Problems with the League/ that the League Faced Flashcards
Why didn’t America join the League?
1) Americans didn’t like the Treaty of Versailles and believed the League to be strongly connected with it
2) They believed it would be too expensive and didn’t want to involve themselves in European affairs
3) They believed in freedom under democracy and weren’t willing to be dragged into wars concerning undemocratic colonies
4) Woodrow Wilson’s political enemies wanted to make him unpopular
Why was the League not powerful enough?
1) It was dominated by Britain and France but neither country was strong enough to lead after the war
2) Economic and military sanctions would only work with big nations like the US to help
3) Germany and Russia weren’t allowed in the League initially
4) The League had no army of it’s own, and the member states didn’t want to commit to giving any army from it’s own.
5) Every country had to agree before anything could happen, and of course, there were disagreements.
What happened in the Corfu incident? Why did the League look weak thereafter?
1) Mussolini invaded the Greek island of Corfu in 1923 after the murder of 5 Italian surveyors
2) Mussolini demanded an apology and financial compensation from Greece
3) the League demanded this money was paid to them
4) Mussolini got the decision overturned and received both of his terms. The League looked weak as it did nothing to challenge this
Same as above for the Ruhr incident?
1) Germany was failing to keep up with reparation payments, so France invaded and occupied the industrial Ruhr Valley in 1923
2) The League did nothing to intervene
3) The USA helped to resolve the situation with the Dawes Plan
4) France withdrew in 1925
Give 5 Treaties which aimed to improve international relations
1) THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE 1921 - showed some countries were keen on disarming
2) GENEVA PROTOCOL 1924 - got countries to use the League to sort out disputes
3) DAWES/YOUNG PLANS 1924/29 - helping Germany to recover
4) LOCARNO TREATIES 1925 - Germany finally agreed to accept terms of the Versailles Treaty. It joined the league in 1926
5) KELLOGG-BRIAND PACT 1928 - 65 nations agreed to not use force to settle disputes
What were the respective problems to these treaties?
1) W.C - Defeated countries were angry they had been forced to disarm, and no one wanted to disarm further
2) GP - states began to make agreements without the League because they didn’t trust it to be effective
3) DP/YP - the effects of the depression wiped out these benefits
4) LT - Germany agreed to it’s Western borders, but nothing was said about the East, which worried Czechoslovakia and Poland
5) KBP - No one knew what would happen if the broke it
Describe briefly the Wall Street Crash
- American companies were selling lots of goods, so people borrowed money to buy shares from them.
- However many companies began to overproduce, so there was too much supply and not enough demand
- In 1929, the economy crashed: people rushed to sell their shares because their businesses were doing badly
- Selling was frantic and share prices crashed down
- Businesses and people were ruined and worthless
What happened in America in response to the crash?
1) America stopped lending money abroad and called in all it’s loans
2) By 1930, 2000 banks had collapsed as people withdrew savings
3) 12 million unemployed in the USA
What affect did it have on other industrial countries?
1) USSR wasn’t affected due to it’s communist system
2) Germany had relied on American loans so banks failed, exports suffered and unemployment rose to 6 million by 1932
3) 2.5 million Britons were unemployed in 3 years
How did this make the League’s work harder?
1) it created poverty so people were likely to turn to strong right wing leaders
2) In 1933, the Nazi Party won the vote in Germany. they wished to overturn Versailles
3) Countries like Britain and France were less prepared to help the League in resolving conflict, they wanted to focus on domestic problems like unemployment
