League of Nations

• Structure


  Council

  Assembly

  Secretariat

  Permanent court of Int Justice, International Labour organisation

  Commissions
• Council


  -met more often than assembly (5 times a year)

  -included permanent members (GB, FR, IT, JP)

  -Each permanent member had a veto meaning that it could stop the council acting if they disagreed

  -Solved disputes by talking and if necessary:

  economic sanctions and military force
• Assembly


  -League's parliament

  -Every country in the League was a representative

  -assembly could recommend action to council

  -met annually

  -decisions were unanimous
• Secretariat


  -Civil service

  -brings together experts on key issues such as health, disarmament and economic matters
• Permanent court of international justice


  -Based in the Hague

  -made up of judges from member countries

  -settles disputes peacefully

  -court would give a decision of border disputes

  -court had no way of ensuring countries following their rulings
• ILO


  -Brought together employers, governments and worker representatives

  -improve labour conditions

  -collected statistics and information about working conditions and considered how to improve them

  -Persuaded member countries to adopt improvements
• Mandates Commission


  -WW1 led to many former colonies of Germany and her allies being controlled by the British and French on behalf of the League

  -Reported to the League on how the people in mandates were being treated

  -Ensures Britain and France acted in the interest of the people in the mandates
• Refugee committee


  -After WW1, hundreds of refugees had fled from the areas of conflict

  -some tried to go home, others didn't have homes to go to

  -biggest issue was in former Russian territories
• Slavery Commission


  -abolish slavery around the world

  -many workers were technically workers but were treated like slaves, commission tried to help them too

  -slavery was an issue particularly in East Africa
• Health Committee


  -dealt with problem of dangerous diseases

  -educate people about health and sanitation

  -committee collected statistics about health issues to spread ideas and develop programs to fight diseases
• Why US did not join the League


  -before Wilson could join, he needed approval from the Congress

  -Idea was unpopular in the US

  -Wilson's many political opponents

  -Wilson defeated however democrats maintained hope of joining the league to prevent future war

  -Republicans campaigned for America to be isolationists
• Why was LoN unpopular in the US


  -Many Americans who had German ancestors hated the ToV

  -Some feared that every little conflict meant that some US soldiers would die

  -imposing sanctions also meant that American trade and businesses would suffer too

  -Some believed that the League revolved around GB and Fr's intentions on maintaining their empires. Americans were against empires
• Aaland islands dispute


  -1921

  -Finland and Sweden threatened war over a dispute over the Aaland islands

  -Sweden accepted to the League's ruling that islands should belong to Finland
• Vilna

  -Polish and Lithuanian dispute

  -In 1920, Poland took control of Lithuanian capital, Vilna

  -Lithuania appealed to the League

  -League protested to Poland but they didn't pull out, League did not intervene
• initial stages of Corfu

  -1923

  -Conference of ambassadors was meant to sort border complications between Albania and Greece

  -Italian general, Tellini, supervised

  -Tellini and his team were ambushed and killed

  -Mussolini was furious and blamed the Greek government

  -Mussolini bombarded then occupied Corfu killing 15 people
• League's involvement in Corfu


  -Greece appealed for help and the League acted swiftly

  -Condemned Italy's actions

  -Greece pay compensation

  -Mussolini insisted the conflict was resolved by Conference of Ambassadors and threatened to leave

  
  

  -British were prepared to send warships to force Mussolini out of Corfu

  -French disagreed and backed the Italians

  -British therefore did not intervene and Mussolini got his way

  -Conference ordered that the Greeks apologised and paid compensation
• What did the Corfu incident show?


  -League could be undermined by its own members

  -League was incapable of solving a dispute fairly including a powerful nation
• Geneva Protocol


  -Created by Britain and France in 1924

  -Stating that if two members were in dispute, they would have to ask the League to sort it out and would have to accept the Council's decision

  -Decisions were to be backed up by the economic and military power of all members

  -Conservative government refused to sign the protocol as it wasn't in Britain's best interest
• initial stages of Bulgaria


  -There was an incident on the border between Greece and Bulgaria in which some Greek soldiers were killed

  -Greek troops invaded Bulgaria in 1925

  -Bulgaria appealed for help
• League's actions in Bulgaria-Greece conflict


  -League acted quickly and demanded both sides stand their forces down and that Greek troops withdraw from Bulgaria

  -League sent observers to make a judgement

  -Greece had to pay £45K in compensation and was threatened with sanctions

  -GB and Fr supported League

  -Greek's obeyed although did complain about double standards concerning Italy

  -Incident was a major success for the League as it prevented war
• Refugee organisation actions


  -Approx 250k Russians in German or French camps

  -Approx 300k Germans and Austro-Hungarians in Soviet camps

  -Nansen and his staff worked alongside the Red Cross and helped over 400k displaced people either return home or find new homes

  -Nansen's methods included setting up camps, finding suitable transport and teaching skills
• Health organisation actions


  -Director, Rajchman provided links with non-member countries to provide an information service and advise on public health matters

  -Prevented Soviet Russia from typhus outbreak through education

  -Began international campaign to exterminate mosquitos reducing spread of malaria

  -Set up numerous research institutions around the world
• Economic organisation actions


  -Numerous counties faced economic issues due to WW1

  -Austria was in danger of financial collapse as it had to adjust to being landlocked and dependent on agriculture

  -Action was taken to stabilise the currency by controlling interest rates

  -Austria was given a loan

  -trade soon revived and unemployment fell
• ILO actions


  -Directed by French socialist, Albert Thomas

  -collected data on employment practices around the world

  -persuaded governments to take action by issuing recommendations

  -ILO published information about health and safety of workplaces
• Slavery Commission actions


  -Aimed to abolish slavery

  -aimed to deal with prostitution

  -Constant coaxing of governments that appeared slow in taking effective action

  -200k slaves were freed in Sierra Leonne

  -Numerous countries abolished slavery as a whole
• Disarmament Commission actions


  -disappointing prorgress

  -by the end of the 1920s, only the defeated countries had disarmed

  -Minor success included naval limitation of GB, Fr, US and Jp

  -Failed to prevent Germany from disarming in 1930s
• Locarno Treaties


  -Singed in 1925

  -meant to mark the beginning of international harmony

  -Germany was treated equally to other European powers

  -treaty confirmed remilitarisation of the Rhineland
• Kellogg-Briand Pact


  -Signed in 1927

  -France and US signed a pact renouncing war

  -Kellogg suggested the pact extended including more counties

  -By 1928, it had 65 signatures including Gr, Jp, It
• Disarmament conference


  -1932 following Manchuria crisis

  -prohibit civilian bombings proposed

  -limit size of artillery proposed

  -prohibit chemical warfare proposed

  -only proposal of prohibiting civilian bombings was accepted
• German disarmament


  -Germans wanted equality in military power

  -Germany proposed all countries rearm to its level but conference failed to agree

  -When Hitler became chancellor, he immediately began to secretly rearm Germany

  -Hitler withdrew from disarmament conference and soon after left the League
• Reasons for disarmament failure


  -Britain and France were divided on the issue. By 1933, many British people felt that the ToV was unfair

  -British signed an agreement with Germany in 1935 allowing them to build up its navy as long as it remained below 35% of the size of Britain's navy

  -Britain did not consult other members

  -Each country acted in its own interest
• Background of Manchurian Crisis


  -Japan's population had been growing rapidly

  -depression hit Japan badly as America put trade barriers against Japanese goods

  -Japan needed an empire to provide resources for Japanese goods
• Initial stages of Manchurian crisis


  -In 1931, and incident in Manchuria where Chinese troops allegedly attacked Japanese troops (Mukden incident)

  -The Japanese armed forces used this as excuse to invade Manchuria and set up a government
• League involvement in Manchuria


  -China appealed to the League

  -Japan argued that they had to invade in self-defence

  -After a long delay, League officials assessed the situation

  -In 1932, the League judged that Japan had acted unlawfully and Manchuria should be returned to China

  -In 1933, Japan left the League and invaded Jehol

  
  

  -League was powerless, economic sanctions would be useless

  -Britain were keen on maintaining a good relationship with Japan

  -League members were worried that Japan would retaliate and the war would escalate
• Consequences of Manchuria


  -Excuses including the distance Japan was from the rest of the world and that it is a special case

  -Significance of the crisis was obvious and it highlighted the League's lack of power in dealing with conflicts involving powerful nations

  -The fact that Japan got away with it encouraged Mussolini and Hitler
• Background of Abyssinian crisis


  -Italy wanted to expand its empire

  -Italy bordered France and Abyssinia bordered British colonial territories

  -The League had no excuse that it was a distant conflict like Manchuria

  
  

  -In the previous century, Italy had attempted to invade Abyssinia but had failed and wanted revenge on this humiliation

  -Abyssinia has valuable minerals and fertile land

  -Mussolini was a military nationalist who was eager on military victory to distract his people from economic issues
• Initial stages of Abyssinian crisis


  -In December 1934, there was a dispute between Italy and Abyssinia at the Wal-Wal Oasis

  -Mussolini claimed this was Italian territory and demanded an apology and began preparing an invasion

  -Abyssinian emperor Haile Selassie appealed for help

  -Throughout 1935, Mussolini sent his army over to Abyssinia
• League reaction to initial stages of Abyssinian crisis


  -Britain and France were desperate to maintain a good relationship with Italy who seemed to be their strongest ally against Hitler

  -In early 1935, they signed the Stresa Pact which was a formal statement to stand united against Germany and its rearmament

  -League put forward a plan to give Italy some of Abyssinia, Mussolini rejected
• Abyssinia crisis


  -In October 1935, Mussolini launched a full scale invasion and the Abyssinians were no match for Italian modern war technology
• League actions for the Abyssinian crisis


  -delayed decision allowed Mussolini to stockpile raw materials

  -League banned armed sales to Italy

  -League banned loans to Italy

  -League feared America would not support oil export sanctions

  -30K coal miners were about to lose their jobs due to banned coal exports to Italy

  -Britain and France did not close Suez canal in fear that it would cause a war with Italy