The League of Nations in the 1920s

Question 1

What were the aims of the League? (4)

Answer 1

• to prevent war
• to promote disarmament
• to improve working conditions
• to tackle deadly diseases

Question 2

How was the League structured? What were the issues with the structure? (4)

Answer 2

• assembly: met once a year, decisions had to be unanimous
• council: 4 permanent members (France, Britain, Italy & Japan), possessed a veto = could act in their own interests
• the permanent court of international justice: could only advise

-special commissions: only some were successful

Question 3

How did the League try to solve disputes? How was this system flawed?(4)

Answer 3

• mitigation: sitting down to talk
• moral condemnation: a good telling off
• economic sanctions: but the USSR and USA were not apart of the League, and they were large trading partners across the world
• force: the League was ‘toothless’ and didn’t have its own army

Question 4

When were the Locarno Treaties?

Answer 4

1925

Question 5

What were the Locarno Treaties? Who did they involve?

Answer 5

• Germany agreed to accept the terms of the Treaty/accept its borders
• Germany and France
• Britain, Belgium, Italy & Czechoslovakia also signed, agreeing not to go to war

Question 6

What was the impact of the Locarno Treaties?

Answer 6

• humiliated League, showed that it was not needed to make peace

Question 7

When was the Washington Naval Conference?

Answer 7

1921-1922

Question 8

What was decided at the Washington Naval Conference?

Answer 8

• for every 5 tonnes of the American and British navy, Japan could have 3 tonnes

Question 9

What were the impacts of the Washington Naval Conference? (2)

Answer 9

• humiliated the League, considering its aim was disarmament
• showed the key members acting in their own interest

Question 10

When was the Kellogg-Briandt Pact?

Answer 10

1928

Question 11

How many countries signed the Kellogg-Briandt Pact?

Answer 11

65

Question 12

What was agreed on, in the Kellogg-Briandt Pact?

Answer 12

• all countries agreed to not use war as a way to solve disputes

Question 13

What was the impact of the Kellogg-Briandt Pact?

Answer 13

• humiliated the League again, as the League’s aim was to prevent war, but this pact showed that the League was not needed to do so

Question 14

When did the Wall Street Crash occur?
And what did it lead to?

Answer 14

1929 - the Great Depression

Question 15

How did the Great Depression impact America?

Answer 15

• they couldn’t help the League with economic sanctions because they needed to trade to improve their own economy

Question 16

How did the Great Depression impact Britain? What did they do during the Manchurian Crisis?

Answer 16

• was unwilling to help with international disputes or economic sanctions
• focused on improving its own economy
• did not send troops to Manchuria or impose economic sanctions on Japan