To what extent was the League of Nations a success? (Chap 2)

Question 1

What did the USA, Britain and France want the League to be like?

Answer 1

• President Wilson wanted the League to be like a world parliament where representatives of all nations could meet together regularly to decide on matters that affected them all.
• British leaders thought the best League would be a simple organisation that would only get together in emergencies
• An organisation like this already existed; the Conference of Ambassadors
• France proposed a strong League with its own army

Question 2

Who’s idea for the League of Nations won?

Answer 2

President Wilson’s ideas (USA)

Question 3

What did Wilson’s ambitious plan for the LON include? (Card 1)

Answer 3

• All major nations would join the LON
• They would disarm
• If they had a dispute with another country, they would take it to the League
• They would have to accept the decision made by the League
• Promised to protect one another if they were invaded

Question 4

What did Wilson’s ambitious plan for the LON include? (Card 2)

Answer 4

• If any member did break the COVENANT and go to war, other members promised to stop trading with it and send troops if necessary to force it to stop fighting
• Wilson hoped that citizens of all countries would be so much against another conflict that this would prevent their leaders from going to war

Question 5

Did Wilson plan for the LON properly?

Answer 5

• The plan was prepared in a great hurry
• Critics suggested there was some woolly thinking
• Some people were angered by Wilson’s arrogant style as he acted as if he knew the solutions to Europe’s problems
• Others were worried by his idealism because under the threat of war, it wasn’t certain that the public would behave in the way he suggested
• Countries may not even do what they League said

Question 6

What did people in the USA think of the League? (Card 1)

Answer 6

• The League was supposed to enforce the TOV yet some Americans, especially the millions who had German ancestors, hated the Treaty itself
• Fear that joining the LON meant sending US soldiers to settle every little conflict around the world
• No one wanted that after the casualties of WW1

Question 7

What did people in the USA think of the League? (Card 2)

Answer 7

• If the LON imposed SANCTIONS (e.g. stopping trade with a country that was behaving aggressively) it might be American trade and businesses that suffered the most!
• Fear that the League would be dominated by Britain or France so Americans will be called to help defend their empires
• Many in the US were anti-empires

Question 8

How did Americans put up opposition to the League?

Answer 8

• Powerful opposition to the LON
• Joined by Wilson’s many other political opponents
• Opponents saw the League as an ideal opportunity to defeat him
• Wilson toured the USA to put his arguments to the people
• When the Congress voted in 1919 he was defeated
• The American chair was empty when the League started in January 1920

Question 9

When did the League of Nations start and end?

Answer 9

10th January 1920 - 20th April 1946

Question 10

What did Wilson do throughout 1920?

Answer 10

• In 1920 Wilson had a stroke
• Yet he continued to press for the USA to join the LON
• He took the proposal to the Congress again in March, but was defeated
• Still the DEMOCRATS didn’t give up and were convinced that if the USA didn’t get involved in international affairs, another world war might follow
• Wilson’s successor, since he was ill, made membership of the League a major part of the Democrat campaign

Question 11

Who was Warren Harding?

Answer 11

• REPUBLICAN candidate who disagreed with the League
• Campaigned for America to be ISOLATIONIST (i.e. not to get involved in international alliances but follow its own policies and self-interest)
• He wanted life to return to how it was before WW1
• HARDING AND THE REPUBLICANS WON

Question 12

Did the USA ever join the League?

Answer 12

No

Question 13

What were the aims of the League?

Answer 13

A Covenant set out the aims of the League. (ACDC)

• To discourage aggression from any nation
• To encourage countries to co-operate, especially in business and trade
• To encourage nations to disarm
• To improve the living and working conditions of people in all parts of the world

Question 14

What was Article 10?

Answer 14

Article 10 meant COLLECTIVE SECURITY. By acting together (collectively) the members of the League could prevent war by defending lands and interests of all nations, large or small.

Question 15

Where was the League’s home?

Answer 15

Geneva, Switzerland

Question 16

How many countries joined the League at the start?

Answer 16

42 countries

Question 17

How many members did the LON have by the 1930s?

Answer 17

59 members

Question 18

What was the most influential part of the League?

Answer 18

The Council

Question 19

Who were the most powerful countries in the League?

Answer 19

Britain and France, any action taken by the League needed their support.

Question 20

How did Britain and France feel being the most powerful countries in the LON?

Answer 20

• Both countries were weakened by WW1
• They weren’t the major power they had been
• They didn’t have the resources to fill the gap left by the USA
• Felt America was the only nation with the ability to make the LON work
• Trade sanctions would only work if Americans applied them
• From the start, B and F doubted how effective the League would be

Question 21

What did Britain prioritise?

Answer 21

British politicians, for example, were more interested in rebuilding British trade and looking after the British empire than in being an international police force.

Question 22

What did France prioritise?

Answer 22

• France’s main concern was Germany
• Without an army of its own the League was too weak to protect F from its powerful neighbour, Germany
• Britain wasn’t likely to help with an army
• F were prepared to ignore the LON if necessary to strengthen its position against Germany