• the Japanese claimed they had invaded in self-defence to keep peace in the area because China was in a state of anarchy

Question 21

What did the League of Nations do about the Japanese invasion

Answer 21

• the league did not deliver the report on the situation until September 1932- a long delay
• the Lytton Report ruled that the Japanese invasion was illegal, and Manchuria should be returned to China, and the assembly approved the report by 47 votes to 1
• the Japanese were the only country to vote against the report
• in March 1933 Japan withdrew from the league and invaded more Chinese territory beginning with Jehol

Question 22

Why didn’t the League of Nations take further action against Japan

Answer 22

Economic sanctions were discussed, but would be meaningless without the participation of USA (japans main trading partner)

• Britain wanted to keep up a good relationship with Japan
• Britain and France would not risk their navies in a war against Japan in the faraway pacific
• only the USSR and USA had the necessary resources in the pacific to deal with Japan and neither of them were members of the league
• the league discussed banning army sales to Japan but this wasn’t agreed
• the members of the league were worried that if they took tough action, Japan would retaliate causing a war which may escalate into another world war

Question 23

What was the significance of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria

Answer 23

Obvious Japan had committed a blatant act of aggression and gotten away with it
Proved that the league was powerless in stopping a strong nation from pursuing an aggressive foreign policy
Hitler and Mussolini observed the situation and were encouraged to pursue similarly aggressive foreign policies

Question 24

Why did the Italians invade Abyssinia

Answer 24

In 1896 Italian troops had suffered a humiliating defeat at the battle of Adowa when they had invaded Abyssinia, but been defeated by poorly equipped tribesmen-Mussolini wanted revenge

• Mussolini had his eyes on Abyssinia’s fertile agricultural land mineral resources
• Mussolini wanted the glory of military conquest, and had often spoken of his dream of restoring the glory of the Roman Empire
• Mussolini knew that success in Abyssinia could divert attention away from economic problems back in Italy
• the excuse for the Italian Invasion was a dispute between Italian and Ethiopian so,diners at the oasis of Wal Wal- 80km inside Abyssinia, but Mussolini claimed it was Italian territory, and prepared for an army invasion, emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the league for help.

Question 25

How did the league react to Haile Selassie’s appeal

Answer 25

Britain and France played for time desperate to keep on good terms with Mussolini- a potential ally against Hitler
In 1935, Britain France and Italy signed the Stresa Pact (a protest against German rearmament and an agreement to stand up to German aggression) historians believed Britain and France turned a blind eye to Abyssinia in return for Italy joining the pact
There was a public outcry regarding Italy’s behaviour in Britain, where politicians started to talk tough and British foreign minister Samuel Hoare gave a speech about collective security to the assembly of the league
However, despite all this tough talk, no practical steps were taken in order to discourage Mussolini
In September 1935 a committee of the League of Nations reported that the Wal Wal incident was no ones fault and recommended that part of Abyssinia should be given to Italy. Mussolini who had now launched a full-scale invasion rejected this offer

Question 26

How did the League of Nations react to the invasion of Abyssinia by Italy

Answer 26

League immediately imposed the banning of arm sales to Italy
All loans to Italy were banned
All imports from Italy were banned
All exports of tin, rubber and metals to Italy were banned
However, the export of oil to Italy was not taken
Hoare + larval (foreign ministers) hatched a secret plant to give Italy 2/3 of Abyssinia if they called off the invasion details of the plan were leaked to the press and the British and french public saw this as a blatant act of treachery against Abyssinia and the league (they were fired)

Question 27

Why didn’t Britain and France act to prevent Mussolini conquering Abyssinia

Answer 27

• some believed that tough sanctions on Italy would not work unless supported by the USA
• others believed that sanctions would damage Britain and french economic interests
• closing the Suez Canal could result in war with Italy
• when Hitler moved into the Rhineland in 1936, the French were more desperate than ever to gain the support of Italy, and therefore prepared to allow Mussolini to have Abyssinia

Question 28

What were the consequences of the Italian invasion of Abyssinia

Answer 28

In may, the Italians captured Abyssinian capita, Addis Ababa, Haile Selassie went into exile and the whole country annexed by Italy
Idea of collective security showed up as an empty promise
The League of Nations had failed on a spectacular scale- and this time it couldn’t claim that action had not been taken as it was a faraway part of the world
-league lose credibility as a peace-keeping organisation
-successful invasion of Abyssinia provided further encouragement to Hitler in his expansionist ambitions
-Br + Fr hoped relationship w/Italy would be strengthened but they were wrong-in November 1936 Hitler and Mussolini signed Rome-Berlin axis

Question 29

What caused the Great Depression

Answer 29

Trade + industry of all countries was damaged
The USA loaned out much less money to Europe
Negative impact on European industries (many went bus) increased unemployment
-to protect their own industries some countries charged protective tariffs on imports
-decrease in international trade
-further negative effects on European industries

Question 30

How did Great Depression harm the work of the LoN

Answer 30

• German unemployment and poverty led to people voting for nazis, who promised to sort out economic problems
• Japanese economic problems was one the reasons behind Japanese invasion of Manchuria
• in Italy, economic problems encouraged Mussolini to try and build up an overseas empire to distract people’s attention
• Britain unwilling to get involved in sorting out international disputes while its economy was in trouble
• USA unwilling to support economic sanctions at a time when its own trade was a mess