The League of Nations Revision Notes

+ the Committees: Court of international justice/ Health committee/ International labour organization/ Refugees committee/ Mandates commission/ Slavery commission 

ALSO Conference of ambassadors (not really part of the League's organisation).

Three Strengths of the League [memory Word: SUM]

1. Set up by the Treaty of Versailles
2. Universal membership, all of which had signed the Covenant promising to support the League.
3. Means of Influence – Covenant (26 promises which every member agreed to follow)/ Moral condemnation (public opinion)/ Arbitration (act as a referee)/ Sanctions (refuse to trade)/ Military Force (send an army)/ ‘Community of Power’ (acting together).

Six Successes of the League in the 1920s [memory word: SAMBOK]

1. Silesia, 1921 – Germany and Poland agreed to paritiion after a  plebiscite.
2. Aaland Islands, 1921 – said the islands should belong to Finland; Sweden and Finland agreed.
3. Mosul, 1924 – the Turks demanded Mosul, Iraq. The League supported Iraq; Turkey agreed.
4. Bulgaria, 1925 – Greece invaded Bulgaria, but withdrew when Bulgaria appealed to the League.
5. Other:  400,000 Prisoners of War repatriated/ Turkish refugee camps (1922)/ Leprosy/ Drugs companies closed down/ Attacked slave owners in Sierra Leone and Burma/ Economic advice to Austria and Hungary
6. Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928 – signed by 23 nations and supported by 65, to outlaw war.

six failures of the league in the 1920s [memory word: vimcod]

1. Vilna, 1920 – Poland refused the League orders to withdraw from Vilna.
2. Invasion of the Ruhr, 1923 – by France; the League was not even consulted, and Britain disagreed.
3. Memel, 1923 – The League told Lithuania to leave, but the Conference of Ambassadors agreed.
4. Corfu, 1923 – General Tellini murdered, so Italy occupied Corfu.   The Conference of Ambassadors overruled the League’s order to Mussolini to leave – forced Greece to pay compensation to Italy.
5. Other Treaties: Washington , 1921/ Dawes Plan, 1924/ Locarno Pact, 1925/ The Geneva Protocol, 1924 (to support the League of Nations) failed because Britain refused to sign it
6. Disarmament – Britain objected to the 1923 conference/ 1932-1934 conference was wrecked when Hitler demanded parity with France.

Two Failures of the League in the 1930s

1. Manchuria, 1931: The League sent officials (took a year)/   voted that Japan return Manchuria (Feb 1933 - Japan resigned from the League)/  could not agree economic sanctions or arms sales ban.
2. Abyssinia, 1935: Mussolini invaded (October 1935) Haile Selassie’s Abyssinia/   Britain and France secretly agreed to give Abyssinia to Italy (Hoare-Laval Pact, 1935)/   The League tried sanctions on arms sales, rubber and metals, but they did not close the Suez Canal or ban oil sales.
3. These failures killed the League – Mussolini gained prestige/   Britain, France and the League were weakened - countries decided it was  a ‘sham’, left and began to prepare for war instead.

Eight Reasons the League Failed [memory word: BUSTED UP]

1. Britain and France – were not prepared to use their armies and had other priorities.
2. USA, USSR and Germany – USA was never a member/   USSR not until 1934/   Germany not until 1926, and Hitler left the League in 1933.
3. Structure – its organisation [SCACHIRMS] was cumbersome so decisions were very slow.
4. Treaty of Versailles set up the League – so it was hated because the Treaty was hateful.
5. Economic Depression – countries acted to save their own interests, and ignored the League.
6. Dictators – dictators like Mussolini and Hitler  would not compromise.
7. Unsuccessful – the League’s failures damaged its reputation, so members left/ignored it.
8. Powerless:   moral condemnation was just ignored by powerful nations/   the League had no armies/   people found ways round sanctions.