The Intentions and Authority of the League of Nations and the UN Flashcards
creation of the league
Wilson’s Fourteen Point Speech called for a general association of nations to be formed which he believed could peacefully resolve any tensions and thus reduce the likelihood of war
the league was outlined in a covenant with 26 articles in the Treaty of Versailles and was officially established in January 1920
aims and a few articles of the League
aimed to preserve world peace
article 10 - outlined that other league members would assist the victim of aggression if a nation did attack another
article 12 - provided arbitration between nations in conflict
article 8 - called for all nations to work towards disarmament
article 16 - provided for the imposition of economic sanctions against an aggressor nation
league attempted to ensure that there would be no competing alliances, no secret treaties, no extreme nationalism and no arms races.
intentions were international peace and security, resolution and arbitration, general disarmament, collective security and improved living conditions
structure of the league
assembly contained all member nations, and each nation was allowed a single vote.
the council was the executive committee and it contained Britain, France, Italy and Japan as well as four non-permanent members, elected from the assembly every three years
there were also specialist league organisations such as the Health organisation
Successes of the League
took home half a million PoW from WW1
sweden and finland accepted the League’s arbitration to give the Aaland Islands to Finland
Set up camps and fed turkish refugees
the league sent economic experts to Austria when its government went bankrupt
Greece obeyed the League’s orders to pull out of Bulgaria in 1925
the league approved the Slavery convention and altogether the league freed 200,000 slaves
after more than 10 years of work, 26 League nations signed an international convention to combat the drugs trade - a law that is still in force
they worked to prevent malaria and leprosy
settled territorial disagreements between Turkey and Iraq and Colombia and Peru
Failures of the League
Poland invaded Vilna (capital of Lithuania). The league ordered Poland to withdraw. Poland refused and the league could do nothing
Mussolini ignored the League’s orders to pull out of Corfu and made Greece pay money to Italy
Disarmament talks failed because Germany demanded as many weapons as everyone else
The international Labour Organisation failed to persuade countries to adopt a 48 hour work week
Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria in 1931
proved to be unable to act during the Spanish Civil War
US never joined and Italy, Germany and Japan left during the 1930s
reasons for the league’s failure
lacked support from key world powers, particularly the US
the US senate refused to ratify the Treaty so the US never joined
Japan and Italy left when their policies clashed with the League’s goals, and Germany and the USSR were only members for a short period
the league had limited ability beyond moral authority
nations self-interest, the absence of important nations, the lack of troops, slow decision making and ineffective decision making meant that the League failed in securing international peace
league of nations quote
“It played a major role in the management of minor issues and a negligible one in the management of major ones” Norman Davies (1997)
creation of the UN
created after WW2
allied leaders met at Yalta, and one of the decisions they made was to call a conference in San Francisco in April 1945 to draft a charter for the UN
structure of the UN
headquarters in New York
votes in the general assembly no longer had to unanimous
the secretariat carries out research and administration and reports to the Assembly and the Security council
In the General Assembly, each nation has up to five delegates, but only one vote
the security council is the executive part of the UN, and contains five permanent members - US, Britain, China, France and Russia and six two year members. A permanent member had the power to veto decisions
The economic and social council studies economic and political problems through special agencies such as UNESCO, WHO, IMF and the World Bank
aims of the UN
maintain world security and prevent war, maintain good relationships between member nations, and work as a collective to improve the lives of people through acts such as protecting human rights, and combating poverty and starvation
success of the UN
limited after 1945 due to cold war tensions. During the first three years of its operation, the Soviet Union used its veto power thirty times.
The UN was able to make significant progress in the areas of health, transport and economics
failed to prevent conflicts including US invasions of Vietnam, Grenada, and USSR invasions of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Afghanistan as well as genocide in Rwanda
