Conflict and tension part 2

• when was the Vilna dispute?

  1920
• what was the nature of the Vilna dispute?

  Vilna was the capital of Lithuania - in 1920 Poland seized Vilna
• what was the League's response to the Vilna dispute?

  League protested to Poland, but the Poles did not withdraw and retained control
• was Vilna a success of failure?

  failure - the League recognised Poland as an aggressor, but did not solve the problem because France didn't want to upset its ally and Britain didn't want to act alone
• when was the Aaland Islands dispute?

  1921
• what was the nature of the Aaland Islands dispute?

  Finland and Sweden both wanted the islands - belonged to Finland, but inhabitants wanted to be governed by Sweden.
• what was the League's response to the Aaland Islands dispute?

  Both countries appealed to the League - decided to give the islands to Finland, but no weapons kept there
• was Aaland Islands a success or failure?

  success - both countries accepted the decision
• when was the Upper Silesia dispute?

  1921
• what was the nature of the Upper Silesia dispute?

  - inhabited by Germans and Poles - Germany and Poland both wanted control

  - plebiscite held, British and French troops kept order at polling booths - vote was close.
• what was the League's response to the Upper Silesia dispute?

  League decided to split Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland roughly based on the vote.
• was Upper Silesia a success or failure?

  success - both countries accepted the decision, although it caused a lot of German resentment
• when was the Corfu dispute?

  1923
• what was the nature of the Corfu dispute? (4)

  - border between Greece and Albania was unclear

  - in 1923 a survey investigated the issue, five Italians killed.

  - Mussolini blamed the Greek government, demanded payment of a large fine.

  - Greece refused, Italy bombarded Greek island Corfu
• what was the League's response to the Corfu dispute?

  - council condemned Italy, suggested that Greece pay compensation after murderers were found.

  - Mussolini persuaded the League to change its ruling - Greeks had to apologise and pay compensation directly to Italians
• was Corfu a success or failure?

  failure - war was averted but Mussolini had undermined the League to pursue his own interests, showing that larger powers could act as they wished
• what was the nature of the Greece and Bulgaria dispute?

  - incident between soldiers patrolling the border, several Greek soldiers killed

  - Greek army invaded Bulgaria
• what was the League's response to the Greece and Bulgaria dispute?

  Bulgaria appealed to the League, which ordered both to stop fighting - Greeks pulled out of Bulgaria
• was Greece and Bulgaria a success or failure?

  success - League investigated and found Greece to be the aggressor, fining it £45,000 - both countries accepted the decision
• give an example of the League using a plebiscite to solve problems

  Upper Silesia
• give an example of the influence of Britain and France affecting the League's action

  Vilna
• give an example of a smaller nation losing out when the League resolved a conflict

  Corfu
• give an example of the League using experts to resolve a conflict

  Greece and Bulgaria
• how successful was the League in the 1920s?

  - most countries were prepared to accept the League's decisions in the 1920s and avoid war

  - most of the disputes were within Western Europe and were small in scale

  - economic conditions were improving and countries were less willing to fight
• what were the commissions of the League?

  - health commission

  - refugees commission

  - slavery commission

  - mandates commission

  - disarmament commission

  - international labour organisation
• what was the role of the health commission?

  - brought experts from many countries together to develop cures for deadly diseases e.g. smallpox

  - established an international campaign to kill mosquitos which limited the spread of diseases such as malaria
• what was the role of the refugees commission? (3)

  - resettled many people who had been made refugees by WWI

  - freed and returned over 400,000 prisoners of war to their homes

  - refugee camps set up in early 1920s for people fleeing from conflict between Turkey and Greece - doctors sent to treat people suffering from disease
• what was the role of the slavery commission? (3)

  - freed 200,000 people from slavery in Sierra Leone

  - persuaded countries to reduce slavery, prostitution and human trafficking

  - many countries managed to abolish slavery, e.g. Sierra Leone in 1927, Iraq in 1924
• what was the role of the mandates commission?

  - organised plebiscites to solve disputes, e.g. in Upper Silesia

  - ensured that Britain and France were ruling Germany's former colonies fairly

  - the League governed the Saar for 15 years and the free city of Danzig
• when was the Dawes Plan?

  1924
• what was the Dawes Plan?

  USA lent Germany 800 million gold marks
• what was the impact of the Dawes Plan?

  trading relationships between Britain, France and Germany were recovered - reduced tension
• when were the Locarno Treaties?

  1925
• what were the Locarno Treaties?

  - France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Belgium and Czechoslovakia agreed not to go to war with one another

  - Germany accepted the terms of the Treaty - gave up any claim on areas such as Alsace Lorraine
• what was the impact of the Locarno Treaties?

  positive:

  - solved issues from WWI and paved the way for Germany to join the League of Nations in 1926

  - both France and Germany felt safer

  
  

  negative:

  - sidelined the League of Nations

  - no mention of what would happen if people broke the terms

  - didn't address disarmament
• when was the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

  1928
• what was the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

  65 countries signed, agreed to use discussions rather than armed conflict to solve disputes
• what was the impact of the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

  positive:

  - people felt safer

  
  

  negative:

  - sidelined League of Nations

  - no mention of what would happen if people broke the terms

  - didn't address disarmament
• when was the Young Plan?

  1929
• what was the Young Plan?

  reduced reparations from £6.6 billion to £2.2 billion and gave Germany 59 years to pay them off