League of Nations

Question 1

what was the League of Nations?

Answer 1

The League of Nations was an international organisation that aimed to make the world more peaceful. It provided a platform for countries to solve the issues that might lead to war.

Question 2

whose idea was the League of Nations?

Answer 2

There were 3 important individuals that put the League of Nations together.

• President Wilson originally drafted his ideas about the League of Nations in his 14 Points at the end of the First World War.
• Jan Smuts of South Africa was involved in the discussions, as was British politician Sir Robert Cecil.
• British prime minister David Lloyd George also contributed to the talks.

Question 3

what were the aims of the League of Nations?

Answer 3

The League of Nations had a number of aims.
❖ Its primary aim was to keep world peace, and solve disputes that might lead to war.
❖ It wanted to achieve world disarmament.
❖ It wanted to achieve global co-operation in trade.
❖ It aimed to improve the lives of people worldwide.

Question 4

when was the League of Nations formed?

Answer 4

The League of Nations came into being in January 1920.

Question 5

where was the League of Nations based?

Answer 5

The League of Nations was based in Geneva, Switzerland. Switzerland was seen as a peaceful country and was also home to the headquarters of the Red Cross.

Question 6

what was the Covenant of the League of Nations?

Answer 6

The Covenant of the League of Nations was the name chosen by President Wilson to describe the League’s constitution. It contained 26 articles, or laws, about how the League should be organised

Question 7

what were the problems with setting up the League of Nations?

Answer 7

The politicians who were responsible for setting up the League encountered some problems.
❖ The plans for the League were put together in a hurry.
❖ Critics felt the aims of the organisation were badly-defined or too idealistic.
❖ Britain wanted a simpler organisation that would only meet in emergencies, similar to the existing Conference of Ambassadors which oversaw the fulfilment of the peace settlement of the First World War.
❖ France wanted a strong league with its own army.
❖ American Congress decided the USA should not join the League.
❖ Other countries, such as the USSR and Germany, were not invited to join.

Question 8

why didn’t the USA join the League of Nations?

Answer 8

There were 6 reasons the USA did not join the League of Nations.
❖ The idea of the League of Nations was unpopular in the USA.
❖ Many Americans, particularly those with German ancestry, hated the Treaty of Versailles. They did not want membership of an organisation set up to enforce it.
❖ After the casualties of the First World War, many Americans were afraid their soldiers would become involved in conflicts not directly related to America.
❖ The League’s sanctions might hurt American trade.
❖ There were fears the League would be used to defend the British and French empires. Many Americans were anti-imperialist.
❖ Wilson was too ill to run for re-election in 1920 but the Republican candidate, Warren Harding, campaigned for American isolationism and a return to ‘normalcy’. These ideas appealed to the electorate, who voted him in.

Question 9

what did Britain think of the League of Nations?

Answer 9

David Lloyd George was critical of the League to begin with. However, in March 1919 he issued the Fontainebleau Memorandum which gave it his full support.

Question 10

what did France think of the League of Nations?

Answer 10

France was supportive of any measure that would protect them from another German invasion.

Question 11

how was the League of Nations organised?

Answer 11

The League was organised into 7 bodies that had different roles within it.
❖ The Secretariat.
❖ The Assembly of the League.
❖ The Council of the League.
❖ The Permanent Court of International Justice.
❖ The International Labour Organisation.
❖ The Commissions.
❖ A Council of Ambassadors existed between 1920 and 1931.

Question 12

what were the weaknesses of the League of Nations?

Answer 12

The League had 7 weaknesses that meant it struggled to be effective.
❖ The USA was never a member of the League. It became isolationist after the Paris Peace Conference, meaning the League didn’t have America’s powerful and influential support.
❖ Germany wasn’t allowed to join the League until 1926, which meant the organisation looked like a ‘winner’s club’. Germany left in 1933 after Adolf Hitler came to power.
❖Soviet Russia wasn’t invited to join the League until 1934, because it was communist.
❖ Along with France, Britain was one of the League’s most influential and powerful members. However, it was mostly concerned with its empire rather than prioritising the League’s principles.
❖ Along with Britain, France was one of the League’s most influential and powerful members. However, the country was worried about maintaining its security against potential German aggression, rather than prioritising the League’s principles.
❖ The League was slow to reach decisions as its Assembly only met once a year.
❖ The League had to rely on members donating their armies, as it didn’t have its own. This made it weak against aggression.
❖ All decisions in the League had to be unanimous, so each country had an equal say. This meant just one country could veto an action being taken.

Question 13

what was collective security in the League of Nations?

Answer 13

Collective security was the principle on which the League of Nations worked. It was based on the idea that if all members worked together, they could force any aggressive country to stop threatening the peace.

Question 14

what was collective security in the League of Nations also known as?

Answer 14

It was known as Article 10 in the Covenant of the League.

Question 15

what were the powers of the League of Nations?

Answer 15

The League had three main powers at its disposal to keep the peace, based on the principles of collective security.
❖Moral disapproval (also known as condemnation). If the Council voted to condemn the action of a country, it knew the weight of the world’s opinion was on the League’s side.
❖Economic sanctions. If a country was aggressive, the Council could decide that League members would refuse to trade with it or lend it money. This is also known as being ‘blacklisted’.
❖ Military sanctions. As a last resort, the Council could decide to send in an army of soldiers from member states.

Question 16

who were members of the League of Nations?

Answer 16

The League had many countries as members, but there were also some important non-members.
❖ The League had 42 member countries when it was first set up, and 59 by the end of the 1930s.
❖ The USA was never a member of the League, even though it was US president Woodrow Wilson’s idea.
❖ In the absence of the USA, Britain and France were the most dominant and influential members of the League.
❖ Germany was allowed to join in 1926, but left to rearm in secret shortly after Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933.
❖ The USSR was allowed to join in 1934.
❖ Japan, a permanent member of the Council of the League, left in 1933 after the Manchurian Crisis.
❖ During the 1920s, the League saw some significant successes.

Question 17

what were 8 of the League of Nations successes in the 1920s?

Answer 17

1. Prisoners of war 1920 The League took home half a million prisoners of war from World War One.
2. Aaland Islands 1921 Sweden and Finland accepted the League’s arbitration to give the Aaland Islands to Finland.
3. Turkey 1922 The League set up camps and fed Turkish refugees.
4. Austria 1923 The League sent economics experts to help Austria when its government went bankrupt.
5. Bulgaria 1925 Greece obeyed the League’s orders to pull out of Bulgaria in 1925.
6. Slaves 1926 The League approved the Slavery convention - altogether, the League freed 200,000 slaves.
7. Drugs 1936 After more than ten years of work, 26 League nations signed an international convention to combat the drugs trade - a law that is still in force.
8. Disease 1920s The League worked to prevent malaria and leprosy.

Question 18

What were 4 of the League of Nations’ failures in the 1920s?

Answer 18

1. Poland 1921 The Poles invaded Vilna (the capital of Lithuania). The League ordered Poland to withdraw. Poland refused and the League could do nothing
2. Corfu 1923 Mussolini ignored the League’s orders to pull out of Corfu, and made Greece pay money to Italy.
3. Disarmament 1923 and 1932 Disarmament talks failed, because Germany demanded as many weapons as everyone else.
4. Jobs 1920s The International Labour Organisation failed to persuade countries to adopt a 48-hour week. Failure

Question 19

what were the Leagues overall successes?

Answer 19

The League had mixed success in its lifetime and did solve some disputes in the 1920s. Overall, the League’s biggest success came from commissions that sought to fix global issues. example: world health organisation

Question 20

what were the leagues overall failures?

Answer 20

The League fell very short of Wilson’s ideal. It was weakened by a lack of key members and an army of its own. This, along with the Depression and the self-interest of France and Britain, meant it was unprepared for dealing with aggressive nations in the 1930s.

Question 21

what did the different parts of the league do?

Answer 21

The League consisted of several bodies that each performed a different function:
❖ The Secretariat was the League’s civil service.
❖ The Assembly was a big meeting of all member countries to make important decisions about the League, and was effectively its parliament.
❖ The Council of the League was a smaller executive body which decided how the League would react to events.
❖ The Permanent Court of International Justice was a mostly independent body that reached legal decisions when countries had disputes.
❖ The International Labour Organisation was mostly independent and worked to improve working conditions in all its member countries.
❖ The Commissions were agencies set up by the League to tackle specific problems in member countries.
❖ The Council of Ambassadors was a group of important diplomats that had existed before the League was created. They represented the allied powers in issues around the peace settlements. It was dissolved in 1931.