Conflict and tension - organisation of the League

• why was the League formed? (4)

  - to stop war from breaking out again

  - to encourage disarmament

  - to improve working conditions

  - to tackle deadly diseases
• where was the League based?

  Geneva, Switzerland - had not been involved in the war, so was a peaceful country
• how many countries initially joined the League?

  42
• what did the League not have?

  an army
• which countries did not join the League at the start? (3)


  - USA (never joined)

  - Russia (joined in 1934)

  - Germany (joined in 1926 - when the Locarno Treaty was signed)
• what were the consequences of the USA not joining the League?

  - economically - USA was the richest and most powerful country - many countries relied on trade with the USA

  - militarily - League would not be supported by American soldiers - harder to provide collective security
• how did the League plan to keep peace? (2)

  - collective security - all countries work together to consider everyone's interests/needs and keep peace

  - in 1920, the League set up the Permanent Court of International Justice to establish international laws - if every country followed the same laws there would be less chance of disagreement
• how could the League deal with aggression? (3)

  - mitigation - getting countries together to talk through problems

  - moral condemnation

  - economic sanctions - members of the League would not trade with warring countries

  - military force (although unlikely as it had no army)
• why were the USA not allowed to join the League?

  wanted to stay out of Europe's arguments and prevent being dragged into another war
• how was the League organised? (6)

  - council

  - secretariat

  - assembly

  - International Labour Organisation - improve working conditions

  - Permanent Court of Justice

  - special commissions - dealt with slavery, drug addiction, etc
• what was the council?

  small group of permanent members (Britain, France, Italy and Japan) took major decisions
• which countries were represented in the council? (3)

  - permanent seats given to most powerful countries - Britain, France, Italy, Japan (and Germany from 1926)

  - smaller nations elected on a rota basis as temporary members

  - number of members varied from 8-14
• what were the council's functions/powers? (6)

  - main peacekeeping agency

  - aimed to settle disputes through discussion

  - moral persuasion

  - economic sanctions

  - military force

  - met 4-5 times per year + times of crisis
• what were the weaknesses of the council? (2)

  - permanent members had a veto (all had to agree) so decision making was difficult

  - problems if a permanent member was involved in the dispute (e.g. Italy in Abyssinian Crisis, Japan in Manchurian Crisis)
• what was the assembly?

  main meeting of the League - met once a year - all nations were a member, voted to make laws
• which countries were represented in the assembly?

  all countries represented
• what were the functions/powers of the assembly? (5)

  - main meeting of the League - met once a year

  - recommended action to the council

  - could vote on admitting new members

  - could vote on appointing temporary members to the council

  - could vote on the League's budget
• what were the weaknesses of the assembly? (3)

  - could only recommend action to the council - not enforce

  - only met once a year

  - decisions had to be unanimous (all had to agree) so were very slow
• what was the Permanent Court of Justice?

  15 judges met at the Hague in the Netherlands - settled international disputes, e.g. over frontiers/fishing rights
• which countries were represented in the Permanent Court of Justice?

  15 judges from member countries
• what were the functions/powers of the Permanent Court of Justice? (3)

  - key part of the League's job of settling disputes between countries peacefully

  - gave decisions on issues e.g. fishing, shipping and border disputes

  - gave legal advice
• what were the weaknesses of the Permanent Court of International Justice?

  no power to enforce its rulings
• what was the secretariat?

  permanent 'civil service' of the League - carried out decisions taken by the council
• what were the functions/powers of the secretariat?

  kept records, prepared reports for different agencies and committees
• what were the weaknesses of the secretariat?

  not enough staff
• what was the covenant?

  list of rules and principles explaining how the League was governed
• how many articles were there in the covenant?

  26
• what was collective security?

  if a member state was attacked all member states would act against the aggressor in support of the country being attacked
• why was making decisions in the League so hard?

  everyone had to agree - decisions had to be made unanimously - took a long time to get things done
• what are the 5 Ms of the League?

  - membership

  - mediation

  - moral persuasion

  - money

  - military
• membership of the League (3)


  - 42 countries initially joined

  - decision making was often slow as decisions had to be unanimous
• mediation of the League


  if a dispute arose between member states, it would be brought to the council and sorted through discussion to prevent conflict
• moral persuasion of the League


  the council could decide who was in the wrong and tell the country to stop
• money of the League


  the council could introduce economic sanctions against a country in the wrong - could tell member states not to trade with that country
• military of the League


  the League did not have an army, but the council could order members to provide soldiers to fight against aggressive countries
• what positives were there to the League?

  - took half a million prisoners of war home after WW1

  - helped to arrest slave traders and drug dealers

  - helped to control diseases such as malaria and leprosy

  - solved problems before they turned into wars - e.g. Aaland Islands dispute