The League in the 1920s

Question 1

What were the aims of the League of Nations?

Answer 1

• discourage aggression
• encourage cooperation
• encourage disarmament
• improve living and working conditions

Question 2

What was collective security?

Answer 2

By acting collectively the members of the League could prevent war by defending the lands and interest of all nations.

Question 3

Why was the absence of the USA a problem?

Answer 3

• They had the money to fund the League
• Weren’t as damaged by the war as they joined late
• Their trade sanctions would be more impactful

Question 4

What were the components of the League?

Answer 4

1. The Council
2. The Assembly
3. The Permanent Court of International Justice
4. The Secretariat
5. International Labor Organization
6. Commissions
   
   • Mandates
   • Refugees
   • Slavery
   • Health

Question 5

What was the role of the Council?

Answer 5

• small group
• met 5 times a year
• each permanent member had a veto
• resolve disputes by talking
• moral condemnation
• sanctions
• force

Question 6

What was the role of the Assembly?

Answer 6

• ‘Parliament’
• every country had a representative
• vote on admission of members in the League
• Met once a year
• Decisions had to be unanimous

Question 7

What was the role of the Permanent Court of International Justice

Answer 7

• judges from member countries
• settled disputes
• no way to make sure that countries followed rulings

Question 8

What was the role of the ILO

Answer 8

• improve working conditions
• collected stats and information
• convince nations to adhere by their recommendations

Question 9

What was the role of the Secretariat?

Answer 9

• civil service
• kept records
• prepared reports
• brought together experts

Question 10

What was the role of the mandates commission?

Answer 10

• report on how mandates were being treated
• mandates ruled by Britain and France
• ensure that GBR and FRA were acting in the interests of the people and not themselves

Question 11

What was the role of the refugees commission?

Answer 11

• 100s and 1000s of refugees post WW1
• Tried to re-locate them
• ## Constructed houses in Syria and Lebanon for 40,000 Armenians after the re-settlement of another 10,000 in Yerevan

Question 12

What was the role of slavery commission?

Answer 12

• abolish slavery world wide
• especially in East Africa

Question 13

What was the role of the health committee

Answer 13

• deal with dangerous diseases
• educate people about health and sanitation
• collect stats about health issues
• develop programs to fight diseases

Question 14

Why wasn’t the USA able to join the League?

Answer 14

• The League was meant to enforce the Treaty of Versailles, however some Americans, many of German ancestry hated the treaty itself.
• The League imposed sanctions, but people thought that it would be American trade that would suffer the most
• Some feared that Being part of the League meant that American soldiers would have settle conflicts worldwide. No one wanted that after about 116,000 soldiers died in WWI.
• Many anti-empire people were worried that the League would be dominated by Britain or France and that the USA would be called to defend their empires

Question 15

Who were the permanent members of League of Nations at the beginning?

Answer 15

• Britain
• France
• Japan
• Italy

Question 16

Describe what happened in the Aaland islands border dispute

Answer 16

Between: Finland and Sweden

Year: 1921

Problem: It was inhibited by Swedish population, but belonged to Finland. The residents wanted self-determination and unification with Sweden, however Finland didn’t agree.

What the League did: The League first sent a commission to the islands. Based on their report, the League decided to let Finland have the island, but ensure it is autonomous and that Swedish tradition and culture would be preserved. It was also to remain neutral and demilitarized.

Success? : YES

Question 17

Describe what happened in the Vilna border dispute

Answer 17

Between: Poland and Lithuania

Year: 1920

Problem: Poland took control of the Lithuanian capital Vilna. Lithuania appealed to the League.

What the League did: The League protested to Poland, but the Poles didn’t pull out. France and Britain wanted to be on good terms with Poland and make them an ally, therefore the didn’t act.

Success? : NO

Question 18

Describe the Corfu Crisis of 1923

Answer 18

Between: Greece and Italy

Year: 1923

Problem: Italian general Tellini was working to sort out the border between Greece and Albania. On 27th August, Tellini and his tem were ambushed and killed. Mussolini was extremely angry and blamed Greece. He captured the Greek island of Corfu on 31st August. Greek appealed to the League.

What the League did: They condemned Mussolini’s actions, but suggested that Greece pay compensation, but only when the killers were found.

What happened: Mussolini did not let the matter rest, and was adamant that the Council wasn’t competent and that the Conference of Ambassadors should solve the problem. He threatened to leave the League. The final ruling was that Greeks should apologize and pay compensation.

Comments: This would not have happened if Britain and France would’ve stood together and applied military force. France was not willing to go to battle. It showed that they could sacrifice justice for cooperation.

Success? : Hell nah, cousin

Question 19

Describe the Bulgarian Crisis of 1925

Answer 19

Between: Greece and Bulgaria

Problem: Some Greek soldiers were killed in an accident on the border. Greece invaded Bulgaria, and Bulgaria appealed for help

What the League did: Demanded that both sides should stand down and Greece withdraw from Bulgaria. The League sent observers and judges in favor of Bulgaria. It suggested that Greece pay 45,000 pounds in compensation. Both obeyed.

Success? : YES

Question 20

How did the League help refugees?

Answer 20

• 400 000 prisoners returned
• stamped out cholera, smallpox and dysentery in Turkey

Question 21

How did the League improve working conditions?

Answer 21

• banned poisonous white lead from paint
• limited time for children to work
• worked for a 48 hour week and 8 hour day, however many countries didn’t adopt this

Question 22

How did the League help health?

Answer 22

• sponsored research
• develop vaccines and medicines
• very successful and continued in the form of the WHO in 1945

Question 23

How did the League help fight slavery and forced labor?

Answer 23

• freed 200 000 slaves in Sierra-Leone
• brought down death rate in Tanganyika railway from 50% to 4%

Question 24

What were the problems with the organization of the League?

Answer 24

• members had a veto, difficult to make decisions in the Council
• Assembly had to have unanimous decisions
• Assembly didn’t meet often enough
• Committees such as the working conditions and slavery often ran out of funds

Question 25

What was the status of disarmament in the 1920s?

Answer 25

The furthest they had gotten was the Washington Conference, where USA, GBR and JAP agreed to reduce their navies in the ratio 5:5:3. France and Italy were also included and were only allowed a tonnage of 175,000.

Germany was angry that no other nation had disarmed.

Question 26

Describe economic recovery in the 1920s

Answer 26

Germany had gotten the Dawes Plan, which allowed Germany to revive their economy. When countries trade with each other they much less likely to go to war.