Part 2- The League Of Nations Flashcards

1
Q

What was the forming of the League of Nations?

A
  1. The league was included in the 14 point plan
  2. The aim was to maintain peace and encourage economic cooperation.
  3. All members have to agree to 26 rules called covenant.
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2
Q

What are the aims of the league?

A
  1. Disarmament- countries reduce size and numbers of weapons/soldiers.
  2. Arbitration- countries to talk through problems.
  3. Collective security- all help each other when one country was under attack or threat.
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3
Q

What is the structure of the league?

A
  1. Assembly- meet once a year, each member had one representative and one vote. Every member had to agree on the decision of not gets passed on to the council.
  2. Council- meet least 4 times a year, it includes permanent members (Britain, France, Japan, Italy and later on Germany) they have a veto vote whereas temporary members don’t.
  3. Secretariat- did all the admin work.
  4. Permanent court of international justice- 15 judges, checked legality of decisions, settled international disputes.
  5. Special commissions- tackled worldwide economic and social problems- health organisation, slavery commission and disarmament commission.
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4
Q

What are the membership and organisation of the league?

A
  1. 1920= 42 members by 1938= 58 members
  2. 4 permanent members- Britain, France, Italy and Japan made all the big decisions.
  3. America never joined as they wanted the policy of isolationism.
  4. Germany not allowed membership until 1926.
  5. Russia (USSR) not allowed membership because it was communist and that worried Britain and France but joined in 1934.
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5
Q

What was the humanitarian work?

A
  1. Special commissions success on economic and social issues.
  2. International labour organisation- persuade league to introduce minimum wages/limited working hours. Helped Greece set up social insurance to help sick and unemployed. Failed to stop under 14s from working.
  3. Commission for slavery- resettles refugees after ww1 and sent 500,000 prisoners of war home.
  4. The health committee- combated the spread of malaria, leprosy and plague eventually became world health organisation.
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6
Q

What is the successes of the league in 1920s?

A
  1. Upper Silesia (1921)- border between Germany and Poland, they both wanted to claim for it because it had a lot of iron and steel. A plebiscite (nationwide vote) was issued and the decision came to a close call and the league split upper Silesia between both.
    2.
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7
Q

What are the failures of the league in 1920s?

A
  1. Corfu-was a Greek island taken over by Italy and Mussolini demanded Greece pay compensation. At first the league told Italy to leave Corfu alone, but then forced geese to pay.
  2. Vilna-was chosen to be the new capital of Lithuania and Poland took over it and the Poland ignored the league when they said give it back, but France refused to help so Britain didn’t.
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8
Q

What were the other international agreements in 1920s?

A

Countries started to make treaties between themselves which showed they didn’t trust the league.

  1. Washington conference- Brit, Fra, jap, agreed to reduce the size of their navies.
  2. Locarno treaty- to improve the relations between France and Germany and promised to remove problems peacefully.
  3. Kellogg braiand pact- 65 nations agreed to not use aggression to settle disputes.
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9
Q

What impact did the Great Depression gave on the league?

A
  1. Depression caused unemployment and lead people turn right wing parties (Nazi) and went against the league.
  2. Britain and France were to busy solving their problems and not willing to help the league.
  3. The league only had sanctions as a weapon and most countries were likely to support sanctions during the depression.
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10
Q

What were the causes of the Manchurian crisis?

A
  1. Japan had no resources and wanted to expand.
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11
Q

What happened in the Manchurian crisis?

A
  1. Sept 1931- Japan used explosives on the Manchurian railway and said the Chinese guard committed the explosion and then the Japanese army took over and but in a puppet ruler to keep control.
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12
Q

What did the league do towards the Manchurian crisis?

A
  1. The league sent Lord Lytton to asses the situation and reported Japan was wrong and because of this Japan left the league in 1933. And the league didn’t want to take further action because countries couldn’t afford to send their troops in as they were still in the depression.
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13
Q

What were the consequences toward in the league in the Manchurian crisis?

A
  1. Clearly showed the league failed as one of the permanent members left.
  2. Japan refused to follow decision and there was little the league could do.
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14
Q

What caused the Abyssinian crisis?

A
  1. Mussolini wanted Abyssinian because they defeated Italy in 1896 and wanted revenge.
  2. Mussolini wanted an Italian empire and rich in natural resources and fertile land.
  3. Also was very confident that the league wouldn’t intervene.
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15
Q

What happened in the Abyssinian crisis?

A
  1. Oct 1935- troops enter Abyssinia.
  2. Abyssinian leader, Haile Selassie, appeals to the league.
  3. Dec 1935- Brit and Fra sent foreign ministers to negotiate with Italy separate from the league and agreed Italy should be give part of Abyssinia.
  4. May 1936- Italy conquered all of Abyssinia.
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16
Q

What were the leagues actions towards the Abyssinian crisis?

A
  1. Imposed economic sanctions but did not include oil, steel, iron or coal as Brit was worried banning coal was Brit people will have no work.
  2. Failed to close Suez Canal and Italy continued to have a fast supply route to Abyssinia.
17
Q

What were the consequences towards the league in the Abyssinian crisis?

A
  1. May 1936- Italy leaves the league.
  2. Showed the members of the league were more interested in their own problems.
  3. The Brit and Fra Hoare Laval Pact outside of the league showed collective security had failed.
  4. Hitler and Mussolini realised that the league without army and ineffective economic sanctions, the league was powerless.
  5. The league had lost most of its influence.
18
Q

Why did the league fail?

A
  1. No way to enforce decision e.g no army.
  2. Structure had weakness e.g difficult to take swift action.
  3. Permanent members could veto vote e.g self interest could be at risk.
  4. USA was not a member e.g had most resources and powerful country.
  5. Germany and Russia weren’t members from the start.
  6. Japan and Italy left.
  7. The Great Depression.