LEAGUE OF NATIONS Flashcards
What is an obvious reason to why the League of Nations failed?
21 years after World War One, there was already another war breaking out which was much more deadly and destructive.
What were the main aims for the League of Nations?
-discouraging aggression from any nation and promoting disarmament
-encouraging nations to co-operate in areas like business trade, gives countries less reason to be agressive
-improving general living conditions
-article 10, which mean collective security
What was it meant by collective security?
This meant establishing a system that any act of aggression against a single member state meant an attack on everyone as they all believed in peace, basically a system where they all back each other up and are loyal allies.
Which were the three crucial absences in the League of Nations?
-USSR due to being communist and didn’t want to join either, finally joined in 1934
-Germany not allowed until proven a peaceful country and finally joined in 1926
-USA did not join as congress voted against it joining due to their general view on isolationism
How did the council work in the League of Nations?
The council consisted of meetings three times a year. The four main members would decide most of the important conflicts however any of the decisions could be vetoed by any permanent member.
Who were the four main members?
Japan,Italy,France and Britain. Germany came in during 1926 and became a permanent member.
What was the assembly in the League of Nations?
Consisted of representatives of all members and would meet once a year however decisions were unanimous.
What was the permanent court of justice made up of?
This was set up to solve disputes between countries but both sides had to agree to take a dispute to court, if one country decided not to, it would just be dismissed and rulings would not be enforced.
How could the league punish a country and what did they lack and could not do?
Economic or military sanctions could apply as a punishment if one country would break the convenant.
Since the league did not have an army or any willingness to go create an army, if an act of aggression occurred an individual country had to act and punish using their own soilders and army.
Greece and Bulgaria, what happened.
In October 1925 there was an incident on the Bulgarian border and, as a result, a Greek military officer was killed. Bulgaria appealed to the League for help when it was invaded by Greece. The dispute happened due to a shoot-out between Greek and Bulgarian soldiers on the Bulgarian border, resulting in the death of a Greek soldier. The Greeks invaded in retaliation. Bulgaria did not fight back, but appealed to the League. The League ordered Greece to withdraw, which it did.
How did the league react to the situation?
It reacted quickly to the invasion.
❖ It promptly called a meeting in Paris.
❖ It reached the decision that both sides should stand down, and Greek forces should leave Bulgaria immediately.
❖ After further investigation, the League decided it favoured Bulgaria’s version of events.
❖ Greece was forced to pay £45,000 in compensation and threatened with sanctions.
How did living conditions due to league improve(based on refugees)
The league took charge of the returning refugees and prisoners of war to their own countries after the Great War. About 400,000 were returned safely due to creation of Nansen Passport
How did the leagues agencies also tackle the slave trade?
Slaves decreased as this problem was still widespread in parts of Africa due to challenging use of forced labour to build Tanganyika railway.
What did the ILO do?
The ILO set up hours of work and tried to establish trade union rights on an international basis. A 48 hour a week of work was applied and mostly followed and white lead from paint was banned.
What did the World Health Organization do?
They tried to prevent world wide diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria through mosquito extermination campaigns.
What date was the corfu League of Nations failure?
August 31, 1923
What did Mussolini do to start the conflict?
As an Italian general was killed on the border of Greece, Mussolini orders occupation of the Greek islands. As Greece refused to pay reparations for what they did, Mussolini ordered, taking advantage of this excuse, for an invasion.
What did the league do in response to this?
The league condemned the invasion but this matter was brought to the conference of ambassadors, where it was decided that Italy would withdraw troops of Greece were to pay the compensation. This was seen as bullying tactics and showed how the League of Nations had preference over permanent, stronger members.
How did the depression reduce the importance of the league of nations?
The improvements from 1924 were completely wiped out due to many factors and all gain was lost, this was due to;
-massive unemployment and poverty, which led to desperation and despair. This also meant more extremist powers and desperation for a leader and someone who could ‘save’ Germany, violence and agressive tactics being used.
-in Japan, Italy, and Germany, militarism became more influential, meaning a higher importance and creation of an army to be used aggressively.
- major powers in the league like Britain and France no longer saw the league as a priority.
What was the Manchuria incident caused by?
The population of Japan began to increase and more raw materials and land were needed. Manchuria, a province of china, consisted of all the materials Japan lacked, like coal and iron. The price of rice fell and exports of silk were affected and reduced due to the depression. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, a province of china, and claimed that this was self defense. Japan claimed that a railway had been blown up Mukden on the 18th of September. This is the reason they have to the public.
When did Japan invade Manchuria?
September 18, 1931
What did Japan do in Manchuria and china?
Japan set up a puppet government who used to be the last emperor of china as a leader.
What did the league do in response to this situation?
In October, a commission called the Lytton commission reported that there was no evidence that the Japanese had acted in self defense and recommended that Manchuria should be part of the Chinese region.
What did japan do in response?
The Japanese ignored the report and the condemnation from the league and resigned in 1933.
