League of Nations Flashcards
Why was the League of Nations established?
to prevent another war
to allow countries to talk about their conflicts
an international organisation that would enforce terms of the peace treaties
so USA didn’t act like an international policeman
Compromise with Britain and France in return for creation of league
What were the aims of the League of Nations?
establish long lasting peace
countries to co-operate in trade
disarmament of all countries
encourage better working conditions
Who were the leaders of the League?
Britain
France
Italy
Japan
Which countries were not part of the League?
USSR
USA
Germany
Why wasn’t USSR part of the League?
The league didn’t want the communism to be an influence to the League
Why wasn’t Germany part of the League?
The Treaty of Versailles banned Germany from joining the League as it had proven itself to be a not peaceful country
Why wasn’t USA in the League?
USA wasn’t in the League because Congress didn’t want to involve itself in European conflicts as well as they didn’t want to pay for the conflicts and their problems either. Also, ,German immigrants that lived in the USA disagreed with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which also meant the League of Nations.
Why was the absence of the USSR and Germany a potential problem to the League?
future aggressors
heightened animosity
they could recover themselves and reclaim territory and build their army
USSR had many resources and therefore couldn’t trade with anyone as it was not part of the League
USSR could spread communism
Germany and USSR could join together without the League noticing.
Why was the absence of the USA a problem for the League of Nations?
USA had the most power to enforce anything
European countries were damaged economically after WW1
USA had the most resources
USA had the strongest economy
USA had the largest military allowing to enforce in military sanctions
How was the Secretariat organised?
the performed all the administrative and financial work
How was the Assembly organised?
met once a year
each member had one vote
elected non- permanent members for the league
had to be unanimous
What is unanimous?
agreement of all people
How as the council organised?
Met 5 times a year
had permanent and non-permanent members
permanent members had VETO
What was VETO?
Veto was a vote used to stop the council acting. It was used only by the permanent members.
When did Germany join?
1926
When did Japan leave?
1933
When did USSR join?
1934
Why were people optimistic about eh League?
to solve international problems
to avoid another war
a better trading system meant better economies
improve living and working conditions of people
What were the military sanction?
sends an army to go against an aggressor
What were the moral sanctions?
To decide which country was the aggressor and which country was to be blamed for
What were economic sanctions?
refuse to trade with aggressor
fine the aggressor
What is collective security?
All countries armies should come together if one of the countries from the League of Nations was attacked
What happened in Aaland Islands?
1921
conflict between Finland and Sweden
belonged to Finland but the citizens wanted to be rules by Sweden
They asked the league for help
It remained for Finland but no weapons were kept there
What happened in Upper Silesia?
1921
People had a vote whether they wanted to stay for Poland or Germany
700000 for Germany
500,000 for Poland
They asked the League for help
They split Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland
What happened in Memel?
1923
Memel is a port in Lithuania
People thought it should be Lithuanian but the Treaty of Versailles put it under the League’s control
The League intervened and gave the surrounding area to Lithuania and left Memel to be an international port
What happened in Greece v Bulgaria?
1925 Bulgaria killed Greek soldier Greek army invaded Bulgaria asked for help League sent experts to see the conflict and ended up fining Greece 45,000 pounds
What happened in Fiume?
1919
Italians thought that the big three broke their promise when they captured the port of Fiume
it was given to Yugoslavia
It was governed by Italian nationalist Antonio D’annunzio
the italian government bombed fiume until they surrendered
The League did nothing
What happened in Vilna?
1920
Vilna was the capital of Lithuania after WW1
30% were from Poland and 2% were from Lithuania
the poles seized Vilna
Lithuania asked for help
However the use of force by the Poles won
What happened between Russia and Poland?
1920 to 1921
1920 Poland invaded Russia
The Russians had the sign the Treaty of Riga
Russians gave 80,000 km of land to Poland
Poland doubled in size
The League did nothing
What happened in Corfu?
1923 Italy and Albania Five Italians were shot by the Greeks Italians bombed the coastline of Corfu Greece asked for help but Benito Mussolini persuaded the League to fine Greece 50 million lire
What did the Refugee Committee do?
they took prisoners back to their home
Gave them housing
Stomped out small pox and cholera
400,000 prisoners were helped
What did the ILO committee do?
International Labor Organisation
banned poisonous white lead from paint
limited the hours that children were allowed to work
48 hour week maximum for adults
What did the World Health Committee do?
treated leprosy
extermination of mosquitoes to prevent malaria and yellow fever
gave advice on how to stop the plague
What did the Transport Committee do?
recommendations on making shipping lanes
produced high code for users
What did the Social committee do?
blacklisted people in illegal drug trade
freed 200,000 slaves
raids against slave owners
challenged forced labor in Africa from 50% to 4%
Kept records of drug trafficking, prostitution and slavery
What did the mandates committee do?
Colonies of Germany and the Turkish Empire were given to Britain and France
Made sure that they acted on the interest of others
What did the slavery committee do?
Stamp out exploitation practices forcing women and children into prostitution
Why did the USA not join?
German immigrants disagreed on the Treaty of Versailles which was linked to The League
Business leaders were pro isolationalism- worried about economic cost
did not want to send US troops over to settle conflicts after they saw what happened at WW1
They were anti-French and anti-British and did not want to support empires
The Republicans won a landslide victory in 1920 election
