League of Nations

Question 1

What did Wilson want the League of Nations to be?

Answer 1

An organisation that prevented war and encouraged peace worldwide

Question 2

What was the Aaland Islands dispute 1921?

Answer 2

• Finland vs Sweden
• The islands were Finnish, but Sweden wanted it
• Sweden put troops and weapons there
• Finland went to the League
• League decided Finland could keep the Aaland islands, but it had to be demilitarised

Question 3

What was the Corfu Crisis 1923?

Answer 3

• Greece vs Italy
• Italian general murdered in Greek territory while trying to settle a dispute between Greece and Albania
• Italy invaded Greece
• Greece went to the League who did nothing
• Conference of Ambassadors told Italy to withdraw
• Greece had to pay compensation

Question 4

What was the Greek - Bulgaria Crisis 1925?

Answer 4

• Greece invaded Bulgaria
• Bulgaria went to the League
• League said both armies stop fighting and Greece should pull out of Bulgaria
• Greece fined £45,000 as they were to blame
• Both nations accepted this decision

Question 5

What was the Upper Silesia crisis 1921?

Answer 5

• Treaty of Versailles gave people of Upper Silesia right to have plebiscite on whether they wanted to be part of Weimar Germany or Poland
• 700,000 voted for Germany, 500,000 voted for Poland
• Led to riots between people who voted for Germany and those who voted for Poland
• League held 6 week enquiry and decided Upper Silesia be split between Germany and Poland
• Accepted by both countries and the people in Upper Silesia

Question 6

What did the International Labour Organisation do?

Answer 6

• Removed lead from paint
• Encouraged the introduction of sickness and unemployment benefits
• Set labour standards

Question 7

What did the refugee committee do?

Answer 7

• Helped free over 427,000 prisoners of war by 1921
• Nansen passport - used for ID of refugees

Question 8

What did the health committee do?

Answer 8

• Started to campaign to eradicate malaria and yellow fever through killing mosquitoes
• Later become the WHO

Question 9

How was the Aaland Islands a success of the League?

Answer 9

Both countries accepted the decision

Question 10

How was the Corfu Crisis a weakness of the League?

Answer 10

Showed powerful nations could still bully less powerful nations

Question 11

How was the Greek - Bulgaria Crisis a failure of the League?

Answer 11

• showed the League was inconsistent in its dealings with Greece, as Mussolini was allowed to take similar action during the incident in Corfu in 1921.
• this suggested the League’s reaction to disputes depended on the countries involved

Question 12

How was the Upper Silesia crisis a strength of the League?

Answer 12

Germany and Poland accepted the results, as did the people of Upper Silesia, which stopped the riots

Question 13

What was the Manchuria Crisis 1931?

Answer 13

• Depression caused silk trade to collapse
• Military overthrew Japanese government
• Japan wanted to invade Manchuria but needed a reason
• Japan owned railway line in Manchuria - bomb planted and detonated then blamed the Chinese
• Japan invaded Manchuria

Question 14

What happened as a result of the Manchuria Crisis 1931?

Answer 14

• China asked League for help - sent Lord Lytton to investigate
• Took Lytton a year to investigate - reported Japan to blame and must leave Manchuria
• Japan refused to listen and left the League
• Japan announced invasion of China
• League handled crisis poorly - looked weak to other countries

Question 15

What was the Abyssinia Crisis 1934?

Answer 15

• 1934 - “incident” took place at Wal-Wal in Ethiopian territory - Italians attacked
• Mussolini used this as excuse to invade
• Britain and France had armies in colonies around Abyssinia and controlled Suez Canal - route Mussolini was taking so could have stopped him

Question 16

What happened as a result of the Abyssinia Crisis 1934?

Answer 16

• Secret Hoare-Laval Pact - Italy gets ⅔ Abyssinia in exchange for support against Hitler - leaked to press
• Humiliated Britain and France - destroyed the League
• Mussolini signed alliance with Hitler - Rome-Berlin Axis
• Hitler used Abyssinia as a distraction to remilitarise Rhineland

Question 17

What was the Covenant of the League?

Answer 17

Based on the idea of collective security but this would only work if member countries enforced it

Question 18

What were the League’s 3 main organisational bodies?

Answer 18

• Council
• Assembly
• Secretariat

Question 19

What was the Assembly?

Answer 19

• Debating chamber - only met once a year in an emergency
• Based on equality - each state allowed 3 representatives so everyone could have a say and be heard

Question 20

What was the Conference of Ambassadors and who dominated it?

Answer 20

• Committee of Allied Powers responsible for enforcing Versailles and other treaties
• Dominated by Britain, France and Italy

Question 21

How did Britain want to enforce Versailles through the Conference of Ambassadors?

Answer 21

Ensure balance of power by making sure France and Germany couldn’t dominate

Question 22

How did France want to enforce Versailles through the Conference of Ambassadors?

Answer 22

Stuck between economic cooperation with Germany and applying forceful measures to weaken Germany

Question 23

What happened at the Washington Naval Conference 1922?

Answer 23

• Almost naval race between US and Japan
• Britain publicly announced naval programme to aid Japan - privately admitted to USA they couldn’t afford arms race and negotiated settlement = preferable
• Naval treaty stopped large battleships being built for 10 years, and provided ratio of warships allowed for US, Britain, France, Japan and Italy
• Move towards disarmament

Question 24

What happened at the London Naval Conference 1930?

Answer 24

• France felt threatened by Italian power in Mediterranean so wanted to increase number of warships allowed
• France and Italy refused to agree with other powers to limit non-battleship construction
• Led to naval race between France and Italy
• Japan disliked London Naval Treaty - weakened Japan. PM assassinated in 1932 and military took over
• US and Britain celebrated Treaty as it saved huge sums of money during economic depression

Question 25

What happened at the World Disarmament Conference 1932 - 1934?

Answer 25

• All League members & USA & USSR present
• Japan left conference and League after Lytton report
• France refused to reduce arms unless guarantee given against future German attacks - Britain and US refused
• Germany said if other countries didn’t disarm to their level (due to ToV), they would arm to other countries’ levels
• Hitler = Chancellor 1933 - declared they would leave Conference since France refused to disarm
• No agreements ever reached

Question 26

What happened at the London Naval Conference 1935?

Answer 26

• Purpose = extending previous naval limitations and clarifying size limits for ships
• Japan refused to attend and withdrew from all naval agreements
• Italy refused to sign due to hostility over Abyssinia
• Agreement reached signed by Germany and USSR in 1937 and Italy in 1938

Question 27

What happened at the Locarno Treaties 1925?

Answer 27

• Germany reaccepted western borders - minority disapproved and saw it as betrayal as it reaccepted Versailles
• Germany joined League in 1926
• Germany became compliant under Stresemann so acceptance into League = reward - French President Briand approved (liked Stresemann)
• Majority of Germany happy

Question 28

What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928?

Answer 28

• Between France and US - outside of League
• Outlawed war
• Signed by 65 countries - not whole world though
• Good principle but no way of enforcing
• USA involved - saw value in participating in some League committees but US Senate vetoed this
• Gave US government moral basis to intervene in world affairs if it wanted to