League of Nations - Successes Flashcards
List the 4 aims of the League of Nations
To prevent aggression
To encourage co-operation between nations
To work towards international disarmament
To improve the living and working conditions for all the people
What is a mandate?
An official order for territory to be taken under the control of protection of another country.
What are the 4 parts to the League?
The Assembly
The council
The secretariat
Peacekeeping role
What were the 3 agencies of the secretariat?
Commissions
The ILO (International Labour Organisation)
The Permanent Court of Justice
Facts about the Leagues Assembly
Located in Geneva, Switzerland
The debating chamber
Membership of 42 countries when it started
Each country had a single vote in the Assembly
Met once every year
How many times did the council meet a year?
3 and for any emergency
What was the council made up of?
Permanent and temporary members
Who were the 4 permanent members of the league?
Italy, Japan, Britain and France
What was VETO in the council in the League?
VETO meant if one country disagreed then the idea would be scrapped.
What was the secretariat?
An international civil service that carried out the work of the league.
It also kept records of League meetings and prepared reports for the different agencies of the league.
What was the main role of the council?
To solve any disputes between states.
If any country was considered to have started a war through aggression then all the members of the League would take action against the aggressor.
This action was split into 3 stages?
- Moral condemnation
- Economic sanctions
- Military force
The aim of the commissions was to tackle major issues, how did they attempt to do this?
- The World Health Organisation attempted to deal with the problem of dangerous diseases.
- The Refugee Organisation worked to help return people to their original homes after WW1.
- A slavery commission was set up to work for the abolition of slavery.
What did the International Labour organisation aim to do?
To improve the working conditions.
Issues that they often discussed were wage rates, working hours and safety.
What did the Permanent Court of International Justice do?
It would make a decision on a dispute between 2 countries.
It also gave legal advice to the Assembly or council.
What were the strengths of the League?
4
42 Countries joined the League at the start and membership had risen to around 60 countries by 1930.
Looked strong as world powers such as Britain, Japan, Italy and France were on the council.
Set up by the TofV
Had a ‘means of influence’ to force its countries to obey.
What were the 3 ‘means of influence’ ?
Moral condemnation
League could offer arbitration to control and have a say between quarrelling nations
Economic sanctions
What did the success of the League of Nations depend on?
Membership and its ability to act against aggression
What was the greatest success of the League in the 1920s?
Its work as an agency by helping refugees and fighting the spread of drug addiction, disease and slavery.
Also created treaties to resolve disputes.
What year was the treaty of Rapallo and which countries were involved?
1922
USSR and Germany
Was the League involved in the Rapallo treaty?
NO
What happened in the Rapallo treaty?
USSR and Germany re-established diplomatic relations (started to communicate about trade)
This would have helped Germany get back on its feet and would show that Europe was stabilising itself.
What year and who was involved in the Dawes Plan?
1924
USA and Germany
Explain the Dawes Plan in 1924
To avert a terrible economic crisis in Germany, the USA lent money to Germany to help it pay its reparations bill.
As a result of the reparations being paid there would be less conflict between countries and Germany would get the chance to become stronger.
The League was NOT involved.
When and who was the Locarno Pact between?
1925
Germany and France
Explain the Locarno Pact in 1925
Germany accepted its western boarders were now France’s land. Which resulted in more countries being at peace and meant that Germany was no longer fighting to get their land back.
League was NOT involved
When and who was the Kellogg-Briand Pact between?
1928
65 nations
Explain the Kellog-Briand Pact in 1928
65 nations agreed to not use forces to settle disputes.
This meant no one would have to lose soldiers if there wasn’t any fighting and 65 nations were more peaceful to each other. (Links to one of the Leagues main aims)
League WAS involved.
What was the Kellog-Briand Pact in 1928 seen as?
A high point of friendly international relations during the 1920s.
HOWEVER
The agreement had a weakness that there was nothing said about how to react if one country broke the rules. Meaning the agreement would only work if members kept their word.
Wasn’t able to prevent the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931.
What year was the Young Plan?
1929
Explain the Young Plan in 1929
The League reduced Germany’s reparation payments.
France and Britain were ok with this because it meant they would be able to find peace with Germany sooner which would help Germany re-stabilize.
What were the successes of the Drugs Commission and World Health Organisation of the League?
Reduced the sale of dangerous drugs as well as helping countries to control the outbreaks of life-threatening diseases.
When a refugee crisis hit Turkey in 1922 lots of people had to go to refugee camps, the League acted quickly to prevent diseases such as Cholera in these camps.
What were the successes of the Health committee of the League?
Defeated the Leprosy disease and started the global campaign to exterminate mosquitoes.
This greatly reduced cases of malaria and yellow fever in the later years.
Even the USSR, who opposed the League, took the health committees advice on preventing the plague in Siberia.
Name a success of the League of Nations special commissions
The League black listed 4 large German, Dutch, French and Swiss companies which were involved in the illegal drug trade.
As a result, it freed around 200,000 slaves in British-owned Sierra Leone.
Explain the successes of the International Labour Organisation
(3)
Banned poisonous white led from paint and limited the hours that young children were allowed to work. - This meant people could have a healthier lifestyle as well as giving the children better social health.
Challenged the use of forced labour to build railways in Africa meaning people weren’t forcibly working long hours which would affect their health.
