The League of Nations Flashcards
What were the primary aims of the League of Nations?
-Get countries to collaborate to help to prevent war (collective security).
-Encourage disarmament.
-Improve living and working conditions.
-Tackle deadly diseases.
How many countries joined the League of Nations initially?
-Initially, 42 countries joined, countries who lost the First World War, including Germany, were not allowed to join.
-Russia was not allowed to join because it was a Communist country.
-The USA refused to join.
Which 4 issues would the League deal with aggression?
The League would deal with aggression through its Covenant, which included:
-Mitigation
-Moral Condemnation
-Economic sanctions
-Military force
What was the ‘Assembly’ for in the League of Nations?
-An international Parliament.
-Each member of state sent a representative to meet once a year.
-Unanimous decisions only to be made.
What was the ‘Council’ for in the League of Nations?
-More frequent meetings than the Assembly.
-Four permanent members: Britain, France, Italy, and Japan, plus four other countries, elected to sit on council for three years.
-The council could also veto rulings made by the Assembly.
What was the “Permanent Court of International Justice” for in the League of Nations?
-Could give hearings and advise the parties involved in an argument.
-However, rulings were not compulsory so were easily ignored.
What was the “Secretariat” for in the League of Nations?
-In charge of administration and arranging any action that the League wanted to take.
What were the “Special Commissions” for the League of Nations?
-They were formed to tackle specific issues, such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Health Organisation.
What was the aim of the International Labour Organisation and how did it help fix societal issues?
-The aim was to improve working conditions.
-In the 1920s, the death rate of workers on Tanganyika railway reduced from over 50 percent to 4 percent.
-However, most members refused children under the age of 14 from working as it would be too expensive.
What was the aim of the Commission for Refugees and how did it help fix societal issues?
-The aim was to help people who had lost their homes due to war, and allow them to have suitable conditions in refugee camps.
-This helped free around 427,000 of 500,000 prisoners of war.
What was the aim of the Slavery Commission and how did it help fix societal issues?
-The aim was to end slavery.
-During the 1920s, the League set free 200,000 slaves from Sierra Leone.
What was the aim of the Economic and Financial committee and how did it help fix societal issues?
-To improve working conditions.
-Sent financial advisors to Austria and Hungary to help rebuild economies when they went bankrupt in 1921.
-However, it was unable to cope with global depression after 1929.
What was the aim of the Organisation for Communications and Transport and how did it help fix societal issues?
-The aim was to improve how countries worked together.
-Introduced shipping lanes and an international Highway Code.
What was the aim of the Health Organisation and how did it help fix societal issues?
-The aim was to cure diseases.
-It sent doctors to help in Turkish refugee camps.
What was the aim of the Permanent Central Narcotics Board and how did it help fix societal issues?
-The aim was to tackle the trade of illegal drugs.
-It blacklisted four large countries involved in trading drugs illegally.
-However, some countries did not want the trades to stop because of how much money they have earned from it.
What did the League do to resolve the issues in Corfu?
-In 1923.
-When the League had asked Tellini (an Italian general) to survey and area of Greece but was murdered when doing so.
-At the time, Italy ruled by Mussolini and he was furious when the incident happened.
-31st August, Mussolini invaded and occupied Corfu, killing 15 people.
-Greece forced to apologise and pay compensation directly to Italy.
-Hints League had proved that they could be ignored and overturned by other International groups.
What did the League do to resolve the issues in Vilna?
-In 1920
-Vilna-capital of Lithuania had majority of people living there wanting to be Polish.
-Polish army took control of the city and Lithuania asked League for help.
-League told Poland to remove its army, but was refused.
-First time League was asked to settle a dispute, they did nothing, Poland took Vilna.
What did the League do to resolve the issues in Upper Silesia?
-In 1921-1925
-Upper Silesia was border between Germany and Poland.
-1921, plebiscite (vote) for who would own Upper Silesia.
-France and Britain sent troops to police voting stations to ensure if everything was fair.
-Germany won 60 percent of votes but Poland claimed that many of the people who voted for Germany no longer lived in Upper Silesia.
-League of Nations decided to split Upper Silesia into regions proportionate to the votes.
-Distributions were fair, until Poland was not satisfied receiving 33 percent of Land but 50 percent of population.
1925- Relations between Germany and Poland worsened.
What did the League do to resolve the issues in the Åland Islands?
-In 1921.
-Both Sweden and Finland claimed Åland Islands, which were between 2 countries, treated war on each other. League investigated each country’s claim.
-Decided Islands go to Finland.
-However, Finland not allowed to build forts on the islands, so that they could not be used as a base from which to attack Sweden.
-Sweden agreed to the terms, League has successfully avoided war.
