The League in the 1920s was a Success Do you agree?

Matthew Dix

The League in the 1920s was a Success

Do you agree?

Woodrow Wilson, President of the USA, set up the League of Nations in 1919 after the terrible events of the First World War. Its main aims were to discourage countries from aggression, encourage them to co-operate and disarm and to improve living and working conditions of people throughout the world. During the 1920s the League was generally successful because it managed to achieve most of these points. It was especially successful through the special agencies, which dealt with things like Refugees and Health. The success of the League in the 1920s almost certainly came about because countries wanted to keep world peace after the war. They were going through a “honeymoon Period”, and there were no major disputes to threaten the League as a successful organisation. There were really only small border disputes and minor problems.

As mentioned earlier, the Special Agencies played a big part in the League’s early success. In the aftermath of the War there were hundreds of thousands of refugees and prisoners of war who needed to be returned to their homes. The Refugee Committee dealt with this quickly and effectively, returning over 400,000 to their homes in the first few years. In 1922 there was a crisis in Turkey. The League housed hundreds of refugees in temporary camps and worked quickly to stamp out diseases such as Cholera, Smallpox and Dysentery. The League was also successful in improving employment and working conditions. They managed to ban white lead in paint, and limited children’s’ working hours. They also tried to introduce a maximum forty-eight hour week and eight-hour day, but many members did not adopt this because it increased industrial costs. Through the Health Committee, they worked to eradicate Leprosy and campaigned to exterminate Mosquitoes, as they led to rises in Malaria and Yellow fever. Even the USSR, not a member of the League in the 1920s, took the Health Committee’s advice on a plague in Syria. They worked to solve world social problems like drugs trade and slavery as well as keeping detailed records and providing detailed information on drugs, prostitution and slavery.

On larger scale, the league solved several major disputes over territory. In 1921, both Germany and Poland wanted the industrial region of Upper Silesia, mainly because of its rich iron and steel industries. With the aid of British and French troops, they organised a Plebiscite in 1920. the industrial areas voted mainly for Germany and rural ones for Poland. The successfully divided the region, and put safeguards in place to assure amenities like electricity and water, as well as rail and road links would remain open. Both countries accepted the decision. They also settled a dispute between Finland and ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Though there were many successes, there were also failures. There were quite a few international disputes that were not solved successfully. In 1920, a private Polish army took control of the largely Polish capital of Lithuania. An appeal was made to the League for help. They protested to Poland, but that didn’t work. They could have sent British and French troops to help, but both countries refused. It remained in Polish hands and undermined the power of the League. There was a similar dispute in Corfu in 1923. An Italian General was killed whilst supervising decisions about the borders between Greece and Albania. The Italian leader, Mussolini, blamed the Greek Government and demanded compensation and for the murderers to be executed. When this did not happen the Italians invaded the Greek island of Corfu. The League condemned Mussolini’s actions and suggested Greece pay compensation to the League, who would pay Italy when the killers were found. Mussolini accepted this, but, behind the scenes, he convinced them to alter the ruling. The Greeks had to apologise and pay compensation directly to Italy. Once again, the power of the League was undermined, and they had not been overly successful in solving the incident. Greece were once again involved in 1925, when they invaded Bulgaria after some troops were killed on the border. Bulgaria called for help, but also readied its army. They obviously were not certain the League could help. The League condemned the Greeks, and made them pull out. Greece complained that it was one rule for the larger states, like Italy, and another for smaller ones, such as themselves.

There were successes in some areas and not in others, as the undermining of the League’s power detracts form the positive achievements. The Special Agencies, and the extent to which the league improved life for normal people stand out, however, as points that show the League was, generally, successful in the 1920s. This success changed in the 1930s, but at this time the League would have looked to be doing a good job and achieving many successes.