Transcript The League of Nations - learning

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
THIS IS THE THIEPVAL MEMORIALWHERE IS IT AND WHY WAS IT BUILT?
WHAT WAS THE PRICE OF WORLD WAR
ONE?
Country
Men
Killed
Mobilised
Wounded
POW and
Missing
Total
Casualtie
s
France
8.4 mill
1.3mill
4.2mill
537,000
6.1mill
UK
8.9mill
908,000
2mill
191,000
3.1mill
USA
4.3mill
126,000
234,000
4,500
350,000
Germany
11million
1.7million
4.2million
1.1million
7.1million
WOODROW WILSON’S VISION
“It is not enough just to win the war. We must win it in such a way
as to keep the future peace of the world.”
President Wilson, talking in 1919
“I can predict with absolute certainty that within another
generation there will be another world war if the nations of the
world do not work together to prevent it.”
from a statement by the American President, Woodrow Wilson, made
during the peace discussions in 1919.
Discussion Point- Why would the US president be more likely to hold
these attitudes than other world leaders in 1919?
Exercise Books Title- Woodrow Wilson- Based on the above quotations
outline Wilson’s attitude to future peace. Spend 3 minutes on your
answer
LEAGUE OF NATIONS- LOGO
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
Encourage
co-operation
Stop aggression
AIMS
Disarmament
Improve
social conditions
HEADQUARTERS- GENEVA
MEMBERSHIP
42 members - by 1930’s 59
 Defeated countries could not join e.g. Germany
 Russia excluded because communist

Discussion Point- Can we see any problems here?
STRUCTURE
The Assembly
Each country one vote
The Council
Met 3-4 times a year
and in emergencies
5 permanent members
Each had right to veto any idea
The Secretariat
Permanent court of
Kept records
International Justice
- civil service, announces decisions of
Based at The Hague
the council and
Settle disputes peacefully
the Assembly to the world
No power of enforcement
POWERS OF THE LEAGUE
If a country ignored the ruling of the League it
could:
 Put pressure on
 Refuse to trade – sanctions

Discussion Point- What can the UN send in when
situations become critical?
Source Analysis- ‘The Gap in the Bridge’ – a cartoon of 1919 by
Leonard Ravenhill in the British magazine Punch
.

Discussion point- What is the cartoon saying is
missing from the League of Nations and why is
this a problem?
A
B

What do cartoon A and B suggest?
AIMS
To promote international co-operation
 To end war by promoting disarmament,
preservation of its members from aggression,
 Peaceful settlement of international disputes

EFFECTS OF THE ABSENCE OF MAJOR
POWERS
Weakened by the absence of Germany, USSR,
USA
 Germany’s absence meant that a country most
likely to cause future conflict was outside the
framework of peaceful reconciliation.

A

What does this picture
tells you?
RESEARCH
The Greek Turkish War 1920-23
 Lithuania’s seizure of Memel 1923
 The Corfu Incident 1923

CLASS ASSIGNMENT

Source analysis Pg.58

End of Part I
THE PRINCIPLE OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY
Article 10 of the Covenant stated:
 Members of the League undertake to respect and
preserve as against external aggression and
territorial integrity and existing political
independence of all members of the League. In
such any aggression or any threat or danger of
such aggression the Council shall advise upon the
means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled

REASONS FOR FAILURE OF COLLECTIVE
SECURITY
1. there was no way of compelling a nation to
submit to any method in the first place, nor of
accepting any decision reached by the league.
 Economic sanctions were only tried once against
Italy over Abyssinia in 1936.
 There was no League army and no police force.
 The absence of several of the great powers
undermined the effectiveness of the League.

EARLY SUCCESSES OF THE LEAGUE
1. The Aaland Islands
 Finland against Sweden (1920-21)
 Finland and Sweden were in dispute over the
Aaland Islands in the Baltic Sea. The League
settled in favour of Finland. The Aaland Islands
were under Finland while her population was
Swedish. In 1909 A.D., Finland along with
Aaland Islands was annexed by Russia. In 1917
A.D., Finland became free and the population of
Aaland Islands desired to be with Sweden.


However, Finland was not prepared to accept this
decision. In these circumstances, there was every
possibility of a war. The League interfered in the
matter and in June 1921 A.D., it was decided
that Finland must have sovereignty over the
Islands; people of the Islands were guaranteed
autonomy and protection of their political rights;
Swedish language in schools could be used; and
rights of private property were to be preserved.
The area was to be neutralized and unfortified. It
was accepted by Sweden and Finland. Regarding
it, an international treaty was signed on April 6,
1922 A.D
2. Mosul 1923-24
 The League settled a dispute between Turkey
and Iraq over Mosul.

GREEK BULGARIAN CLASH

Two Greek soldiers were killed in a conflict with
Bulgaria. When Bulgaria refused to pay the
compensation, Greece attacked upon it. Bulgaria
appealed to the League. The Council ordered both
the sides to remove their army from the field. A
Commission was appointed, which found Greece
guilty and ordered her to pay for the warcompensation. Both the sides accepted the
decision. Thus the war came to an end
WORKS FOR THE PUBLIC WELFARE

(i) Health: The member-States were to cooperate with the League in order to prevent the
diseases.
Permanent Health Organization: The
organization, established in 1923 A.D., made
many attempts to prevent the increase in
diseases in the backward countries. In this year,
the Malaria Commission tried to prevent this
dangerous disease. In 1931 A.D., a convention
was called for the Rural Health Development.
The delegates of the twenty-three member-States
took part in it and worked for the improvement of
the rural health.
.

(ii) Economic Reconstruction: A number of
Economic Conventions were called. Among these,
the Brussels Convention and the International
Economic Convention are very famous. An
International Relief Union was established,
which gave economic help as the ‘First Aid’
through a treasure it made.
(iii) International Committee on
Intellectual Co-operation:It was a seventeenmember committee, which spread the intellectual
co-operation throughout the world

(iv) Humanitarian Activities: The League of
Nations strictly checked the trade of children and
the women. It also made efforts to abolish
slavery.
Thus the League did a lot of useful works for the
human welfare, and that is why Cordell Hull
says, “The League of nations has been
responsible for more humanitarian and scientific
endeavour than any other organization in
history.”
FAILURES
1. Vilna dispute
 According to the Paris Peace Conference, the city
of Vilna was given to Lithuania, taking from
Poland. In 1920 A.D., Poland annexed the city
militarily. Lithuania made an appeal to the
League. Although the League intervened, yet it
failed to get Vilna back from Poland.

2. RUSSO-POLISH WAR 1920-21

Poland made substantial gains which were
recognised by Russia in the Treaty of Riga(1921).
The League was unable to exert any influence .
THE GREEK TURKISH WAR

This political context of this conflict is linked to
secret agreements on sharing of the Ottoman
Empire at the end of WWI. Military history
begins with the Armistice of Moudros. The war
arose because the western Allies, particularly
British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, had
promised Greece territorial gains at the expense
of the Ottoman Empire if Greece entered the war
on the Allied side. These includedEastern Thrace,
the islands of Imvros and Tenedos and parts of
western Anatolia around the city
of Smyrna (İzmir) where ethnic Greeks formed
the majority of the population.


In return for the contribution of the Greek army in the war
effort, the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, which ended the First
World War in Asia Minorand in parallel determined the
future of the Ottoman Empire, assigned eastern Thrace
and the millet of Smyrna to Greece.
on October 11, 1922, with the Allies retaining control of
east Thrace and the Bosporus, but the Greeks evacuating
these areas. The agreement came into force starting
October 15, one day after the Greek side agreed to sign it.
The Armistice of Mudanyawas followed by the Treaty of
Lausanne, under which a significant provision was the
exchange of populations which ended Greek presence on
the west coast of Asia Minor
LITHUANIUA’S SEIZURE OF MEMEL

The port city of Memel (now Klaipėda) and the surrounding
area, with a predominantly German population, were
under Allied control after the end of the World War I. The
area had been awarded to Lithuania by Article 99 of the
Treaty of Versailles but the French and Polish
governments favoured turning Memel into an international
city. By 1923, control of the area had still not been
transferred to Lithuania, prompting Lithuanian forces to
invade in January 1923 and seize the port. After the Allies
failed to reach an agreement with Lithuania, they referred
the matter to the League of Nations. In December 1923, the
League Council appointed a Commission of Inquiry to
investigate. The Commission chose to cede Memel to
Lithuania and give the area autonomous rights.
THE CORFU INCIDENT

Mussolini demanded compensation for the
murder of the Italian delegates in the Greek
territories, while they were fixing the boundary
line for Albania. On the refusal by Greece,
Mussolini bombarded it and annexed Corfu.
Greece made an appeal to the League, which
ordered Italy to pay compensation for her
behaviour. Mussolini, however, did not care for
the League’s decision. Although, later on, he
called back his army from Corfu, yet he
compelled Greece to pay compensation. It was
completely a failure on the part of the League.