The structure, aims and membership of the League

• Why was the League set up?

  • Wilson was determined to make sure that a war like the Great war would not happen again in the future
  • The League had 4 main aims, all of which were related to Wilson’s 14 points of January 1918:2) Improve people’s lives socially i.e housing, health, refugees, food, poverty, employment and end slavery (known as humanitarian aims)3) Encourage countries to disarm4) Encourage self-determination - countries should be able to govern themselves without having their borders threatened

  1. Create a ‘world parliament’ where disputes could be settled without war
• What were Wilson’s 4 most important points that came out of the Versailles conference in 1918?

  • Self determination - a nation - a group of people with similar political ambitions - can create its own independent government or state
  • General disarmament - balanced reduction of armed forces across the world - eg. Germany’s army was reduced to 100,000 men
  • Peaceful discussion of international disputes
  • Setting up of League of Nations
• Why did the USA pull out?

  • When Wilson got back home to the United States, the American Senate refused to join the League. Americans did not want to get dragged into other countries’ problems. This damaged the League a lot.
• What was the founding document?

  • LoN was the first intergovernmental organisation established ‘to promote internal cooperation and to achieve international peace and security’
  • Its founding document - the Covenant of the League of Nations - was drafted during the peace negotiations at the end of the First World War
  • It had 26 articles
• What did the 26 articles cover?

  • The conditions for membership
  • The functions of the principal organs
  • The mechanisms for a peaceful settlement of international disputes, and the obligations of the Member states
  • Contained the main principles on which the League was builtCollective security - article 10 - arguebly the most important of all 26 articles‘The members promised to preserve ALL members from aggression against their territory or independence. If in charge, the council will advise on obligations of all members’
• What were the aims of the League of Nations?

  • Discourage aggression from any nation
  • Encourage countries to cooperate
  • Encourage countries to disarm
  • Improve living and working conditions globally
• What powers did the League have?

  • Covenant (all members promised to keep the peace)
  • Condemnation (the League could tell a country it was doing wrong)
  • Arbitration (the League could offer to decide between two countries)
  • Sanctions (stopping trade) eg. Preventing member countries from trading in oil from aggressive countries
  • League of Nations has no military force
• What were the powerful countries that were in the League?

  In the League:Out of the League:

  • Great Britain
  • France
  • Italy
  • Japan - announces withdrawal in 1933 and fully leaves in 1938
  • USA - Never joins the LoN
  • Germany - Joins in 1926, leaves in 1933
  • Russia - Was admitted in 1934, expelled because it decides to launch an invasion on Finland in 1939
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (The assembly)?

  The Assembly:

  • This was the League’s parliament
  • Every country in the league sent a representative to the assembly
  • The assembly could recommend action to the council
  • It could also vote on admitting new members to the league
  • Every nation had one vote
  • The assembly met once a year
  • Decisions had to be unanimous
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (The council)?

  • Was a smaller group than the assembly
  • Usually met about 5 times a year - if there were more problems than more regularly
  • The main aim of the council was to resolve disputes by talking such as:
  • economic and financial sanctions
  • Military forces
  • Had 4 permanent members (in 1920s: Britain, France, Japan, Italy)
  • 4-11 non-permanent members
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (Secretariat)?

  • Need to have an administrative function
  • Did the paperwork of the League prepared reports
  • Civil service
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (The International Labour Organisation(ILO))?

  • Brought together employers governments and workers’ representatives
  • Its aim was to improve the conditions of the working people throughout the world
  • It tried to persuade member countries to adapt its suggestions
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (The permanent court of justice)?

  • Was made up of judges from member countries (15)
  • Based in the Netherlands (The Hague)
  • Meant to play a key role in settling disputes (in international law/in legal perspective)between countries peacefully
  • The court would give a decision on a border dispute between countries
  • Had no way of making sure that countries followed its rulings
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (Commisssions(mandates))?

  • The league also attempted to tackle other major problems
  • This was done through agencies, commissions or committees
  • The panels below set out aims of some of these agencies
  • Doesn’t have any way of enforcing judgement
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (Commissions - refugees)?

  • Tried to help hundreds of thousands of refugees who had fled from the areas of conflict
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (Commissions - slavery)?

  • Tried to abolish slavery around the world
• What was the structure of the League of Nations (Commissions - health)?

  • Deal with dangerous diseases
  • Educate people about health and sanitation
• What countries were a part of the League of Nations?

  • 42 countries joined at the start, rising to 60 in the 1930s
  • Defeated countries from WW1 could not join immediately (eg. Germany joined in 1926)
  • Russia was left out - communist revolution in 1917
  • USA never joined - American congress refused to sign the Peace Treaties - Wilson was voted out of office
  • The League was regarded as a ‘winners only club’
  • Neither Britain nor France gave the League their full support
• How would the League keep the peace?

  If one country were aggressive to another, the League would force the aggressor to back down by:What the members were promising to do was take common action to defend each other in the event of an attack. This was called COLLECTIVE SECURITY

  • Pressure of world opinion
  • World trade ban (economic sanctions)
  • Force if necessary (though the League had no army)