League of Nations- creation and formation Flashcards
When was the League created?
Basic rules about how the League was going to work were included at the start of the Treaty of Versailles.
All countries that signed the Treaty agreed to stick to the rules of how the League was to work.
Who joined the League of Nations?
When founded there were 42 members, rose to 58 by 1934. 4 permanent members of the Council who made all the big decisions - Britain, France, Italy and Japan.
What was the League of Nations?
A vision for bringing the world together in peace.
A group of countries that would work together to solve problems and avoid future wars.
Why was the League formed?
4 main aims:
1. Stop war from breaking out again
2. To encourage disarmament
3. To improve working conditions
4. To tackle deadly disease.
Where was the League based?
In Geneva, Switzerland.
Switzerland was not involve in the war so was seen as a neutral country and also the Red Cross was based there.
Was the USA an important member?
No. The Senate refused to agree to it. Many young Americans died in the War and the USA wanted to isolate itself from Europe. Wilson was devastated as it was his idea to set one up.
Did all the other powerful countries join?
No. Britain and France were suspicious of the new Communist government in Russia and did not allow it to join.
Countries who lost the war were also not allowed to join. - Changed in 1926, when the Locarno Treaty was signed and Germany was allowed to join the League.
Once Hitler came to power he took Germany out of the League. Japan and Italy also left after they invaded other countries in 1930s.
Britain’s view of the League?
Lloyd George initially critical of the idea at the Paris Peace Conference but on 25 March 1919 he issued the Fontainebleau Memorandum in which he said he completely supported the League.
Colonies belonging to Germany were given to the League to be run as mandates until they were ready to be independent. In reality, Britain saw this as an opportunity to add to its empire.
Britain saw it as a place to have discussions but without any real power.
France’s view of the League
France was grateful for any help to protect it from another German invasion.
How did the League plan to keep peace?
Idea was that the League would work through collective security - that all countries would work together to make sure that peace was kept.
in 1920, the league also set up an International court that would establish international laws. Called the Permanent Court of international Justice- if every country followed the same laws there would be less chance of them disagreeing.
How would the League deal with disputes?
The Covenant set out how th eLeague would deal with aggression:
1. Mitigation - get countries together to talk
through problems
2. Moral condemnation if mitigation didn’t work
3. Economic sanctions could be enforced- where
there would be no trade with the warring
countries
4. The League did not have its own army as it was
a peaceful organisation. If an army was
necessary the League was to ask its members
to lend their armies forces.
