The League Of Nations Flashcards
What are the strengths of the League of Nations?
- Court could solve disputes peacefully
- There were commissions to help refugees, slavery and general health
- At the start, there were 42 countries involved - this shows nations working together
- The council had the power to VETO to make quick decisions
- The League had 3 main ways to stop a country if they did something wrong or invaded
- Moral condemnation
- Economic sanctions
- Military force (the L.O.N had no army, but they would use the members armies) - Collective security - ‘an attack on one, will be an attack on all’
What are the weaknesses of the League of Nations?
- Members could abuse veto power to benefit themselves
- The unanimous vote made it hard to make decisions in the Assembly
- It was also hard to reach decisions with so many members
- Powerful countries such as the USA didn’t join
- Germany and the USSR (Russia) weren’t allowed to join until later
- The Moral condemnation was easy to ignore
- Economic sanctions couldn’t be enforced
- The League had no army and members were unwilling to send troops to solve disputes
- Collective security only works if everyone is willing to work together and backs it (which onto everyone did)
- The Council only met 4-5 times a year = didn’t get a lot done.
What was the League of Nations?
The L.O.N was created by Woodrow Wilson - USA, in the Treaty of Versailles to stop another (Global) war happening again. It relied on collective security - ‘an attack on one, is an attack on all’
What was the Manchuria Crisis?
The Wall Street crash happened in 1929
This meant that the World’s trade routes and economy dropped
Japan’s economy dropped
Japan needs land and resources to sustain its’ population
Japan wants the resources in Manchuria (China)
Japan stages the Mukden incident - the shared railway is blown up by Japan who blames China
The Japanese then act in ’self - defense’ and invades Manchuria
China goes to the L.O.N for help
The L.O.N send an ambassador (Lord Lytton) to investigate
After a whole year Lytton finally returns, reporting that Japan was the aggressor, and should withdrawal from China
Japan leaves the League of Nations and takes full control of Manchuria
When did the Manchuria Crisis happen?
1931 - 1933
What was the consequence of the Manchurian Crisis?
It showed the League of Nations was to weak and powerless to function against real threats. This meant that Mussolini (Abyssinia Crisis) new he would get away with invading as the L.O.N couldn’t do anything to stop him.
What was the Abyssinia Crisis?
- In 1896, Italy had tried to invade Abyssinia (A colony in Africa) and lost - they wanted revenge
- It had good resources to add to Italy’s empire which he wanted to expand
- Mussolini (Leader of Italy) had seen Japan get away with invading Manchuria
- British and French colonies surrounded it, and he wanted to get there before they did.
- Italy did the same thing as Japan and staged an attack from Abyssinia:
- 2 Italiens were killed
- Mussolini’s troops entered Abyssinia as ‘self - defence’
- They bombed villages and used chemical warfare
- The Abyssinian leader asked the L.O.N for help but they didn’t really help
- Mussolini took over Abyssinia
When did the Abyssinia Crisis Happen?
1935 - 1936
What was the consequence of the Abyssinia Crisis?
It showed Hitler and other powerful leaders worldwide that the L.O.N had no backbone, was weak and couldn’t enforce punishments and rules, meaning they can just ignore them, as the L.O.N can’t stop their actions.
What did the L.O.N do in response to the Abyssinia Crisis?
- Trade Sanctions (weapons) against both countries - this was good for stopping Mussolini, but it meant Abyssinia couldn’t defend itself
- The Hoare - Laval pact - Britain and France sent foreign ministers to meet in secret, and discuss that Italy and Abyssinia would go half and half - their plans were leaked and it showed that they were willing to undermine the League - not good!
What SHOULD the L.O.N have done in response to the Abyssinia Crisis?
- They (Britain and France) should have closed the Suez Canal but didn’t, as they wanted to keep Mussolini on their side
- They should have only enforced the Trade sanctions to Italy, and it should’ve included steel, oil and coal as well, as Mussolini couldn’t function without them
