THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS COMMISSIONS

- A commission is a group of people who

investigate and make recommendations on a
specific issue or problem.
- The league of nations’ commissions would
usually carry out humanitarian missions, which
was seen as vital to maintaining world peace.

REFUGEE COMMISSION:
- After the first world war, refugee crisis was on a
scale never seen before.
- They were over a million prisoners of war to be
repatriated (sent back to their country) and
over a million refugees fleeing the Russian
Revolution and the Civil war that followed it.
- It was also said thousands were living in the
“wrong” country when the map of Europe was
redrawn.
- The commission was not supposed to be
permanent. The funding was very small and its
responsibility didn’t extend beyond Europe and
the Middle East.
- Fridtjof Nansen from Norway was appointed as
the high commissioner for refugees. His priority
was sending back prisoners of war (POWs), but
a few refugees crises developed at this time.
- The largest was caused by Russians’ Civil War;
they were also Greeks, Bulgarians and
Americans.

 In 1920 – 22, the crisis was repatriation of

POWS after the first world war. There were
15 million POWs in USSR and Russia who
were unable to return home due to the
chaos of the civil war.
ACTION TAKEN: A huge international operation
to organize funds, shipping and resources
RESULT: 427, 886 POWs from 26 countries
repatriated at a cost of less than £1 each.

 In 1920 – 25, 1.5 million Russian refugees

fled civil war and arrive in Turkey, Greece,
Yugoslavia and elsewhere in Europe.
ACTION TAKEN: identity cards known as Nansen
passports were introduced for the refugees.
Nansen coordinated 44 different nations to take
Russian refugees who did not want to return to
the communist USSR.
RESULT: agreement made with USSR to
repatriate those who wanted to return home

 In 1919 – 23, there was conflict between

Greece and turkey as the Ottoman Empire
collapsed. Greece expanded into Turkish
territory, massacring huge numbers of Turks.
Turkey retook the land occupied, massacring
Greeks and Armenians living there. They
then set fire to Smyrna (Izmir).
ACTION TAKEN: immediate care of the refugees
by tackling food shortages and health care
problems (worked with international red cross
and red crescent)
1923: a forced population exchange; 1.4 million
Greeks left turkey for Greece, 400,00 Turks left
Greece for turkey.
 RESULTS: Arranged loans for Greece to provide
refugees with homes and farming resources –
Greek economy grew stronger.

 In 1930s, hitler’s Nazi regime persecuted

German Jews, leading to waves of refugees.
ACTION TAKEN: league of nations protected
600,00 refugees from Germany arranging for
27,000 to resettle in Palestine, 9000 in the USA
and 25,000 across Europe.

Fridtjof Nansen’s approach to refugee crises was

significant for 2 reasons.
 His approach, often working with ILO to find
refugees employment or settle them
permanently. He accepted that although
repatriation was the best option.
 Refugees didn’t have identity papers or
passports to enable them to travel. The
 Nansen passport were accepted by the
governments of 50 different nations by 1929.

DRUGS COMMISSION:
- The main target was Opium and Coca. The
commission started as the Permanent Central
Opium Board. Opium and coca can be used to
make drugs like heroin, cocaine, morphine and
codeine. All are highly addictive.
- Dr. Rachel Crowdy led the league of nations
work to deal with the problems caused by
illegal drugs. The methods used were:
 Limiting legal production, manufacture and
trade of dangerous drugs.
 Gathering information of the production,
manufacture and trade of dangerous drugs.
 Monitoring the production, manufacture and
trade of dangerous drugs.
 Finding economics alternatives for opium
growing regions.
 Monitoring member nation’s compliance with
league of nations agreements.
 Recommending an embargo on training in drugs
with nations not following agreements.

OTHER COMMISSIONS:
 Disarmament
Role: to decrease national armaments to what
was necessary only for defense against
aggressors (article 8 of the covenant of the
league of nations)
Actions: Geneva protocol 1924 – all signatories
promised disarmament and abandoned war as
a means of settling disputes (influenced Locarno
Pact in 1925)

 Health
Role:
- to prevent spread of disease, improve access to
health care.
- To organize major health campaigns.
- To spread information about disease and good
practice
Actions:
- 1921 Epidemiological Intelligence Service
established to provide information on
infectious diseases.
- 1923 health committees set up to
investigate a wide range of diseases
- 1928 institute for the study of Malaria was
set up.

 International Labour Organization

Role:
created as part of the treaty of Versailles to
deal with worker’s pay, rights and work
conditions.
Actions:
Annual conferences – by 1939, 67
conventions were agreed on issues such as
hours, unemployment, women’s and
children’s working conditions and health
and safety.
  Mandates
Role:
- To monitor and govern the former colonies
of the defeated powers that were not ready
to be independent.
Actions:
- Divided colonies into one of 3 types,
defending on how ready they were for
independence.

 Slavery
Role:
- To deal with slavery, the slave trade and
people trafficking.
Actions:
- 1921 conference – agreed to tackle people
trafficking in women and children.
- 1924 – 26: investigated trafficking in
Europe, the Mediterranean region and
America.
- 1926: Convention on slavery defined slavery
- 1929 – investigated people trafficking in the
Near, Middle and Far East.

Conclusion:
- The 1920s was positive for the new league
of nations. They did not have to deal with
any powerful aggressors.
- It dealt effectively with some of the
consequences of the First World War and
the Treaty of Versailles.
- Problems dealing with refugees, minorities
and border disputes were generally dealt
with successfully.
- The weaknesses in the league of nations
caused by its membership and lack of
armed forces only threatened it in the
1930s. by that time the world had changed
a great deal, due to the Great Depression
that began in 1929.

SETUP:
- Between April and June 1945, the united
nations conference on international
organization.
- It was held in san Francisco, USA.
- 50 nations attended, all of whom had had
joined the allies by march 1945.
- International bodies representing groups
like trade unions, health experts and
economists, also attended and were able to
submit papers to the conference.

- Some changes were made to the

Dumbarton proposals. E.g the smaller states
inserted provisions on human rights and
racism.
- On 24th October 1945, the charter if the
united nations was ratified in Washington
by majority of the members. This brought
the United Nations into existence. ( This day
is celebrated as United Nations Day )