The Weight of History

League of Nations

8 min read

League of Nations

One of Wilson’s Fourteen Point to achieve world peace

  • founded in 1920 and collapsed in 1946
    • after 1939-1945 World War II, people realized that the League was kind of useless
    • it later became the United Nations

📕 TB page 28 Political Cartoon

  • portrays 👤 Briand (influential figure in the League) as a messiah^[Messiah: a saviour or liberator of a group of people in Abrahamic religions.]

Differing opinions on the League

USABritainFrance
a world parliament where representatives from all countries could meet to regularly decide on matters affecting all of thema simple organization to exist only in emergencies (a conference like this already existed, known as the Conference of Ambassadors)a strong League with its own army
  • the League ended up not having any army
    • if the League needed military assistance, it would come from the Big Three (a terrible idea)

Wilson’s ambitious plans

  • All major nations would join the League
    • what is a major nation??
  • Everyone would disarm
  • Members would protect one another in case of invasion
  • All members were to respect the Covenant
    • if they didn’t, they would be punished (see inter-country disputes)

Measures to deal with rogue countries

  • Any inter-country disputes would be resolved by the League. The League's decision was final; countries had to accept it
    • Punishment came in 3 steps:
      1. The country in the wrong would be morally condemned
      2. Members would stop trading with this country
        • this punished member nations more 💀; it hurt their economy
      3. Military would be sent to stop the fighting if necessary
        • “I’m going to send MY military, MY population, to go solve YOUR problems.”
        • obviously this didn’t make sense and would led to huge public backlash

Reactions to his plans

  • People were angered by 👤 Wilson’s arrogance
  • Others were worried by his idealism; he didn’t specify what the League would do if countries and populations didn’t react in the way he predicted
  • But people in Europe were willing to give it a try

Membership of the League

Membership of the League

Membership of the League

Permanent Members in 1919

  1. 🇯🇵 Japan
  2. 🇬🇧 Britain
  3. 🇫🇷 France
  4. 🇮🇹 Italy

Loss of credibility

  • 🇯🇵 Japan and 🇮🇹 Italy, 2 of the original permanent members later left, which damaged the League’s credibility

Why the 🇺🇸 USA refused to join

  1. the League was supposed to enforce the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, but many Americans (especially those with German ancestry) hated the treaty itself
  2. League-imposed sanctions would hurt American businesses and economy the most
  3. People feared that joining the League meant sending the US military to settle conflicts. No one wanted a repeat of the casualties from WW
  4. Others thought that Britain or France would dominate the league and that the USA would be forced to defend their empires. Many Americans were anti-empire
  • 👤 Wilson toured the country to try to convince people about the League, but lost in the 1919 Congress Vote

📕 TB page 33 Political Cartoon

  • the gap in the bridge will cause the bridge to fall over time

🇩🇪 Germany in LoN

  • joined in 1926 after the Locarno Treaties
    • the Locarno Treaties was Germany’s acceptance of the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, proving that it was a 'peace-loving country'
  • withdrew in 1933 (by 👤 Adolf Hitler)
Link to original

Aims of the League

A covenant set out the aims of the League.

ACDC (the rock band):

  • ==a==ggression from any nation
  • ==c==o-operation between countries, in business and trade
  • ==d==isarmament of all nations
  • ==conditions of living and working everywhere==

Article 10: Collective Security

By acting together collectively, the members of the League could prevent war by defending the lands and interests of all nations, large or small

  • TLDR: look out for each other

Organization of the League

Organization of the League

Organization of the League

Assembly & Council

  • The Assembly: the League’s parliament
    • every country in the League had a representative
    • it met once a year
    • decisions had to be ==UNANIMOUS==
  • The Council
    • made up of permanent & temporary members
    • met about 5 times a year
      • more often in case of emergency
    • permanent members had a veto vote
      • they could strike down ideas by temporary members
      • led to the League’s downfall when two permanent members later left
    • resolved disputes by talking; if this failed, they had a range of powers
      1. Moral Condemnation
        • still a norm today to condemn violence (e.g. Singapore condemned the Capitol attack, Nice terrorist attack)
        • gives a platform for countries to take sides
          • the League places pressures on countries to pick a side
      2. Threaten to stop trade
      3. Military intervention

Commissions

todo slides link

Link to original

Border Disputes

📕 TB page 38 – border maps

Why do people fight over borders?

  • ideology
    • politics
    • religion
  • resources
    • natural
    • land

Context

  • 🇩🇪 Germany acted as an important ==border== between the 🇬🇧 UK, 🇫🇷 France and the USSR

Case Studies

Corfu, 1923 (FAILURE)

  • 🇮🇹 Italian general 👤 Tellini is killed while surveying the 🇬🇷 Greek side of the border between 🇬🇷 Greece and 🇦🇱 Albania
  • 👤 Mussolini is furious and blames the Greek
  • 🇮🇹 Italy then bombs and occupies the Greek island of ==Corfu==
  • 🇬🇷 Greece asks the League for help; the League condemns 👤 Mussolini’s actions
  • 🇫🇷 France backs the 🇮🇹 Italians
    • The 🇬🇧 British aren’t prepared to act without the 🇫🇷 French
  • 👤 Mussolini gets his way
    • the League’s ruling is changed
  • the 🇬🇷 Greeks apologise and pay compensation to 🇮🇹 Italy
  • 👤 Mussolini withdraws from Corfu

Bulgaria, 1925 (SUCCESS)

  • 🇬🇷 Greek soldiers are killed in 🇧🇬 Bulgaria
  • As revenge, the 🇬🇷 Greeks invade 🇧🇬 Bulgaria
  • Bulgaria asks the League for help
  • 🇬🇧 British and 🇫🇷 French agree. Both condemn the attack
  • Ruling sticks

Manchuria-Japan Crisis, 1931 (FAILURE)

1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria (Manchurian Crisis)

3.02 League of Nations

1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria (Manchurian Crisis)

  • starts with an explosion at the South Manchurian Railway
  • 🇯🇵 Japan invades Manchuria
  • 🇨🇳 China appeals to the League
  • the League was powerless to stop a strong nation like 🇯🇵 Japan
    • 🇬🇧 Britain wants to keep a good relationship with 🇯🇵 Japan (trade)
    • 🇬🇧 Britain and 🇫🇷 France don't want to risk their militaries
      • the 🇺🇸 USA and USSR have strong enough militaries to do something, but they aren't members of the League (at the time)
      • the 🇺🇸 USA is also 🇯🇵 Japan’s main trading partner, making it most important for sanctions to have any effect
    • members couldn’t agree on banning arms sales to 🇯🇵 Japan
  • 🇯🇵 Japan commits aggresion and gets away with it
  • 👤 Mussolini would later learn from this episode and use it to his advantage
Link to original

Aftermath

  • 👤 Lord Lytton (🇬🇧 Britain) and his team are sent to investigate the incident
  • 1932: Lytton Report presented
  • Verdict: Japan acted unlawfully, Manchuria should be returned to the Chinese
    • Assembly vote in agreement of Manchuria being returned was 42-1
  • 1933: Japan resigns from the League, invades Jehol province (🇨🇳 China)
    • Japan was a permanent member; it’s withdrawal significantly impacted the credibility of the League

Abyssinian Crisis (FAILURE), 1935

1935 Abyssinian Crisis

3.02 League of Nations

1935 Abyssinian Crisis

Background

  • Abyssinia no longer exists; it’s now 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
  • after the 1932 Disarmament Conference
  • literally No One takes disarmament seriously
  • 🇬🇧 Britain and 🇫🇷 France are still divided on 🇩🇪 Germany
  • by 1933, many British felt that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair
    • in response, the British signed an agreement with Germany allowing Germany to maintain a navy ⛴ as long as it was always under 35% of British naval capacity
      • this is a SERIOUS breach of the ToV covenant
  • every country for itself!

Actual Incident

  • 🇮🇹 Italy is still haunted by its 1896 defeat at Abyssinia
    • in 1896, Italy tried to invade Abyssinia but was ultimately defeated
    • 👤 Mussolini wants Revenge, Resources and Glory, in no particular order
  • 1934: a Dispute between Italian and Abyssinian soldiers
    • Mussolini demands an apology and prepares for invasion
  • 1936: Abyssinian Emperor 👤 Haile Selassie appeals to the League for help
  • the 🇬🇧 British and 🇬🇧 French are desperate to be on good terms with 👤 Mussolini because they need Italy to go against 👤 Hitler (Stresa Pact)
    • sanctions failed.
    • one of the only ways in/out of Abyssinia was the Suez Canal, which the British and French ruled
      • they could’ve just shut it off and stopped Italy but they didn’t.
      • they had secret meetings (1935 Hoare-Laval Pact)
  • Mussolini had his way
    • 👤 Hitler would learn about this and use it to his advantage

Aftermath

  • Committee’s report submitted 8 months after incident
  • League was slow to react. Every week they didn’t make a decision → Mussolini built up his resources
  • League eventually banned arms, loans, rubber, tin, metal exports to Italy but ==delayed oil sanctions by 2 months==.
  • Suez Canal wasn't closed
    • could’ve ended the conflict quickly
Link to original

Pattern

todo (not done yet)

Summary

SuccessesFailures
Aaland IslandsVilna
Upper SilesiaCorfu
Bulgaria

International Agreements (1920s-1930s)

  • 1921 Washington Conference: 🇺🇸 USA, 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇬🇧 Britain, 🇫🇷 France agree to limit size of navies
  • 1924 Dawes Plan: August. 🇺🇸 USA lends money to 🇩🇪 Germany (📕 TB page 43, Fig. 19)
  • 1925 Locarno Treaties: 🇩🇪 Germany accepts its borders based on the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. 🇫🇷 France loves this it. Germany accepted into League of Nations
    • 📕 TB page 42, Source 17
      • movie theatre – someone publicising the movie with a poster
      • the movie → “The Girl with the Right Turn”, starring Germany for the first time
        • thanks to 👤 Locarno, who lets this happen
      • referring to 🇩🇪 Germany finally doing the right thing
  • 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact: 65 nations agree not to use force to settle disputes
  • 1929 Young Plan: Revision of Dawes Plan to further reduce Germany’s payments
    • Great Depression would happen a few months later

Disarmament in the 1920s (FAILURE)

  • 🇩🇪 Germany disarms, but no one else does
    • which is kind of awkward

1932 Disarmament Conference

  • 1932 Feb: conference starts
  • by 1932 July: the conference produced resolution to:
    • prohibit bombing of civilian populations
    • limit use of artillery
    • limit tonnage of tanks
    • prohibit chemical warfare
  • the conference was all talk, no action
    • there was nothing to show how these would be enforced
      • planes are able to bomb
      • you can still manufacture chemical warfare

Conference’s stance on Germany

  • LoN was under pressure to handle 🇩🇪 Germany’s ideology of disarmament
  • more countries were spending more on weapons than before 1914-1918 World War I
  • 🇩🇪 Germany’s armament was much lower than other countries’
    • it wasn’t fair; 🇩🇪 Germany was supposed to have the same rules as everyone else now that it was in the League
    • there were 2 ways to fix this:
      1. 🇩🇪 Germany re-arm to other nations’ level
      2. Other countries disarm to 🇩🇪 Germany’s level
  • 1932 July: 🇩🇪 Germany proposed all countries to disarm to its level. Conference didn’t agree on equality. Germany walked out.
  • 1932 Sept: 🇬🇧 Britain sends 🇩🇪 Germany a note to agree on equality, but angered Germans with their tone
  • 1932 Dec: agreement to treat 🇩🇪 Germany equally
  • 1933 Jan: 🇩🇪 Germany announces it’s going back to the conference
  • 30 Jan 1933: 👤 Hitler named chancellor of 🇩🇪 Germany
  • 1933 Feb: 👤 Hitler secretly starts re-arming 🇩🇪 Germany
  • 1933 May: 👤 Hitler promises not to re-arm if all countries disarm in 5 years
  • 1933 June: 🇬🇧 Britain produces ambitous disarmament plan, Conference doesn’t provide support
  • Oct 1933: 👤 Hitler withdraws from Conference, withdraws from LoN soon after

1935 Hoare-Laval Pact

  • secret deal between 👤 Samuel Hoare (🇬🇧 British) and 👤 Pierre Laval (🇮🇹 French)
  • aimed to give 👤 Mussolini ⅔ of Abyssinia in return for him calling off the invasion
  • Details were leaked to French press
    • went against the integrity of the covenant
  • Both ministers sacked
  • Momentum on discussions are lost

Refugee Crisis

todo

Working Conditions

todo

League of Nations – Success or Failure?

Evaluate through its aim and objectives.

todo

Spell out League of Nations every. single. time. (no LoN abbreviations)

  1. Intro
    • Background sentence – context of essay
      • just quickly cover what was happening at the time

      • “The League of Nations was an organization founded by Wilson Woodrow…”

    • Stand – “This essay…” (agrees/disagrees to a large extent)
      • do NOT use personal pronouns
    • Scope – what you’re presenting (factors you'll be covering)
  2. SUCCESS/FAILURE – TOPIC SENTENCE
    1. Point (Topic Sentence): e.g. working/living conditions - “The League was successful/a failure as they managed to improve people’s lives.”
      • no topic sentence OR starting with a date/country → it becomes a narrative → you will fail.
      • don’t open with specific examples
    2. Elaboration
    3. Example
    4. Link: Therefore, the positive/negative impact of the actions and intentions by the League make the League of Nations a success/failure.
  3. FAILURE/SUCCESS
  4. SUCCESS/FAILURE
  5. Conclusion
    • DON’T introduce new content here → it can ruin your essay (essays are holistically marked as a whole)

More Resources

National Personification

  • 🇺🇸 USA: Uncle Sam
  • 🇫🇷 France: Marianne
    • no picture :(
  • 🇬🇧 Britain: John Bull

Source Analysis

📕 TB page 49 Source 8

  • CROCODILE → alpha predator, crocodile tears !!! → pretending to be worried
  • sheep → docile
    • SHEEPLE!!
  • alpha predator: “We couldn’t control your warlike passions” → Gaslighting, blaming the sheep → excusing themselves

📕 TB page 51 Source 10

📕 TB page 52 Source 11

Evidence in SourceMeaning
Roman infantry soldierSymbolism of Italy’s strength, it overpowering the League
the Pantheonthe League
Old manthe League is frail and weak
daytime, but it’s dark in the roomLeague is outdated, stupid
- it needs a candle in the day
- it’s clueless
CaptionItaly’s informing, not asking, the League to ignore the Abyssinian Crisis

Graph View

Backlinks