Download The2007Exercise

Aims
of
The
League
To
discourage
aggression
by
Stephanie,
Victoria
and João
How
What happened
Structure of the League
The way the League works,
i.e. what powers does it have
Vilna
Vilna was the capital of
Lithuania, but its population was
largely Polish. In 1920, the
Polish army took control of it.
Lithuania asked for help from
the League, but both countries
were members of the League, so
the league was stuck. The
League called on Poland to
withdraw its armies, but they did
not. They could have sent British
and French troops into Vilna to
force the Polish army to leave,
but they did not, the French did
not want to upset the Poles, who
were possible future allies
against Germany, and Britain did
not want to send troops to the
other side of Europe, especially
to fight alone. In the end, the
League did nothing, and Poland
kept Vilna.
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia was an industrial
region bordering Germany and
MEMBERSHIP: Countries
are together in a union
(collective security), so they
would not want to invade
fellow members. There were
to be no more secret treaties.
However, countries that are
not in the League are
vulnerable because most of
the great powers members.
They encouraged
disarmament. Without large
armies, aggression would be
less likely.
THE COUNCIL: In 1920,
there were 4 permanent
members- Britain, France,
Italy and Japan. These were
major powers and therefore
made most of the decisions
To discourage aggression,
they could use moral
For Good or Bad
Vilna- for bad because the
League did nothing- it did not
make a decision. As both
Poland and Lithuania were
members of the League, the
League did not know what to
do. Aggression was seen to
succeed and this was the
League’s first test.
Upper Silesia - for good
because war was avoided and
the issue was dealt with in a
democratic orderly fashion.
The Aarland Islands - for
good because the League was
extremely successful. War
between Finland and Sweden
was avoided. The League
decided the matter and both
countries accepted the
decision, so no war occurred.
CORFU- Technically for
good, but as it was
manipulated by Mussolini, it
wasn’t totally a good
Relevance of
Economic
Conditions
How did
economic
recovery help?
How did the
depression affect
the work of the
League?
The recovery of
trading
relationships
between countries
helped reduce
tension. If they
were trading, they
were less likely to
invade each other,
therefore they
discouraged
aggression.
The economic
depression
affected relations
between
countries. This
made it more
condemnation: (decide which
country was the
“aggressor”). They could
condemn the aggressor’s
action and tell it to stop what
it was doing. The members
of the League could refuse to
trade with the aggressor. The
armed forces of member
countries could be used
against an aggressor
(collective security).
However members had a
veto and so could block
decisions.
ASSEMBLY: It could
recommend ideas put
forward by the council. They
only met once a year and
didn’t have a veto. However,
voting had to be unanimous.
It was therefore, difficult to
make decisions, like how
they would discourage
aggression.
Poland. Both Polish and German
people lived there. Germany and
Poland wanted to have power
over the region, therefore the
League of Nation set up a
plebiscite for the people in
Upper Silesia to decide which
country would rule them. Most
people in the industrial areas
voted for Germany, on the other
hand, most people in the rural
areas voted for Poland.
Therefore the League divided the
region into two, the industrial
area went to Germany and the
rural to Poland.
The Aarland Islands
Sweden and Finland both wanted
these islands, which lay between
them, and they were threatening
to fight over it. They appealed to
the League, and after studying
the matter closely, they decided
it should go to Finland. Sweden
accepted this decision, and war
was avoided.
Corfu
One of the boundaries which had
to be sorted out after the war was
the one between Greece and
judgement.
likely for
countries to
BULGARIAinvade each other.
For Good
It was very successful because
they found the aggressor
punished it, in this case
Greece, and peace was settled.
Although Greece complained it
seemed that there was one rule
for the large states, like Italy,
and another for the smaller
states, like themselves, Greece,
Bulgaria, etc.
MANCHURIAIt was not successful, the
league failed when trying to
settle the argument caused by
Japan, and failed to stop the
drastic measures adopted by
Japan. When they brought
foreword a obvious and just
decision, Japan, who was a
major power, did not accept,
and after being overruled,
decided to resign from the
league, taking no notice on the
other countries. When Japan,
which was a very powerful
country, left the league, it was
Albania. The Conference of
Ambassadors was given this job
and it appointed an Italian
General (Tellini) to supervise it.
However, he and his team were
ambushed and killed. Mussolini
blamed the Greek government
for the murder and he demanded
that it pay compensation to Italy
and execute the murderers. The
Greeks didn’t know who the
murderers were, so Mussolini
bombarded and occupied the
Greek island of Corfu. Greece
appealed to the League for help.
The situation was very serious.
But as the council was already in
session, a decision was made
quickly. It condemned
Mussolini’s actions but decided
that Greece had to pay
compensation with the money
held by the League, at least
initially. This money would then
be given to Italy if Tellini’s
murderers were found. Mussolini
accepted the League’s decision,
but persuaded it to change the
ruling. Mussolini withdrew from
Corfu boasting of his triumph.
proved to be a failure at
maintaining peace and
controlling the major powers
of the world.
ABYSSINIA- For bad. This
turned into a crisis and the
League ended up failing. It
could not control one of its
members (Italy).
Bulgaria
In October 1925, Bulgaria was
invaded by Greek soldiers after
an incident on the border in
which some Greek soldiers were
killed.
Bulgaria appealed for help. The
League of Nations was put to
work and condemned the Greek
action. The League ordered the
Greeks to pull out and pay
compensation. Although Greece
complained it seemed that there
was one rule for the large states,
like Italy, and another for the
smaller states, like themselves,
Greece, Bulgaria, etc.
Manchuria
It was the first major test for the
league in 1931. for a long time,
the Japanese population and
economy. It had a very strong
army and navy, strong industry
and exportation (to USA and
China) and a growing empire
which included the Korean
peninsula. When china and the
USA put up its tariffs against
Japanese goods, they suffered
greatly from depression. The
collapse of the American market
put the Japanese economy in
crisis. Without the American
trade, Japan could not feed its
people. The army leaders in
Japan knew what they had to do
– build an empire by force. In
1931 an incident in Manchuria
gave the Japanese the
opportunity they needed to
expand the empire. In 1931 the
Japanese claimed that the
Chinese were sabotaging the
railway which they controlled in
southern Manchuria. In
retaliation they overran
Manchuria and kicked out all the
Chinese forces. In February
1932 they set up a puppet
government in Manchuria that
did everything the Japanese
army told them to. Later in 1932
the Japanese aeroplanes bombed
Shanghai, the government in
Japan told them to withdraw, but
they ignored them. The army no
longer responded to the Japanese
government, and it was the army
which was in control of the
Japanese foreign policy. China
appealed to the league, but Japan
was a major force in the league,
and insisted that it was not
invading as an aggressor, but
settling a local difficulty. They
claimed china was under the
influence of extreme anarchy,
and they were acting in selfdefence. In September 1932 the
league decided that Japan had
acted unlawfully, and Manchuria
had to be given back to the
Chinese. In February 1933 the
Japanese decided they would not
withdraw, they would invade
more of china and it was
necessary in self-defence. On 24
February 1933 the league’s
report was approved by the
assembly, only Japan voted
against. They did not like the
insult and resigned from the
league on 27 of march 1933 and
the next week it invaded Jehol.
Abyssinia
It was invaded by Mussolini.
Italy wanted to expand its
To
encourage
nations to
disarm
by Lisa
and Alex
Structure of the League
The league of nations tried to
encourage nations to disarm
by first forcing Germany to
reduce its armed forces. It
was an ‘invitation’ for other
nations to do the same, as
disarmament was one of the
14 points of the Treaty of
Versailles. Also, as others
previous methods of keeping
peace had failed, the League
of Nations was set up as an
international ‘police force’.
When other country did
empire. The League could not
claim that this problem was in an
inaccessible part of the world. In
1896 Italian troops had tried to
invade Abyssinia but had been
defeated. Mussolini wanted
revenge and fertile lands and
mineral wealth of Abyssinia. He
also wanted glory and conquest.
When he decided to invade, the
Abyssinian emperor appealed to
the League for help. Italy simply
ignored the League’s orders. The
League had failed.
The Washington Conference
The disarmament caused a
little bit of chaos, because even
The Disarmament Conference
though the Treaty tried, it
failed in almost all
conferences. For example, the
Washington Conference was
successful, because there was
an agreement between Britain,
France, USA and Japan to
limit the size of their navies.
Also, it made people question
themselves:” It it’s an
American treaty, and it
worked, so why the treaties the
League of Nations is trying to
do are no working? Is the
How did
economic
recovery help?
How did the
depression affect
the work of the
League?
something wrong or against
the Treaty, it would ask for
help for other countries army
and also ask them for not to
trade with the ‘disobedient’
nation.
The way the League works,
i.e. what powers does it have
League weaker?” Besides,
America wasn’t doing the
agreement for behalf of world
peace, but to save money. But
other Conferences weren’t
successful. At first, in the
1920’s the League of nations
failure of disarmament did not
seem too serious because of a
series of international
agreements, which seem to
promise a more peaceful
world. But then in the 1930’s,
the League was getting
pressured by the Germans that
were forced to disarm and also,
nations were spending more
money on their armies than
they spent before the WWI.
But then in 1932 a
Disarmament Conference
finally got under way, which
lead to some agreements, eg.
The Lacarno Treaties. But
there was still a big problem of
what to do with Germany,
because after all, the Germans
were in the League for 6 years,
and most people agreed that
now, it should be treated
equally. The big question was
whether everyone else should
disarm to the level of
Germany, or whether the
Germans should be allowed to
rearm to a level closer to that
of the other powers. There was
a great reluctance of the
League to allow the second
option.
To
encourage
countries
to
cooperate
especially
in
business
and trade
by Gabriel
and
Alessandra
Structure of the League
Lacarno
Structure and Powers
There were no specific part
of The LON which helped
Business and Trade.
The League of Nations members
met in Locarno, Switzerland.
France and Belgium borders
were accepted by Germany.
Britain and Italy, agree to protect
France, if Germany violated the
borders.
Germany ha to accept the
imposition on Rhineland
(demilitarization), and settled
any disputes with France. The
treaty helped Germany to enter
the League of Nations, in 1926.
This treaty made all
countries (including Germany)
better; since it solved most
problems (Safety, Land, etc...)
caused by WWI and it helped
The way the League works,
i.e. what powers does it have
How did
economic
recovery help?
Economic
recovery was
essential for
Europe. Not only
did it help with
money, but
indirectly it
caused Europe to
reconstruct itself,
by building
industries and
jobs, also helping
the population.
This helped the
economic
Germany indirectly(get its
respect).
The Kellogg-Briand Pact
Three years after Locarno, the
members met in 1928.They
agreed they would only keep
their armies as “self defence”.
The treaty was vital in
protecting all countries from
wars, since the armies couldn’t
be used to attack other nations,
without having been attacked
before.
The Geneva Protocol
Britain and France made it in
1924, which stated that if two
members were having a dispute,
they would have to ask the
league to sort out the
disagreement and accept the
decision. They thought that this
would strengthen the league.
Before it was passed,
there was an election in Britain,
though the conservative
government refused to sign it
thinking, that Britain would
suffer from it. This caused the
situation in
Europe and
around the world,
since it caused
international trade
to re-start.
See diagram
below
How did the
depression affect
the work of the
League?
Economic
Depression
In the late 1920s
the USA economy
broke. Most
countries had
borrowed money
from the USA
banks (richest
Protocol to weaken the league.
The idea of the protocol
was excellent, since it would
solve internal disputes in the
league, though due to the
disagreement from Britain, it
didn’t help at all.
To
improve
living and
working
conditions
by Siobhan
and
Francisco
Structure of the League
Living conditions
One of the aims of the league
of nation that actually
worked was the
improvement of the living
and working conditions.
They persuaded governments
The Health Committee, which
later became the World Health
Organization, worked hard to
defeat the dreaded disease
leprosy. It started the global
campaign to exterminate
nation) .The Wall
Street crash,
damaged trade
and industry, and
affected the
relationship
between
countries, causing
political change.
It was
terrible for the
League, since it
destroyed the
whole situation of
economic and
political
tranquillity the
League had made.
All the economic
recovery had been
destroyed.
For good- was positive.
The League tried to improve
the world for the better.
The League worked hard to
defeat diseases such as;
leprosy, malaria and yellow
fever. They also tried to
exterminate mosquitoes and
How did
economic
recovery help?
American loans
helped Europe
recover from
to set maximum working
days besides introducing the
old age pensions,
unemployment and sickness
benefits. In the meter of
living conditions, the league
did a great job getting war
refugees back to their home
countries. The health
committee work hard to
defeat leprosy and other
epidemics diseases and made
a particularly good job on
combating typhus in Russia.
The league also made a good
work on the ways of
transportation, producing
international highways.
The way the League works,
i.e. what powers does it have
mosquitoes, which greatly
reduced cases of malaria and
yellow fever in later decades.
Even the USSR, which was
otherwise opposed to the
League, took Health Committee
advice on preventing plague in
Siberia.
The League blacklisted four
large German, Dutch, French
and Swiss companies which
were involved in the illegal drug
trade.
It brought about the freeing of
200,000 slaves in British- owned
Sierra Leone. It organised raids
against slave owners and traders
in Burma.
Even in the areas where it could
not remove social injustice the
League kept careful records of
what was going on and provided
information on problems such as
drug trafficking, prostitution and
slavery.
Refugees
tried to bring an end to illegal
drug trades. They tried to do
their best to help workers
worldwide, by introducing
resolutions such as; max.48
hour week, max. 8 hour day.
Banned poisonous paints and
limited the number of hours
small children could work.
The League also tried to get
refugees and prisoners of war
back to their homelands. When
a crisis broke out in Turkey in
1922, hundreds of thousands of
people had to use refugee
camps. The League quickly
and efficiently stamped out
smallpox, dysentery and
cholera.
economics crisis
after the war.
With more
money, Europe
and the League of
Nations was able
to rebuilt
industries, witch
increased
employment and
there were more
money to invest
on the things
needed to
improve living
and working
condition by
fighting poverty,
disease and
injustice, so the
economic
recovery helped
the league by
increasing the
possibility of their
plan to work. But
then again, in
1930 there were a
declining in the
confidence of the
The League did tremendous
work in getting refugees and
former prisoners of war, about
400,000 prisoners were returned
to their home by the League’s
agencies. When a refugee crisis
hit Turkey in 1922, hundreds of
thousands of people had to be
housed in refugee camps. The
League acted quickly to stamp
out cholera, smallpox and
dysentery in the camps.
Working conditions
The International Labour
organization was successful in
banning poisonous white lead
from paint and in limiting the
hours that small children were
allowed to work. It also
campaigned strongly for
employees to improve working
conditions generally. It
introduced a resolution for a
maximum 48- hour week, and an
8- hour day, but only a minority
of members adopted it because
they thought it would raise
industrial costs.
league, witch
affected the
league in not a
good way, it
became more
difficult to
finance all they
had to do in the
mater of helping
our world.
How did the
depression affect
the work of the
League?
The League made
recommendations on marking
shipping lanes and produced an
international highway code for
road users
It challenged the use of forced
labour to build the Tanganyika
railway in Africa, where the
death rate among the African
workers was a staggering 50%.
League pressure brought this
down to 4%, which it said was
“a much more acceptable
figure”.
Economic Recovery
Increase employment
American loans
Help Europe to
Recover
Rebuilt
industry
increased
international trade
Increased profits