part 2 Flashcards
VILNA 1920
FAILURE-Poland invaded Vilna as the population was largely Polish. Lithuania appealed to league but it did nothing, so Poland took Vilna.
failed to prevent military aggression
ALAND ISLANDS 1921
SUCCESS-Sweden and Finland both wanted control of the Aland Islands. They appealed to the League. The League gave the land to Finland and had successfully avoided war.
UPPER SILESIA 1921-25
SUCCESS AND FAILURE-Industrial region on the border of Poland and Germany. Both wanted control of it. Vote in 1921 to decide who would take control. Split votes and land-accepted by both countries. BUT Poles now lived in Germany, and Germany lost out on coal and income. Agreement ended in 1925, with relations between Germany and Poland worse than ever.
CORFU-1923
FAILURE-League gave decision of making Greece and Albanian borders to and Italian general. He got murdered. Mussolini demanded Greece pay compensation but Greece didn’t know the murderers. A powerful country threatened a smaller one, proving the league could be ignored.
GENEVA PROTOCOL-1924
FAILURE-Britain and France drew up the Geneva Protocol in 1924. Means they would ask council to resolve problems, they hoped it would strengthen league. Change in British government before protocol came into effect, so refused to sign it. Weakened league as Britain appeared to be disinterested and not committed.
BULGARIA-1925
FAILURE-Greece invaded Bulgaria as their troops were killed on the border. Bulgaria appealed to the league. League ordered Greece to pull out of Bulgaria. Greece thought League was hypocritical and inconsistent.
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION
SUCCESS AND FAILURE-
AIM-to bring workers, employers and governments together to improve working conditions
1928-77 countries agreed to set a minimum wage
1930-helped Greece set up social insurance
Tanganyika-new railway being built used slave labour and 50% of workers died, league reduced it to 4%
1919-tried to stop children under 14 from working, but members thought it would cost too much
1935-suggested the working day should be limited to 8 hours, but only 4 members were in favour
COMMISION FOR REFUGEES
MAINLY SUCCESS-
AIM-to return prisoners of war home and support refugees by improving camp conditions and returning them home once the conflict had passed
1917-civil war in Russia left 1.5 million refugees, the league helped them find new homes
1921-league helped free 427,000 out of 500,000 prisoners of war still imprisoned from ww1
1922-Turkey vs Greece left many refugees, league set up refugee camps and sent doctors to treat diseases like cholera
Nansen Passport-identification for refugees
THE SLAVERY COMMISSION
SUCCESS-organised raids on the camps of slave traders on Sierra Leone, setting 200,000 people free. In 1927 Sierra Leone announced slavery was to be abolished.
THE HEALTH COMMITTEE
SUCCESS-started an international campaign to kill mosquitoes which spread diseases such as malaria.
Sent doctors to look after refugees in Turkey and improve living conditions in refugee camps.
Later renamed WHO, still exists today.
THE ABYSINNIAN CRISIS
FAILURE-failure of Manchuria led to this due to Mussolini seeing that the league did nothing to stop Japan. Failed due to failure to close the Suez canal, meaning Mussolini could move troops and supplies through it. CONSQUENCES-league had lost everything, Europe headed to war, members turning against them, moral condemnation didn’t work.
HOARE-LAVAL-Proof Britain and France would undermine the league for self interest
THE MANCHURIAN CRISIS (WHY IT WAS A FAILURE)
FAILURE-league proved to be powerless since strong nations were able to pursue aggressive acts against other countries without serious punishments. Lytton report took so long to publish so it showed the league to be slow, and appeared unbothered. Other dictators started to look for ways round the league.
THE PERMANENT CENTRAL OPIUM BOARD
SUCCESS AND FAILURE
AIM-to stop the creation and distribution of opium being sold illegally
Introduced a system where companies had to have a certificate to say they could import it for medical purposes.
Blacklisted four large companies involved in trading illegal drugs.
Some historians claim that key members of the league weren’t really dedicated to stopping the sale of opium as they made lots of money from it.
list 3 failures
vilna, corfu, geneva protocol, bulgaria, manchuria, abysinnia
list 3 successes
aland islands, international labour organisation, health committee, opium board, slavery commission, refugee commission
how did germany leave the league?
League had conference about arms. Hitler would disarm if all other countries also did. France refused so Hitler stormed out. He used this as an excuse to leave the league.
when did germany leave the league?
october 1933
what was the washington naval conference and when was it held?
1921-USA, Britain, France and Japan to reduce the size of the navies. Showed countries were keen on disarmament but no one wanted to reduce further. Countries attending individually showed priorities over league
when was abysinnia
1935-1936
what was the assembly?
every citizen was a member of the city’s assembly, decision had to be unanimous which was difficult
mains aims of the league
maintain peace using disarmament, arbitration and collective security
encourage co-operation
encourage disarming
failures in social issues
couldn’t ban slavery or child labour altogether as decisions in the assembly had to be unanimous-too many countries benefited so didn’t want the ban