the league of nations Flashcards
what was the structure of the league?
the league had three principal organs.
a secritariat (headed by the general secretary and based in geneva)
a council
and an assembly
the league also had many agencies and commissions.
authorisation for anything required both an unanimous vote by the council and a majority vote in the assembly.
there was no army or anything however to keep law and order.
what were the aims of the league of nations?
disarmourment between all countries
to support the smaller countries in the league(48 participants)
preventing war through collective security
settling disputes between countries through negotiation and diplomacy
improving global welfare- like slavery..trade unions ect
who were the main countries in the league?
america (although they were not initially included in the league…even though it was woodrow wilsons idea in the first place.)
britain
france
japan
italy (were ignored for a long period of time)-however mussollini could not be ignored for long because of the amount of overall power he had.
successe of the league?
took half a million of the prisoners of war home.
helped the turkish refugees
attacked slave traders and drug dealers/sellers
supported measures against leprosy and malaria
failures of the league?
the lack of major powers
secret treaties such as the abysinnia crisis which included italy britain and france
manachurian crisis- where japan invaded china for raw materials
no army to inforce any law- this meant countries could just leave and do whatever they want..which resulted in others doing the same.
what were the lacarno treaties?
guaranteed germanys western frontier, which was boardering the states of france, and belgium pledged to treat as invoilable (never to be broken, infringed or dishounered)
what was the kellog- briand pact?
it was a treaty in 1928 requested by kellog which was made to agree to renounce war as a national policy and to settle all international disputes by peaceful means.
15 countries signed the treaty in france on august the 27th..including.. france, usa, uk, canada, poland.
what was the wall street crash ?
the main cause of the wall street crash in 1929 was the speculation that proceeded it.
during which millions of people invested their savings or borrowed money to buy stocks, pushing prices to unsustainable levels.
huge drop in value for shares.
what was the great depression?
a worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until around 1939
following the stock market crash on october 29.
unemployment levels and inflation levels were so high that it was so hard to forsee when the economy would return back to normal… lasted for more than a decade.
what were the effects of the wall street crash?
workers were made redundant
some workers wages were cut
unemployement levels rose massively and rapidly
what was the manachurian crisis?
japan had invaded china for recourses and fertile land because otherwise they wouldnt be able to survive.
had blamed china for the cause of the invasion- as they were framed for attacking a japenese train.
lytton report-took a year to investigate the crisis…japan could build on chinese land…came to the conclusion that they were both to blame even though china had no involvement…japan left the league as a result of being blamed.
what was the abysinnian crisis?
italy,britain and france had made an agreement to split abysinnia into pieces that they could individually roam.
however, italy went behind the back of britain and france and they had invaded abysinnia
they were reluctant to give the land back because of the trading partnerships and access to the suez canal.
caused conflict in the league because britain and france had gone against the rules of the league.
was also a main reason as to why the league failed.
was the league doomed from the start?
the league could be seen to of been doomed from the start because…
firstly a huge power being america had not been a member of the league from the start-even tho woodrow wilson had created the 14 points.– because america were not in the league..the league lacked trade/financial support and naval support.
secondly… major powers were greedy- hypocrites- caused other countries to betray the league.
countries were not prepared to disarmour as it would put them in vulnerable positions to attacks.
italy were ignored for a long period of time- couldnt be ignored ad mussollini is so powerful.
bigger countries kept attacking the smaller countries.
