league and un - 1.1 & 1.2

• Triple Entente


  Alliance of countries including France, Great Britain, Russia and, from 1917, the USA
• Triple Alliance


  Alliance of countries including Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and Turkey and the Ottoman Empire
• Empire


  Group of countries controlled or ruled by another country
• Wars bring about great change. The First World War (1914-18) perhaps caused more change than any previous conflict in history.
• Although the war was focused in Europe, other countries from across the world were involved when the Triple Entente went to war with the Triple Alliance. Some of these were dragged in as parts of European empires.
• President Woodrow Wilson


  President of the United States
• The damage and destruction caused by the First World War affected millions of people economically and socially
• It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Once it was over, the will to build a better world and the desire to find peaceful ways to end conflicts between nations was stronger than ever before.
• The idea of an organisation of states to keep international peace had become more popular as the First World War dragged on.
• From early 1918, building an organisation of nations became an important aim of the Triple Entente powers, but the key person in the making of the League of Nations was US President Woodrow Wilson.
• After the defeat of the Triple Alliance in November 1918, a conference was set up in Versailles, Paris to discuss arrangements for post-war Europe. It was at this conference that the League of Nations was created.
• Self-determination


  The right of the people of a particular region or country to govern themselves
• Disarmament


  When a country reduces its armed forces and weaponry
• Imperialism


  A system in which one country has an empire/rules others
• France felt that its future security depended upon weakening and punishing Germany.
• Britain did not want to punish Germany too severely because that could cause more problems.
• The USA disliked imperialism and Wilson was passionate about self-determination as a way of guaranteeing peace. Neither Britain nor France, however, was willing to give up its empire.
• Many Arab peoples wanted to take control of their lands and resources now that the Ottoman Empire was defeated, and there were similar hopes across central and eastern Europe. Other nations wanted to expand their borders and influence as a means of ensuring their economic and political security.
• Russia was not involved in making peace after the First World War because it had its own problems. There had been a communist revolution in 1917 and a bloody civil war was taking place.
• With so many competing aims and interests, the post-war peace negotiations led to compromises, and the compromises led to dissatisfaction. The treaties that resulted from the Paris Peace Conference did not provide a perfect solution to the First World War. This became very clear during the interwar years (1919-39).
• However, the League of Nations had been created to deal with any problems and conflicts that occurred, and so keep the peace.
• Covenant of the League of Nations

  Set out the League's aims, organisation and how it was to be run
• Mandates Commission


  Dealt with the colonies taken from the German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires
• Permanent International Court of Justice (PICJ)

  Helped to settle disputes and advise on issues of international law
• Collective security


  An arrangement where a group of countries agrees that an attack on one of them is an attack on all of them, and that they will act together against any aggressors
• Peacekeeping


  Giving support to countries as they move from war and conflict to peace
• Humanitarian


  Concerned with improving bad living conditions and preventing unfair treatment of people
• USSR (The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)


  A communist nation, founded in December 1922, that covered today's Russian Federation and other states such as Latvia and Ukraine, for example. The USSR ceased to exist on 31 December 1991.
• The Council


  • Permanent members: France, Great Britain, Italy and Japan. Five were planned but the USA rejected League membership. Germany became the fifth when it was admitted to the League in 1926. When Germany left in 1933, its permanent seat on the Council was taken by the USSR when it joined in 1934.
• The Assembly


  • A kind of international parliament where issues affecting international peace were discussed. Every member of the League of Nations had one vote in the Assembly. All the important decisions made by the Assembly had to be agreed by the majority of members. All routine decisions had to be agreed unanimously.
• The Secretariat


  • A permanent body with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, led by a Secretary General. Drew up the agenda for the Assembly and did the administrative work necessary for the League to carry out its decisions.
• PICJ (Permanent International Court of Justice)


  • An autonomous part of the League that sat in The Hague, interpreted and enforced treaties, dealt with complaints, and advised the Council if necessary.
• The Assembly's meetings were well publicised in the press around the world
• Public opinion in the member nations could act as an additional form of pressure on governments and delegates
• Secretariat


  Autonomous part of the League, permanent body with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, led by Secretary General
• Role of the Secretariat

  1. Drew up the agenda for the Assembly

  2. Did administrative work necessary for the League to carry out its decisions
• PICJ (Permanent Court of International Justice)


  • Sat in The Hague, interpreted and enforced treaties, dealt with complaints, advised the Council if necessary
• The Council


  • Met 3-4 times per year in Geneva, or if a dispute arose, had four permanent members to 1926 and five members after 1926, made decisions about what action the League would take, set up commissions, all votes had to be unanimous
• The League of Nations could not have worked without the Secretariat
• The membership of the League of Nations changed frequently, it increased in size during the 1920s, although some nations left and the USA never joined