The League of Nations Flashcards
How many members were in the League of Nations in 1920?
42.
How many members were in the League of Nations in 1934?
58.
Which countries were not allowed in the League of Nations, and why?
Germany was not allowed in the League of Nations due to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
Russia was not allowed in the League of Nations as they were a Communist country.
The USA was not part of the League of Nations because government senates did not want to get involved in European affairs.
What did the League of Nations not have that meant that they were unable to enforce laws on countries?
An army.
Describe the role of The Assembly.
The Assembly was where every member could send representatives and meet once a year on the 1st Monday of September to discuss and vote on matters.
Included 42 nations, powerful and small countries all included.
Decisions had to be unanimous (everyone had to agree) or the motion would be passed.
The Assembly was in charge of deciding:
- When new countries joined.
- Voting for non-permanent members of the Council.
- How money is spent.
- Election of judges to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
The structure of the assembly made it hard to make any quick decision or do anything quickly.
It also meant that it was difficult to pass any laws/decisions because often countries disagreed so votes couldn’t be unanimous.
If only 1 country disagreed, action could not be taken. Then the Assembly would have to wait 1 year to meet again.
Describe the role of The Council.
The Council met more frequently than the Assembly.
Had 4 permanent members: Britain, France, Japan and Italy.
4 other countries would be chosen for 3-year terms. This later increased to 9.
The members of The Council had the power to veto which could stop a ruling with it’s vote. The Council gained more power than the Assembly because they had the power to pass any laws/decisions and veto any law/decision, even if the Assembly had made an unanimous decision on it.
The Council allowed for quick decisions to be made.
However, the decisions that were made were made largely by the personal motives of the members and this was affected by the issues that each representative was facing in their own country.
Describe the role of the Special Commisions.
The Special Commission groups focused on improving humanitarian conditions across the world.
They focused on things that improved people’s standard of living, such as stopping slavery or helping to cure deadly diseases.
Groups included:
-The Health Commission.
-The Slavery Commission.
-The International Labour Organisation.
-The Commission for Refugees.
-There was also a commission to stop the spread and sale of drugs such as opium across the world.
-Lots of different special commission groups were set up to try to help some of the people in the poorest countries in the world.
-The Special Commission board also promoted disarmament across the world.
Describe the role of the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Purpose of the Permanent Court of Int Justice
The members of the Permanent Court of International Justice were elected by the Assembly and they were given their jobs for 11 years.
This court was set up to settle international arguments.
Any country could attend the court to present their issues and disputes.
It was made up of 11 judges and 4 deputy judges.
All of these judges would listen to the evidence and then pass judgement on the issue.
The judgements made by the court were not binding by law, compulsery.
This meant that countries who disliked the rulings could ignore the rulings, judgements or advice given by the court.
Describe the role of the Secretariat.
The Secretariat was a service that was in charge of all of the administrative issues and duties of the League.
They organised anything the League had put into action apart from military affairs.
