League of Nations

Introduction
o Broad based organization that would address Wide range of international problems, meet to
sort out disputes and crises.
o Based on Wilson’s 14 Points
o Covenant of League had 26 Articles

Main Aims of the League

1. Stop wars
a. Preserve world peace
b. International cooperation
i. Business and trade
2. Improve people’s life and jobs
3. Disarmament
a. Discourage aggression from any nation
4. Enforce TOV
a. Persuade countries to keep promises they made

USA backs out

o American Senate refused to join the League.
o Americans did not want to get dragged into other countries’ problems.
1. TOV:
a. German Americans hated TOV
b. Their families were suffering
c. League was enforcing this treaty
2. Trade Sanctions:
a. Stopping trade with any country that was behaving aggressively
b. American business depended on exports
3. Casualties of WW1:
a. Soldiers were scared that they’d have to settle every conflict
b. No one wanted to fight after WW1
4. Anti-empires
a. League dominated by B+F
b. If anything happened they would defend their empires.
 Organisation of the League

Secretariat
1. Civil service of the league
2. Work:
a. Administrative and financial
b. Organising conferences
c. Distributing agendas
d. Monitoring budgets
e. Publishing reports.

Assembly
1. Met once a year
2. Every member of the league had one vote
3. Considered matters of general policy
4. Controlled league’s budget
5. Admitted new members
6. Elected non-permanent members of the court.

Council
1. Executive body
2. 4-5 times a year- met + in times of crisis
3. Permanent and non-permanent members
a. 1920 perm- B, F, It, J
b. 1926- G became

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 c. 1920-26 perm members increased from 4 to 11.

Permanent Court of International Justice

1. Independent organisation- worked closely w LON
2. Hague- based in
3. Offered abbreviation service to countries in dispute
4. Provided legal advice to Council
5. Staffed by 11 judges + 4 deputy judges
a. Elected for 9 years
b. By council of assembly

International labour organisation

1. Independent organisation- worked closely w LON
2. Based in Geneva
3. Representatives:
a. Govt
b. Employers
c. Workers
d. From various committees.
4. Purpose:
a. Promote good work practices
b. Regard to issues such as work hrs
c. Women’s rights
d. Child labour
e. Employer’s liability

Mandate’s commission
1. Supervised administrative of G’s and Turk’s former colonies
a. By former victorious countries- B + F

Danzig Commission
1. Exercised league control over former German city

Minorities Commission
1. General improv abt how racial minorities were ill-treated.

Intellectual Cooperation Commission

1. Promoted cultural exchanges
2. Intellectual contact between:
a. Academics
b. Artists
c. Writers

Special committee for drug traffic

1. Campaigned to reduce drug misuse/smuggle.

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 Strengths v/s Weaknesses of LON
Strength
1. 1920s:
a. Aaland Islands, 1921
i. Situated in Baltic Sea
ii. Finland + Sweden were rivals
for claim
iii. Most islanders wanted
Sweden to rule
iv. LON did investigation-
rightfully given to Finland
v. Safeguard for the islanders-
demilitarisation.
vi. Sweden accepted.
b. Bulgaria, 1925
i. Greece had to compensate
£45,000 to Bulgaria for
invading it.
ii. Disproportionate response to
shooting incident in which a
Greek sentry was killed.
iii. Accepted ruling
iv. However later on found it
unfair bc of the Corfu incident.
c. Upper Silesia, 1921
i. Contained valuable industrial
land
ii. In between G and Pol
iii. TOV gave it to Poland
iv. G protested, so they held a
plebiscite.
v. Overall results said territory
handed to G
vi. But, some rural parts were in
favour of Pol
vii. So, LON decided to divide it
viii. Eastern- G
ix. Western- Pol
d. Mosul, 1924:
i. providence of Mosul- British
mandated territory of Iraq
ii. Tur claimed this Kurdish-Pop
providence
iii. LON investigated- Iraq won
iv. Turk accepted
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Weakness
1. Membership
a. Assembly and council would’ve been
far more effective if they had
represented
b. USA
i. America refused to join
ii. Body blow- as it was the
League of the world’s most
powerful, influential and
wealthy country
iii. Meant- LON couldn’t act
against aggressive countries
iv. Affected general prestige of
the League
c. G:
i. Wasn’t allowed to join
ii. Had to demonstrate peaceful
intentions
iii. Made LON look like a club
for winners only
iv. Joined in 1926 as permanent
member
v. Hitler took out G in 1933
d. USSR (soviet Russia):
i. Wasn’t invited- ideological
reasons
ii. Communist- committed to
overthrow capitalism
iii. To join LON would mean
assisting the counter
revolution during Russian
Civil War
iv. Joined LON- 1934
v. Expelled in Dec 1939-
invasion of Finland
e. J:
i. Was original member of LON
ii. Left in 1933 when received
criticism for invading
Manchuria

2. League Agencies:
a. League wasn’t only concerned w
resolution of disputes
b. Identified economic, social, military
issues:
i. Disease
ii. Poverty
iii. Exploitation
iv. Militarism
c. Agencies, commissions and
committees addressed these problems
d. Refugee Org.:
i. Helped WW1 prisoners of war
stranded in:
- USSR
- Poland
-G
-F
ii. 250 000 Russians- G/F camps
iii. 300 000 G/Hun in USSR
iv. 1 mil + Greeks homeless
during Turkish war ind.(1919-
23)
v. Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian
expl. & Scientist given
responsibility for finding
solution
vi. Worked w his staff and Red
Cross helped 450 000 ppl
return home or find new home
between 1920-22
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f. It:
i. Original member
ii. Left in 1937 after invasion of
Abyssinia
iii. Sanctions were imposed
g. B & F:
i. Only major countries that
were a part of LON
throughout existence
ii. Weakened by WW1, but had
major responsibility in
making LON work
iii. B- maintain empires
iv. F- concerned w increasing
security of G
v. So LON was always 2nd
priority of both countries
2. Collective Security:
a. Way to maintain peace
i. Moral Disapproval
o Council would vote to condemn action
o The aggressive country would take back/stop
actions if weight of world opinion against it.
ii. Economic sanctions
o if that didn’t work
o LON would impose economic sanction
o Boycott trade w the aggressor//not credit
country
iii. Military sanctions:
o If that didn’t work
o Send armies to victim side
b. It was promising in theory
iv. But without US to back up,
moral disapproval and
sanctions had reduced
effectiveness
c. Unanimous decisions:
v. All decisions had to be
unanimous
vi. Even one negative vote,
barring the offender’s would
mean the decision couldn’t be
passed.
vii. Even if overwhelming
majority, one no would
disregard the decision.
 vii. Methods:
o Ingenuous improv.
 Finding suitable transport
 Setting up camps
 Creating new settlements
 Teaching new trade & skills
 Issuing identity docs
o Imaginative and logistical triumph
e. Health Org.:
i. Under Ludwig Rajchman
ii. Most successful
iii. Established links with non-
members:
a. G
b. USSR
c. USA
iv. Assisted w providing
information service, tech
assistance, advice on public
health matters
v. IMP!! Helped USSR prevent a
typhus epidemic in Siberia
a. By organising
public education
camp on health
& san.
vi. Reduce incidence of leprosy
vii. Began int. campaign to
exterminate mosquitoes
a. Reduce malaria,
yellow fever
viii. Set up research institutes:
a. London
b. Singapore
c. Copenhagen
ix. Dev. int. accepted vaccines for:
a. Diphtheria
b. Tetanus
c. TB
f. Economic and Financial Org.:
i. Post WW1- economic crisis
ii. Austria:
 Danger of financial collapse
 New status- small
landlocked country
 Dependent upon agriculture-
$ LON
 Revenues reduced
 1922- LON made rescue plan
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viii. This shoed the difficulty of
taking decisive action
d. Lack of an army:
ix. LON didn’t have it’s own
army
x. Didn’t have any standing
forces
xi. If wished to impose military
sanctions, the member states
would be asked to contribute
towards military force.
xii. This would be ineffective if
they had to impose a
threatening country
3. Failures of 1920s:
a. Failed when LON acted as a passive
bystander
b. Many countries had less that
absolute confidence in the ability for
c. Vilna 1920:
i. Large Polish population
ii. New capital of newly created
state of Lithuania
iii. Polish army seized city in
1920
iv. Lith- made appeal to LON
v. LON asked Pol to withdraw
vi. Plebiscite was arranged
vii. Pol refused
viii. Matter- passed to conference
of Ambassadors:
a) Est 1920
b) Grp Senior diplomats
c) Allied powers- oversaw
matters
d) 1925 became inactive
e) dissolved 1931
ix. Awarded Vilna to Pol
d. Occupation of Ruhr 1923:
i. G defaulted on repar.
payment 1922
ii. Matter should be referred by
iii. Instead- F supported by Bel
took swift and unliteral
  Stabilise currency- action by ordering troops to
controlling: occupy
o level of Interest rates iv. Jan 1923
o circulation of $ v. LON made as victor club
o issuing credit e. Corfu Incident 1923
 loan was given i. Most imp dispute
 unemployment fell ii. Exposed weakness and
 budget was balanced. ineffectiveness
 Devised for: iii. Aug 1923- Mussolini became
o Hungary It prime minister
o Greece iv. Ordered naval bombardment
o Bulgaria and occu.- Gr island- Corfu
g. International Labour Org.: v. Response to murder of It
i. Under French socialist Albert General & staff who
Thomas patrolled part of border
ii. Aim- general imp. In working frontiers
cond. f. Agreements made outside LON
iii. Collected data on employment g.
practices, published results
iv. 8 hr day
v. 48 hr week
vi. 15 yrs min. age
vii. Annual holidays w pay
viii. Right to join trade unions
ix. Health and safety in
workplace:
a. White lead-
print manu-
poisonous
x. Diff countries didn’t accept
h. Slavery Commission:
i. Stamp out slavery &
exploitative practices.
a. White slave
traffic
ii. Methods
a. Persistent
inquiry
b. Publication of
reports
c. Coaxing of govt
that was
slow/evasive in
decisions
iii. Freeing 200 000 slaves in
Sierra Leone
iv. 50 to 4 % reduction of Death
Rate of Africans in
Tanganyika railway

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 v. Countries that abolished
slavery:
vi. However continued existence
of slave bc Commission report
showed continued existence of
 Iraq
 Jordan
 Nepal

i. Disarmament Commission:
i. Minor success- Washington
Naval Conference1921—
ii. Naval limit. in USA, B, F, J
iii. High watermark of disarm.
4. Disarmament Commission:
a. Most disappointing progress
b. Article 8- all nations disarm to
‘lowest point consistent to national
security.’
c. However, by end of 1920s only
defeated countries disarmed
d. 1932 WDC World disarm.
conference:
i. Debate on definitions,
classification of disarmament
ii. Easy for G to think- no real
desire among former allies to
bring abt state of general
disarmament

How far did the economic depression make things worse for LON
 Wall street crash
 Contraction in trade over next 3 yrs
 Fall in trade – fall in international cooperation.
 GB, F, USA: Self-interest.
 Looking for external success to detract attention from domestic failure. [e.g. J and It.]
 Rise of extremism: Nazis, Jese/Spanish military.
 Aggressive Nationalism becomes attractive.

Manchuria, 1931:
1) J was becoming a major power (industry, empire and army) and the army often had an
influence in the government.

a) Strong and powerful navy and army - leaders of the army dictated Government policy.

b) It had a growing empire known as the Korean Peninsula

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2) The Depression hit J badly – the USA and China put up tariffs on Jese goods, putting the
economy in crisis (it couldn’t feed its people).

a) The Army leaders only had one solution - to build the Jese empire by force.

3) An incident in Manchuria gave them an opportunity to expand their empire (an army
wish) and possible rescue the economy. They claimed that the Chinese had sabotaged their
railway, so they overran Manchuria and threw out the Chinese.

a) Manchuria seen as part of China, but J owned the South Manchurian railway. Manchuria
was an area rich in resources and coveted by both nations.

b) In 1931 officers of the Kwantung Army of J staged an explosion on the railway line, near
Mukden. This became known as the Mukden incident.

c) J blamed China and invaded.

d) J say they aren’t an aggressor – settling local difficulty – claim China were in a state of
anarchy and they were just controlling them – self-defence.

4) China appealed to the League. J was a leading member of the League (and was claiming
that they were settling anarchy, not invading).

5) A report was issued a year later, saying that China was chaotic, and the Jese condemned;
it said the Manchuria should be a self-governing state (however, the Jese still controlled it).

6) By early 1933, J occupied the whole of Manchuria; later on, the League condemned J
formerly. J simply left the League [27th March 1933].

7) The LON had failed – J had effectively got away with it.

8) Sanctions were not used because J’s main trading partner was the USA (not part of the
League) so would have no effect.

9) Everyone was struggling with the depression, so didn’t want further troubles.

10) B wasn’t prepared to risk its fleet against J.

11) F had no intention of sending troops.

a) B more interested in keeping up good relations with J.

12) The USSR was the closest country who could send troops but was not in the LON.

13) No country wanted war against J – a stronger J was a useful ally against the expanding
USSR.

a) Member countries couldn’t agree on whether or not they should ban arms sales to J.

14) Many viewed the crisis as an intervention not an invasion.

15) J leaving was not considered to be a blow to the League.

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 Abyssinia, 1934
1934: Initial dispute.

1935: Italian full-scale attack.

1936: It annexes (takes over) Abyssinia.

- Haile Selassie: Abyssinian Leader,

- Samuel Hoare: British Foreign Secretary,
- Pierre Laval: French Prime Minister,

Why did It want Abyssinia?

 Revenge [1896: It defeated in Abyssinia by Tribes.]

 Abyssinia was rich in mineral wealth.

 Great Depression meant that It wanted an Empire, and Abyssinia was close to other Italian
colonies.

What happened?

December 1934:
1. Dispute between Italian forces and Ethiopian soldiers at the Wal-Wal oasis.

 Mussolini claims this was Italian territory - actually 80km inside Abyssinia.

2. It invaded.

3. Haile Selassie (Abyssinian Emperor) appealed to the League.

January-October 1935:
 In April 1935, F B and It made an agreement; STRESA FRONT. They all agreed to
stand united against G. Mussolini now thought that his new friends would turn a
blind eye to what he was planning to do in return for his friendship.

4. Mussolini negotiates with League.

 Whilst sending troops to Abyssinia.

5. B and F do nothing.

6. League decides that neither side is to blame after eight months.

7. League offers some of Abyssinia to It.

October 1935-May 1936:

8. 3rd October: Mussolini launches a full-scale attack on Abyssinia.

9. A committee is set up to decide sanctions by the League. This would only work if the League
was quick.

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 10. They banned arms sales and loans to It, and banned the export of rubber, tin, and metals.

11. The League delayed the ban of oil for two months because countries were worried what it
would do to their economies.

December 1935:
12. Hoare-Laval Pact comes to light.

 Hoare and Laval had secretly planned to give It two thirds of Abyssinia, the richest
lands, if they stopped the invasion.

13. Both were sacked but there was outrage.

May 1936:
14. Hitler re-occupied the Rhineland.

15. B and F needed It's support.

16. They gave in to It, allowing them to annex Abyssinia in return for their support against
Hitler.

 In November Mussolini signed the Rome-Berlin Axis with Hitler.

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