Organisation of the League of Nations Flashcards
1
Q
What were the 6 main parts of the League of Nations?
A
- The Council
- The Assembly
- The Secretariat
- The Permanent Court of International Justice
- The International Labour Organisation (ILO)
- The League of Nations Commissions
2
Q
What commissions were part of the League of Nations Commissions?
A
- The Mandates Commissions
- The Refugees Committee
- The Slavery Commission
- The Health Committee
3
Q
The Council (Card 1)
A
Smaller than the Assembly, met usually about five times a year. It included:
- Permanent members: In 1920 these were Britain, France, Italy and Japan.
- Temporary members: Elected by the Assembly for three-year periods.
4
Q
The Council (Card 2)
A
- Permanent members had a veto
- This meant that one permanent member could stop the Council acting even if all other members agreed
- Main aim was to resolve disputes by talking
5
Q
What were the range of powers the Council could use other than talking?
A
- Moral condemnation: they could decide which country was ‘the aggressor,’ and tell them to stop what it was doing.
- Economic and financial sanctions: members of the League could refuse to trade with the aggressor.
- Military force: the armed forces of member countries could be used against an aggressor.
6
Q
The Assembly
A
- The League’s ‘Parliament’
- Every country in the League sent a representative to the Assembly
- Could recommend action to the Council
- Could vote on admitting new members to the League
- Met once a year
- Decisions were unanimous (they had to be agreed by all members of the Assembly)
7
Q
The Secretariat
A
- Sort of civil service serving all the other bodies within the League
- Kept records of League meetings and prepared reports
- Key role in bringing together experts from across the world on key issues e.g. health, disarmament and economic matters
8
Q
The Permanent Court of International Justice
A
- Based at the Hague in the Netherlands
- Made up of judges from the member countries
- This was meant to play a key role in the League’s work by settling disputes between countries peacefully
- If it was asked, the Court would give a decision on a border dispute between countries
- However, the Court had no way of making sure that countries followed its rulings
9
Q
The International Labour Organisation (ILO)
A
- The ILO brought together employers, government and workers’ representatives
- Aim was to improve working conditions of working people throughout the world
- Collected statistics and information about working conditions and how to improve them
- Tried to persuade member countries to adopt its suggestions
10
Q
The Mandates Commissions
A
- Many former colonies of Germany and her allies ended up as League of Nations mandates ruled by Britain and France on behalf of the League
- The Mandates Commissions was made up teams of expert advisers
- Their job was to report to the League how people in the mandates were being treated
- Aim was to make sure that Britain and France acted in the interests of the people of that territory, not its own interests
11
Q
The Refugees Committee
A
- After WW1 there were hundreds of thousands of refugees who had fled from the areas of conflict
- Some were trying to get back to their homes
- Others had no homes to go to
- Most pressing problems were in former Russian territories
- A mammoth task!
12
Q
The Slavery Commission
A
- Worked to abolish slavery around the world
- Particular issue in East Africa but slavery was also a concern all over the world
- Many workers who weren’t technically slaves but were treated like slaves
- Commission tried to help them too
13
Q
The Health Committee
A
- Attempted to deal with the problem of dangerous diseases
- Educated people about health and sanitation
- WW1 brought about rapid developments in medicine and ideas about public health and disease prevention
- They brought experts together and worked with charities and other agencies to collect statistics about health issues
- Spread the new ideas about health
- Developed programmes to fight disease
- Still exists today
