KQ2: To what extent was the League of Nations a success?

Question 1

What kind of League did Woodrow Wilson want?

Answer 1

A world parliament for discussions and international decision

Question 2

What kind of League did Georges Clemenceau want?

Answer 2

A strong league with its own army

Question 3

What kind of League did David Lloyd George want?

Answer 3

Simple parliament that gets together in emergencies

Question 4

What kind of League was set up?

Answer 4

-Wilson’s vision of the League:
-All major nations would join
-International disarmament
-Disputes between countries would be taken to the League
-Collective security (article 10)- countries would come to each other’s aid if invaded
-Economic sanctions could be imposed on aggressive nations
-In the last resort, force could be used against aggressive nations
-Countries would not dare attack other countries if they knew the USA and other powerful nations
would take economic or military action against them.

Question 5

What criticisms were made of Wilson’s proposals?

Answer 5

-thought he was arrogant - why did he think he could solve European problems
-worried by idealism - would nations really behave civilised
-hadn’t thought things through - what if countries didn’t do what League said?

Question 6

Why was the idea of a League unpopular in the USA?

Answer 6

-upheld ToV - some Americans disliked the treaty and its harshness on Germany, especially millions of German immigrants
-Many Americans were appalled by the carnage of WW1 and wanted USA to stay out of future wars
-Business leaders thought getting involved in international disputes would have high economic cost to USA, and that the USA had become powerful by isolationism
-Some thought League would be dominated by Britain and France, and didn’t want the USA to be dragged into fighting for them, and especially not to preserve their colonial empires.

Question 7

What happened when Wilson attempted to get US congress’ approval of League?

Answer 7

-Opponents of Wilson saw this as opportunity to oust the Democrats from power after 8 years.
-Wilson toured the USA to put across his arguments, despite becoming seriously ill after a stroke in 1920.
-Congress voted against Wilson’s proposals in 1919, and again in 1920.
-In the Presidential elections of 1920 the Republican candidate, Warren Harding, campaigned for
isolationism (‘return to normalcy’), and won.
-As a result, the USA never joined the League - a body blow right at the start of its life.

Question 8

What were the four main aims of the League?

Answer 8

1. Discourage aggression by any nation
2. Encourage countries to cooperate in business and trade
3. Encourage countries to disarm
4. Improve living and working conditions for people all over the world

Question 9

Why were Britain and France poor leaders of the League?

Answer 9

-Weakened by WW1, so were not as powerful as they had been before
-They had insufficient resources to fill the gap left by USA
-They doubted how effective it could be
-Felt that only the USA could make trade sanctions work; some British politicians said that if they had known the USA was not going to join, they would not have voted to join either.
-Had other priorities - e.g. rebuilding trade, managing colonial empires.
-France was still worried by Germany, and prepared to bypass the League in order to strengthen its position against Germany.

Question 10

What was the Assembly?

Answer 10

-One representative from each nation
-Recommend action to council
-Vote on new members of League
-Meet once a year
-Unanimous decisions

Question 11

What was the council?

Answer 11

-Met 5 times a year and in emergencies
-4 permanent members (Britain, France, Italy and Japan)
-4-9 elected members
-Permanent members have veto
-Sort out international disputes by discussion, condemnation, economic or military sanctions

Question 12

What was the secretariat?

Answer 12

-Civil service/bureaucracy of the League
-Kept records
-Prepared reports
-Arranged for interpreters

Question 13

What were the commissions?

Answer 13

-Mandates commission
-Refugees committee
-Slavery commission
-Health committee

Question 14

How did the League deal with Vilna 1920?

Answer 14

-Failure
-Capital of Lithuania but mainly Polish population
-Polish troops occupy
-Ordered to withdraw by League
-League did nothing more (Poland potential ally against Russia)
-Poland kept Vilna

Question 15

How did the League deal with Upper Silesia 1921?

Answer 15

-Success
-Industrial region (iron and steel) claimed by Germany and Poland
-Plebiscite organised by League
-Industrial areas vote to join Germany
-Rural areas join Poland
-Both countries accept decision

Question 16

How did the League deal with Aaland Islands 1921?

Answer 16

-Success
-Claimed by Sweden and Finland
-Both threaten to fight for control
-League ruled they should go to Finland and Sweden accept

Question 17

How did the League deal with Corfu 1923?

Answer 17

-Failure
-Italian soldiers marking border between Greece and Albania killed on Greek territory
-Italy (Mussolini) demands compensation and execution of murderers
-Occupies Corfu
-Council condemns Italian occupation
-tells Greece to pay compensation to League, which can be transferred to Italy when the killers are found
-Mussolini accepts, but secretly persuades Conference of Ambassadors to change its mind and pay money directly to Italy
-Italy withdraws from Corfu

Question 18

How did the League deal with The Geneva Protocol 1924?

Answer 18

-Failure
-Drawn up by Britain and France
-Says members in dispute must ask League to sort it out and accept the Council’s decision
-Conservatives win 1924 British General Election and refuse to sign the Protocol

Question 19

How did the League deal with Bulgaria 1925?

Answer 19

-Success
-Greek troops killed in border incident
-Greece invades Bulgaria
-League orders Greece to withdraw and pay compensation
-Greece obeys but complains about double standards (compare with Corfu Incident 1923)

Question 20

How did the League help refugees?

Answer 20

-400,000 war prisoners returned to their homes
-Refugee camps in Turkey 1922
-League prevented cholera, smallpox, dysentery

Question 21

How did League help working conditions?

Answer 21

-Bans poisonous white lead from paint
-Limit working hours for children
-Campaigns for better conditions for workers
-Attempt to introduce max 48 hour week and 8 hour day (minority of countries agree as this will raise industrial costs)

Question 22

How did League help health?

Answer 22

-Work hard to eradicate leprosy
-Start campaign to exterminate mosquitoes (which spread malaria and yellow fever)
-Helps USSR prevent plague in Siberia

Question 23

How did League help social problems?

Answer 23

-Blacklisted 4 large companies involved in illegal drug trade
-200,000 slaves freed in Sierra Leone
-Raids again slave owners and traders in Burma
-Reduces death rate of African workers on Tanganyika railway from 50% to 4%
-Kept records and provided info on drug trafficking, prostitution and slavery

Question 24

How did the League help transport?

Answer 24

-Recommendations on marking shipping lanes
-Recommendations on an international Highway Code for road users

Question 25

What progress was made towards international disarmament?

Answer 25

-Washington Conference 1921 - USA, Japan, Britain and France agreed to limit navies
-1923 plans for a disarmament treaty accepted by France and others, but rejected by Britain (it feared it would mean Britain had to defend other countries)
-1926 plans made for a disarmament conference, but a draft disarmament convention is not drawn up until 1933, and then rejected by Germany
-Germany was the only country to disarm to any extent

Question 26

What were the Locarno treaties 1925?

Answer 26

-Signed by France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland
-Germany accepted borders with France and Belgium, demilitarization of Rhineland, and to settle disputes with France through LoN
-German goodwill resulted in feelings of greater security in France
-Paved the way for Germany to join the League in 1926
-This left the USSR as the only major European power outside the League

Question 27

What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928?

Answer 27

-Signed by 65 nations
-Agreed to condemn war as a means of solving disputes
-Countries were still allowed to keep armies for self-defence
-Turning point in history making the world a safer place
-Nothing was said about consequences if a country broke the Pact

Question 28

How did economic recovery help international relations?

Answer 28

-Dawes plan 1924 helped sort out German economic chaos
-This means paying reparations, repairing British and French economies
-US loans allow rebuilding of European industry
-This increases employment, which increases international trade, which results in increased profits, which allows further rebuilding of industry
-Recovery of trading relationships helped to reduce tension between nations

Question 29

What were problems with international agreements in the 1920s?

Answer 29

-Behind public co-operation there was still bitterness, especially between France and Germany
-Trusting in paper treaties (instead of working through LoN) was naïve - no guarantee they would be respected by aggressive expansionists like Hitler and Mussolini
-Locarno only guaranteed Germany’s borders with France and Belgium - what would the League do if Germany tried to challenge Polish and Czech borders?
-Very little progress towards disarmament was made (except in Germany)

Question 30

What caused the Great Depression?

Answer 30

Wall Street Crash in 1929

Question 31

What were the consequences of the Wall Street Crash?

Answer 31

-Trade and industry of all countries damaged
-USA loaned out much less money to Europe
-This had a negative impact on European industries - many went bust
-unemployment rose
-In order to protect their own industries, some countries charged protective tariffs on imports
-resulted in a decrease in international trade
-This had further negative effects on European industries, further unemployment etc.

Question 32

How did Depression harm LoN’s work?

Answer 32

-In Germany unemployment and poverty led people to vote for the Nazis, who promised to sort out economic problems
-Japanese economic problems were one of the reasons behind the Japanese invasion of Manchuria
-In Italy economic problems encouraged Mussolini to try to 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 when its own trade was in a mess

Question 33

Why did the Japanese invade Manchuria?

Answer 33

-USA and China put up protective tariffs against Japanese goods
-Army leaders argued that solution to Japan’s economic problems was building up a Japanese empire by force
-Their excuse was an incident in September 1931 - Japanese army claimed Chinese soldiers had sabotaged South Manchurian Railway
-They invaded Manchuria in retaliation
-They set up a puppet government in Manchuria
-Japanese government ordered the army to withdraw, but instructions were ignored
-Japanese claimed they had invaded in self-defence to keep peace in the area, because China was in a state of anarchy

Question 34

What did the LoN do about the invasion of Manchuria?

Answer 34

-Delivered Lytton report a year later (long delay)
-Said it was illegal and Manchuria should be returned to China
-Assembly approved report by 47 votes to 1

Question 35

What was Japans response to Lytton Report?

Answer 35

-Voted against the report
-Withdrew from League in March 1933 and invaded more Chinese territory (starting with Jehol)

Question 36

Why didn’t the LoN take further action after the Manchurian crisis?

Answer 36

-Economic sanctions discussed, however pointless without USA (Japans main trading partner)
-Britain wanted to keep up good relationship with Japan
-Britain and France not willing to risk their navies in the faraway Pacific
-Only USSR and USA had necessary resources in Pacific to deal with Japan
-League discussed banning arms sales but was not agreed
-Members worried that if they took tough action, Japan would retaliate and start another world war

Question 37

What was the significance of Japanese invasion of Manchuria?

Answer 37

-Japan had committed a blatant act of aggression and got away with it
-Proved league was powerless to stop a strong nation from pursuing an aggressive foreign policy
-Encouraged Hitler and Mussolini to follow similar policies

Question 38

What progress was made towards disarmament in 1932-1934?

Answer 38

-Seen as more urgent after Manchuria
-International disarmament conference in 1932
-Proposals made to ban bombing of civilian populations, restrict size of artillery, limit tonnage of tanks and forbid chemical warfare
-July 1932 - Germans walked out disarmament conference (other nations didn’t agree to disarm down to German levels)
-Germans returned to conference in Jan 1933 as they were promised equality of armaments
-Hitler started rearming secretly in Feb 1933
-Oct 1933 Hitler withdrew from LoN and disarmament conference
-Other powers built up armaments aswell

Question 39

Why did Italy invade Abyssinia?

Answer 39

-1896 Italian troops suffered defeat by poorly equipped tribesmen at Battle of Adowa when they invade Abyssinia - humiliated, want revenge
-Wanted fertile agricultural land and minerals
-Wanted glory of military conquest and to restore glory of Roman Empire
-Knew that success could divert attention from economic problems in Italy

Question 40

What happened in the Abyssinian crisis?

Answer 40

-Dispute between Italian and Ethiopian soldiers at Wal Wal oasis (80km inside Abyssinia)
-Mussolini claimed it was Italian territory
-Prepared an army for invasion
-Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to League for help

Question 41

How did League respond to Haile Selassie’s appeal for help?

Answer 41

-Britain and France desperate to keep on good terms with Mussolini - potential ally against Hitler - so played for time
-1935, Br, Fr, and It signed Stresa pact (against German rearmament and agreed to be against German aggression)
-Some believed Fr and Br turned blind eye to Abyssinia in return for It joining
-public outcry in Br, so British politicians started to talk tough
-however, no practical steps taken
-LoN committee reported in Sep 1935 that Wal Wal incident was nobody’s fault and part of Abyssinia should be given to It
-Mussolini rejects and launches full scale invasion

Question 42

How did League respond to Abyssinian invasion?

Answer 42

-Immediate ban on arms sales to Italy
-Loans to Italy banned
-Imports from Italy banned
-Export of rubber, tin and metals to Italy banned
-A decision on export of oil to Italy not taken
-Suez Canal (main supply route from Italy to Abyssinia) not closed to Italian ships
-British and French foreign ministers (Hoare and Laval) hatch secret plan to give Mussolini 2/3 of Abyssinia if he calls off invasion. When details leaked to press it was seen by public as an act of treachery against Abyssinia and LoN - both sacked

Question 43

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

Answer 43

-Believed tough sanctions would not work unless supported by USA
-Believed sanctions would damage British and French economic interests
-Feared closing Suez Canal to Italian ships would result in war with Italy
-France were desperate to gain support of Italy after Hitler moving into Rhineland in 1936

Question 44

What were the consequences of Abyssinian invasion?

Answer 44

-Italy captured Addis Ababa (capital) in May
-Haile Selassie went into exile
-country annexed by Italy
-Collective security shown as empty promise
-LoN massively failed, and couldn’t claim they didn’t act because it was far away (as they did with Manchuria)
-League lost all credibility as peace keeping organisation
-Provided further encouragement to Hitler in his expansionist ambitions
-British and French relationship with Italy did not improve (Italy and Germany signed Rome-Berlin axis in Nov 1936)

Question 45

Why did LoN fail in 1930s?

Answer 45

-Self-interest of leading members
-Some important countries not members, so League lacked authority and sanctions were ineffective
-Economic sanctions did not work (members reluctant to impose as they worried they wouldn’t work without USA, and easily broken when imposed as League struggled to enforce them)
-Lack of troops (no armed forces of their own, and Br and Fr unwilling to provide troops)
-Treaties it upheld were seen as unfair
-Decision making was slow (met infrequently, took long to make decisions, and all members had to agree)