League of Nations Flashcards
What, fundamentally, was the League of Nations?
A peace-keeping organisation.
Why was the League of Nations set up in the first place?
As a result of Wilson’s “14 Points for Peace”, which came into the first 26 clauses of the Treaty of Versailles.
What was the Covenant?
The League of Nations’ rulebook.
What did all members of the League of Nations have to agree to obey?
The rules within the Covenant.
What was the name given to the clauses within the Treaty of Versailles that set out the aims of the League of Nations?
The Covenant.
In 1920, how many members were there within the League of Nations?
42
a) How many members were there in the League of Nations in the early 1930s?
b) What does this say about the success of the League of Nations?
a) 60
b) 10 years earlier showed a much smaller membership of the League of Nations. This shows that the organisation was growing, which means that the League of Nations was relatively successful at this time.
How many clauses of the Treaty of Versailles stated that the League of Nations was to be set up?
The first 26 clauses.
What were the key aims of the League of Nations? (5 things)
- To discourage aggression from any nation
- TO encourage countries to co-operate, especially in business and trade.
- To encourage all nations to disarm
- To improve living and working conditions in all parts of the world
- To keep the peace in the world
What made it difficult for the Assembly to come to a decision?
All decisions had to be unanimous - there had to be complete agreement amongst all members.
Who could the Assembly recommend action to?
The Council
Could the Assembly admit new members to the League of Nations?
Yes.
How frequently did the Assembly within the League of Nations meet?
Once a year.
a) How did the Assembly within the League of Nations meet?
b) What problems were there with this?
a) Every country (i.e. every member) sent a representative to the Assembly meetings
b) It ended up rather an expensive feat for each member to fly out from their own countries to meet in one place in the world. This is why the meetings were so infrequent.
What is meant by the term ‘unanimous’?
Complete agreement amongst everyone.
What could the Assembly decide on about the League of Nations?
It could decide the budget of the League.
What was the Council?
A smaller group than the Assembly, made up of the world powers at the time.
Who were the permanent members of the Council in 1920?
Britain, France, Italy and Japan.
How long could temporary members be elected by the Assembly to the Council for?
3 years.
What did the permanent members of the Council have to have together?
A veto.
What was the purpose of having a veto for the permanent members of the Council?
So they could stop a course of action they agreed with.
Why did the USA not join the League of Nations, despite it being the idea of Woodrow Wilson, the President of the USA?
Because the League of Nations was in the first 26 clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, which the USA were unhappy with.
How could the permanent members of the Council having a veto affect the decisions being made?
It meant that members of the Council could stop a course of action they disagreed with, so not many decisions were made overall
What is meant by the term ‘Collective Security’?
All for one and one for all
Explain what actions the Council could take in order to settle disputes among nations and obtain Collective Security. (3 stages)
- Talking to the aggressor. Moral condemnation after arbitration. They could condemn the aggressor’s action and tell them to stop.
- Stopping trade with the aggressor. Economic sanctions. Members of the League could refuse to trade with the aggressor.
- Military force if the member countries of the League of Nations contributed armed forces (the League of Nations had no army of its own)
What was the Secretariat?
Similar to the Civil Service - it did all the paperwork for the League of Nations, such as keeping records for the League’s meetings and prepared reports for the agencies of the League of Nations.
What does the ILO stand for?
The International Labour Organisation
What was the aim of the ILO?
To improve working conditions throughout the world
What was the purpose of the ILO collecting statistics and information?
To persuade League of Nations member countries to adopt their suggestions.
Who made up the ILO?
Representatives of government, workers, and employers.
What did the Commissions do?
Tackled major problems besides disputes between countries
What are the 8 Special Commissions?
- Mandates (made sure that the colonies taken from countries in the Peace Treaties were looked after properly)
- Refugees
- Slavery
- Health
- Women
- Minorities
- Help for underdeveloped nations
- Drug addiction
The Commissions were ______ _____ and did much ____ _____ throughout the world.
- Well funded
- Good work
What 6 components made up the organisation of the League of Nations?
- The Assembly
- The Council
- The Secritariat
- The ILO (International Labour Organisation)
- Permanent Court of Justice
- The Special Commissions
Define what is meant by a ‘political success’.
Dealing with a dispute between nations to successfully maintain peace.
Finish the phrase.
There was a sense of…
…goodwill and co-operation between nations, given that the horrors of World War One were fresh in the memory.
What year did the League of Nations successfully solve the Aaland Islands dispute?
1921
Where are the Aaland islands situated?
Between Sweden and Finland